more engine problems UPDATED

[per0781]

Well as you know, I replaced my lower IM gasket last week. My car is still running hot!! I drained the oil tonight and it was that coffee milk color again. I keep on trying to bleed all the air out of the cooling system and everytime I do it (must be in the teens for times now) air keeps on coming out. Did something else go like a head gasket perhaps? Or is the shit from when the gasket went still where it shouldnt be in the engine? Also, the low coolant light will come on yet there is coolant in the overflow tank up to the HOT line.

 

Thanx

[Goph]

that sound about 100% like what my car did when i blew the head gaskets.

[gp90se]

def sounds like a headgasket startin 2 go..... if you wanna do it ill come out and help, or we can shove a real motor in there (LQ1).

 

-Jeff

[MommyTaz022200]

My garage floor looked like that milky coffee stuff when I was leaking a bunch of oil and antifreeze and it ended up mixing on the floor.

[Intimidatorz34]

The color sounds like a head gasket. There could be coolant in the overflow, but the radiator may be low. It may not be sucking from the overflow because it is being filled with air from the cylinders. Run the car for a while and I bet you will be seeing bubbles in the overflow.

 

As a side note, my overflow was full, but the radiator was low because the radiator cap was not sealing, so it was sucking air rather than coolant. So if the coolant level in the radiator is low, then you have a leak in the system somewhere.

[per0781]

The color sounds like a head gasket. There could be coolant in the overflow, but the radiator may be low. It may not be sucking from the overflow because it is being filled with air from the cylinders. Run the car for a while and I bet you will be seeing bubbles in the overflow.

 

Yeap. I tried bleeding all the air out for about a whole hour and all that was coming out from the valve on top of the thermostat housing was air. Never once did coolant come out. Head gasket time tomorrow. How long should replacing the head gaskets take? Also, what head bolts/studs should I buy? Keep in mind i want to start this tomorrow. I'm thinking of replacing the exhaust manifold gaskets while I have access to them.

[gp90se]

woah woah, you couldnt get coolent out of the t-stat housing, that might be a whole different issue. take the t-stat out and run the car with the rad cap off. keep dumping water in till it starts spewing water. DO NOT PULL THE HEADS until then, it might be sumthing stupid. If you need sum help, drop me a PM and we'll spend sum time troubleshooting it.

 

-Jeff

[Tru2Chevy]

I would def. spend a little more time troubleshooting before yanking the heads, but make sure you don't run the car too much if you've got coolant in the oil. You'll end up washing out the bearings and have a much bigger problem on your hands.

 

- Justin

[Brian P]

see I got a little worried when you took photos of the lower intake gasket, and there didn't appear to be a ripped/eaten thru spot on the gasket. Now maybe it was small, maybe it could be a head gasket too. Is the oil as milky as last time? Did you get the chance to clean up the lifter valley any before reattaching the manifolds? I would drain the oil and refill one more time at least so if you go and run the engine some more, at least there's *better* oil running thru for the time being...

[per0781]

Well I started ripping everything off today to replace my head gaskets. I got the front head off and one of the bolts snapped I have to tap it out of the block. Any suggestions on the best method for this?

[no1kicker]

There's EZ Out that you can get a sears IIRC. I've heard it works good. If by chance there's some of the bolt sticking out you could try to use lots of pb blaster and hope it comes loose.

[per0781]

I wish but the bolt is flush with the block.

[Brian P]

EZ out is the way to go!

[loominaz34]

Cut a slot with a dremel and unscrew it with a flathead screwdriver.

[Brian P]

unscrew a head bolt? If you only knew!

[god910]

Damn, that's good. I got my Mac EZ out kit for like $14. Didn't come w/ bits but I had already given the Mac man $230 for Tit. Nitride bits earlier. :shock: Works great. Hell, I'd just not use that one. My TGP runs -1 Head bolt. :shock: :x Stupid P/o's.

[per0781]

I looked at the sears webpage and couldn't find the ez out. Does anyone have a link?

[93GTP]

It may be possible to weld a nut onto the remains of the head bolt. You will need someone who is very good at what they're doing though. I have seen it done, plus the heat may help persuade it out.

[amcjrb]

The head bolt shouldn't be that difficult to remove. The torque required to unbolt them is high because the bolt head is tight on the head and the bolt stretches, not because the friction in the threads in the block is high (unless, of course, the bolt/block are rusty). When you torque head bolts, they spin very easily until the last turn or so, when the head seats and the bolt starts to stretch. Once the head bolt breaks off, the torque required to back it out is not very high. I have had this experience with two W bodies, both 3.1's. In both cases, the bolt was broken before I even put a wrench on it. In both cases I drilled a hole into the top of the bolt and hammered a torx head socket into the hole. This tightens up nicely and the bolt backs right out. It completely fubars the torx socket, however. It worked for me, but if your block/bolt is rusty in may not for you.

Jim B