After replacing the blown head gaskets, putting it all back together and adjusting the valve lash along with all of my other problems (Too many to list). I finally got to drive the car today.

It started on the first try then stalled as I backed it off the wood blocks. However, it started right back up and sounded better then ever. So I decided to take it around the block a few times and it drove great no missing at all.

The only bad part of the story is when I got back home. When I looked under the car I seen an oil spot from where the car had started to leak. After checking around I think that it is leaking from the back of the intake (Hopefully) and it dripped down the passenger side of the engine where it went on to drip from the front of the trans pan.

Questions:

If the heads were loose or leaking would you see oil or Coolant(antifreeze)?

What is best sealer/gasket maker to use on the intake?

Thanks in advance,
Jay

 

I've always used Permatex Black or Copper on the intake. don't be afraid to use a lot of it at the ends of the intake.

As far as the heads loose, it really just depends on what part of the head is loose. more than likely you will see coolant in the oil or vice versa, but not always. if its going straight into the cylinder it'll usually just run a little rough, might see some smoke out the tailpipe if its a slight leak. when I blew my head gaskets, my car looked like a mosquito truck I was blowing so much smoke.

 

Congrats! One thing I noticed about mine, the PCM has to learn a lot after the first startup. Drive it nice for the first 10 miles or so and it will catch on. Mine drove WAAAAAY better after a day of running around.

 

Sorry to hear your still having so many problems. Were you able to tell where the head gasket had failed when you removed it?

 

Texas,

I believe its leaking from the back of intake for the simple fact that if it was leaking from the back of the head by the lower bolts oil wouldn't be behind the intake. Furthermore, there is no coolant in the oil and no white smoke coming form the tailpipe. Other than that it runs fine, actually better then every in my opinion.

Blue,

Thanks, its been way too long since the last time I drove it. I will try be easy on for a while since it has been sitting for so long.

ACCLR8N,

The problems never seem to end but at least finally I'm making some progress. I changed both head gaskets and I could see where both of them had stress cracks.

When we did are compression test last time we didn't check #5 & #6 and they both had coolant in the piston cylinder. Maybe I could have found this out quicker if we could have gotten the compression tester to screw in around the headers.


Thanks,
Jay

 

If there is one constant in the universe, its Murphy's Law.

 

Went out today tried to fix the intake leak. Upon removal I noticed that the oil looked alittle watery. Check the dipstick and the same thing.

Question:

After changing a head gasket did you notice that the oil was still alittle watery. Maybe from the residual coolant that was still in the cylinders. Could somebody help me out with this before I take the passenger cylinder head back off.

Thanks in Advance,
Jay

 

If there is water in the oil, shouldn't it whip to a frothy mess?

Sounds like you should take both heads off anyway just to make sure. Lame that this is happening to you.

 

When I drained the oil there didnt seem to be alot of water in the oil. So I'm just thinking it was some coolant that was left over in the cylinders. Anyway, I went ahead and fixed the intake leak. Now I am justing waiting for the gasket to cure. So either tomorrow or Sunday I will refill the fluids and look for any symptoms of a blown head gasket. Which I know is not the case and just hope I don't have a cracked block.

Jay

 

Whenever you change head gaskets, you should change the oil and drive the car 5-10 miles then change it again. Thats what my friends told me anyway.

 

If your lucky, the coolant was coming from the leaky intake. Does your motor have the air bleed screw on the hose elbow? Not sure how critical bleeding the air out is in a third gen. Radiator cap is higher.

Worst case scenario would be a warped head. You had that freeze plug leak and it was the center cylinders.

 

After the intake gaskets cures I will take it for a nice drive then change the oil again like Firebat said.

I do have the bleed screw on the hose elbow. Your supposed to have it open when filling the system and wait for coolant to start coming out. So I'm pretty sure the air is out. I checked both heads for straigthness using the ruler method & they seemed to be good. As far as the freeze plug goes when I replaced with a rubber freezeplug(POS) from Murray's it was still leaking. So I went back and got the metal one, which I replaced yesterday.

How long do you guys typically wait for a gasket to cure?

Thanks,
Jay

 

For the intake, the Permatex copper or black should say on the back of it how long it takes to cure. I'm guessing 24-48 hours.

 

Yeah it says 24 hours but I was just wondering if anybody ever actually let it cure that long.

 

No more coolant it the oil. No more freeze plug leak. The car seems to be running fine.

I wanted to run the car for a couple days before changing the oil. So I added some motor flush and let it idle for a few minutes. When I drained the oil not a sight of coolant.

So hopefully everything is in order and I can enjoy my car now. Well, everything is not completey in order the hose that connects my braided trans line to the radiator has developed a big leak. However, after dealing with all these other problems that is minor.

Thanks to everybody for all the help,
Jay