What are the signs that you need a new headgasket?

I took the car in for it's oil change (always on time and very well maintained) and they told me I had signs of a coolant leak in the engine. They told me and showed me a white milky sludge inside the oil cap. They said it was at the VERY beginning stages as the milky sludge was a VERY thin coating at the top of the oil cap and the oil was perfectly fine.

A friend who builds engines told me to remove the coolant cap, turn on engine, and look for lots of bubbles (showing exhaust getting into the coolant). There is.. so I took video.. his reaction.. (F***K!!). He said he has never seen it that bad and that the coolant should be lightly flowing through and not GUSHING through like it is in the video.

I would like to know your opinion.. Is this normal? (flow), or do I really have a serious problem? Your opinions, comments, are very much appreciated. They also want to do a pressure test but say it's at it's VERY beginning stages that they say most likely it is so small they won't be able to see any change.

Note: engine has not been started since last night, it's morning, cold out..

PIC (cold engine, cap off, BEFORE engine turned on): http://www.camarosource.ca/coolant_l...g_b4_start.jpg
VIDEO (Cap off, cold engine, just started engine): http://www.camarosource.ca/coolant_l...st_started.mpg

I was told the video should show the coolant calmly flowing and that this video showing it gushing around is not a good sign.. true?

Thanks.

 

well for the flow...maybe it is because the engines in the iroc's(cant remember which one they were) had a reversal flow on the coolant making it come back into the radiator next to the cap and not on the otherside of the radiator. im not sure how it works because i have a trans am, but we working on the friends iroc's cooling system and he said something like that. good luck with the engine.

 

coolant in the oil is never good, it could be a leaking cylinder head gasket you might wanna get the cooling system pressure tested.

 

Anytime i hear water in the oil, One thing pops in my head, "blown head gasket". I dont want to be non-optomistic, but i think thats what it usually is, and if it is not the case, you will be happier in the end. But if it is the case, it gives you good reason to get better parts. We have 3rd gens, and i have learned to expect one thing, One Problem fixed, will replace itself with a bigger better problem.

 

DON'T overlook a leaky intake manifold gasket. It is more common for this to fail and its a heck of a lot easier to change. They tend to leak in the front where the water passage crosses the intake man. If they leak towards the lifter valley it will give you the exact same condition as a head gasket, milkshake for oil. I would yank the intake BEFORE anything else.

 

What is everyones opinion of the PINK/ORNAGE Coolant? (Dexcool).

A very, VERY good mechanic friend of ours highly recommended flushing the system (discovered I have not had the coolant flushed since I had the car (1998) and changing to the Pink /orange Dexcool (5 year).

This guy is someone who we know as family. We have known since since he started running his own car garade over 20 years ago and is now running a car lot. We know his family and truely know for a fact nothing he says would be false.

So.. Dexcool... what's your opinion? He says he highly recommends it as the green regular Coolant causes rust and flushed regually to keep the system flowing smoothly.

Dexcool doesn't need to be flushed for at least 5 years. It is organic and also more stable and improves water pump life.

And also, how bad is it to have not had my Camaro's coolant flushed in over 4-5 years?

 

i think gm starting using the dexcool stuff in the newer cars..

i just stick with the good old green stuff

 

Depends on a few things. If the system had distilled water and decent coolant it probably is not an issue after a good flush. As far as DC is concerned it is fully a 50/50 opinion among the experts. I spoke with Texaco several years back about changing my 89. They recommend this for vehicles not originally equipped with DC. Drain and flush the system then add 50/50 DC and distilled water. Run the vehicle 2 wks, drain and refill again. They say no more than a 10% residue of the conventional coolant can remain to benefit from DC. Also, which I found interesting they also state that if the vehicle did not come with DC follow the TWO YEAR service interval for the cooling system. So where is the benefit ? I have 3 GM's that came with DC and in all honesty after 3-4yrs the DC doesn't look too healthy. It tends to get a muddy residue after time. I have a couple of friends at a local GM dealer and half of them immediately drain it out and put the green stuff in on thier own cars. What it comes down to is this, you still need regular maintenance on the cooling system. You may get 5 yrs or so but it still needs to be checked. I did convert my 89, but only after installing a new block and all hoses, radiator, water pump, heater core. I guess time will tell. My one Blazer got 49k on the water pump. Hmmmm

 

the milky sludge can be an effect of the car only being driven for short periods of time and not getting warm enough to remove condensation the place you took your car to get the oil changed has to advise you of things like that just to release themselves from any liability from any possible problems and a lot of quick change operations will use it to try and sell you something like a motor flush etc. pressure test the system to see if there are any leaks as far as the dexcool goes it is a very tempermental coolant and if not 100% perfectly maintained it forms acids and eats away all aspects of the cooing system especially anything that may be older and maybe slightly corroded to begin with like the heater core radiator water pump etc. and don`t forget if there is to much green in the system it turn into a gellatin

 

well while on the topic of radiators... soes anyone know how to do a complete flush...meaning getting the water out of the engine also.

 

Do the same test again but turn off your heater

Kat

 

What heater?

 

The one that heats the inside of your car

Kat

 

Why would you say the heater was on?

 

Cause the heater water return line is a few inches under the cap.

Its either that or the t-stat is stuck partially open.

Kat

 

Yep..check the heater. If the heater was off, do you still have the heater diverter valve? Or does a hose run straight from the heater core to the rad ( or to the TB is you haven't done a TB coolant bypass )? If you don't have a diverter valve, the water runs through the heater core all the time.


Also...before you freak out about the coolant on the oil cap, get someone to do a coolant test on the exhaust gas. Most good shops should have the equipment, and it shouldn't be that bad.

Alot better than tearing it apart, and realizing you didn't need to.


As far as flow.. looks fine to me. My IROC does the same thing. Now I just replaced the water pump because of a leak, and before it didn't seem to flow that well at all.

Now of course there was a good point stated earlier...if the is COLD, and the heater is OFF ( and not running through the core all the time ) then you shouldn't see all that flow until the thermostat opens...so it could be a stuck or partially stuck open thermostat.


HTH

 

well if it is still unknown by the time you go to tear it down and you do tear it down and the gasket wasnt that shot at least you dont have to worry about it anymore.

 

Looks fine the way it's gushing in.. pumping water tends to do that. Just buy a pressure tester and stick it on your radiator cap or pay some shop to use one and see if there is a leak.