The other day I was driving and blew a head gasket so my first question is where would be the best place to buy a head gasket kit ? And with this many miles is there anything I should do while I have the engine out any suggestions ? And is there any books or manuals for the lb7 ? Any advice would be appreciated
260,000 miles blown head gasket
- Thread starter reeves_mck
- Start date
I would also like some opinions to make sure it is a head gasket so here is what happend was going out of town noticed smoke coming from under hood found coolant hose leaking fixed it drove 200 miles shut the truck off and when I started it I saw a small puff of wite smoke but no other issues drove home next day went start truck act like it was seized up then finnaly cranked and started noticed it was smoking from under hood pulled oil fill cap and there was puffs of white smoke and steam coming out so it seems like hdg to me what do you all think?
drive it gets up to temp let it sit for four hours and feel the upper radiator hose if its hard most likely a head gasket. Also does it smoke continues. next is it using coolant or blowing it out the overflow. does the overflow have bubbles. if so i bet its a head gasket.
Water pump if it hasn't been done. Henry at creatures of the night can st you up with the head gasket parts
Sounds like it could have lifted a injector cup also and is filling the top of the piston full of antifreeze and thats why its hard to start cause its hydro locking 
. Pull the glow plugs out and see which hole has water in it first.
. Pull the glow plugs out and see which hole has water in it first.
When mine went boom at 203k the injector cup is what I suspect was the original problem... because #5 and #7 were FULL of coolant...
be careful trying to turn it over, you might end up with bent shit
be careful trying to turn it over, you might end up with bent shit
Sounds like it could have lifted a injector cup also and is filling the top of the piston full of antifreeze and thats why its hard to start cause its hydro locking
x2 on both..... hard start was never an issue when my HG went. Sounds like your bleding a LOT of coolant in the cylinder. Cranking with that much in there is liable to break something.
glow plugs first, if no visible evidence, then compression test.
Any low coolant lights??? Coolant on the ground?? Coolant on undercarriage or tailgate after driving??
No it doesn't smoke out of the exhaust but on the initial start up there is a slight white puff yes the coolant light came on its not leaking any but I have coolant in my oil. I'm going to try to tow it to my shop tomorrow and pull the glow plugs and see what I find ill keep you informed
low coolant light and coolant in the oil definitly sounds like a HG... but like said before if it's hard starting like it's seized... make sure you're not filling the cylinders...glow plugs are easy way to make sure... if it's just injector cups, at least you don't have to pull the heads to fix.
good indication of it. lots of pressure in the tank?? white smoke on startup?? rad hoses staying hard for days with the truck not being run??? water pump leaking?? coolant in oil??
anyone of these can be an indication of a blown hg or possibly a lifted cup.
anyone of these can be an indication of a blown hg or possibly a lifted cup.
yeah preasure in tank and it white smokes on start up, but it doesnt really look like there is any coolant in the oil.
It's just one possibility. Mine didn't have coolant in the crankcase either. I had lots of pressure in the surge tank, radiator hoses that never softened after the truck cooled and soot build up in the surge tank. Tore it down, and six of the eight cylinders had evidence of coolant in them.
Do you have any suggestions as to everything I need and should do when replacing the head gaskets and studs??
Alright checked the injector cups and there all good so it is the head gaskets. I started pulling the motor last night I'm debating on rebuilding the motor while I have it out any opinions ?
May as well freshen it up if you gave the coin i did on mine had it balanced ect head studs would be a good idea to and grade c gaskets henry has kits for gaskets ect or merchant automotive foes to
OK so reading this post - we have an 08 LMM 3500 that's leaking coolant from the tank pressure relief valve. Lots of coolant. No real white smoke unless under a HEAVY load. Starts fine - no signs (sight, smell, taste) of coolant in oil. The coolant tank is turning black.
Thoughts?!
Thoughts?!
That's exactly what my truck did. Puked coolant everywhere, took a very long time to warm up, hard upper rad hose, blackened overflow, and would only see a puff of white if it was held to the floor. Definitely seems like head gaskets, best way to check would be to buy a tester for detecting exhaust gasses in the coolant system.
Wonder if this is new/recent then cause it doesn't take long to warmup at all. Thought about the testers but read everywhere that mechanics used them on vehicles that had KNOWN HG problems and they tested negative. Not sure if it'll be a waste of $$?