I woke up yesterday to see a puddle of anti freeze laying on the gorund and a warning about low anti freeze was on. Ran the truck to my mechanic only to learn that my head gasket was toast at 198000 km. He says that this is very common in 2004 and 2005 chevys and that they will all faulter around that mark. Spoke witth GM about this matter and of course they deny any such claim. just wandering if I am alone in this or if I should take this further.
Duramax head gasket
- Thread starter rossi
- Start date
You sure it's not the water pump? I didn't think head gaskets put the antifreeze on the ground, but rather burned it out during combustion. I'd consider getting a second opinion.
01-02 dmaxes had headgasket issues but when replaced got the newer ones the 03-04s got. is your truck an LB7 or LLY? Its possible a headgasket can do that but its usually on the rare side. Doesnt hurt to have the mechanic show you where its leaking from. if your still unsure, id get another opinion
They can do that. mine did that when they went out but the 01-02s had too thin a gasket to begin with. its rare but it happens. my buddies cummins leaked to the outside as well.
well what i speak of as rare is headgasket leaking coolant to the outside of the motor.
Wonder if those lly's with headgasket issues had overheating issues to follow with before
Good question on the over heating issues as I never thought of that! Leaking outside the motor is rare and if someones is doing that they got issues!!
There are so many other reasons for antifreeze to leak outside besides the headgasket. Several hoese, radiator, water pump, oil cooler, o'rings on pipes,coolant bottle, bad coolant bottle cap, etc...... I would go somewhere else. Make them pressure it up and show you where its leaking, I do that for all my customers if they have any questions. Not saing its not possible but the probabality is what I question over everything else that can and will leak.
Mine is an LLY it actually had so much pressure built up that I thought it was going to blow the rad hose. Where it was push anti freeze out was through the reserve tank. Does not sound like the water pump we will see its at the shop. The mechanic is quite sure its the head gasket. Just prior to taking it to him I refilled the antifreeze and took it to town to put fuel in. Shut the truck down once agian antifreeze pouring out the reserve, when I satrted the truck a big puff of white smoke. Talked to GM and they state there has been no recalls and asked if I have the truck at a chev dealer they might depending on the problem help out fat chance with that though. They told me that should there be a recall I would just have to submit bill and they would re-emburse. Perhaps anyone who has had this problem should report it to them and maybe they would put a recall out.
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Recalls are usually concerning safety issues only-unless its just a huge amount of one single thing or an actual defective part they have redesigned.
Can't speak for the first 40,000 miles on my truck, but the last 63k I've put on and never once overheated. Runs a big-ish tune occasionally and hauls lots of weight, so it definitely works, but have never overheated it. Highest I've ever seen ECT was 215 and that was on a WOT run up a hill and it only spiked there for about 5 seconds. Avg temp is usually around 175*, up to 192* when loaded.
My roomates 05 hg's packed them in at about 82000 miles and another guy I know (lly as well) just had them go at 80000 miles. Any lost coolant on both was burnt up. No signs of it elsewhere. It looks like it may have been a design or assembly flaw. Here is a picture of his head gasket when we removed it. Both trucks had them go on cylinder #7 (passenger side near fire wall). My roomate said he didn't have any signs of it heating up or running hot prior to them going.
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Thanks for all the feed back. It was the head gasket and now my mechanic says he has another one coming in for the same thing. Perhaps GM should open up thier eyes and see what is happening. Anyway just a word of advise keep your eyes on this as it is not a cheap fix.
If you got the time and ability, do it yourself. Save a couple thousand that way. You're right though, it ain't cheap...... although that's all relative when you're on a forum full of built motor trucks.... :rofl:
Hey guys it seems like I am hearing about a few storys in reguards to head gaskets so it's got me a little worried. I've got an 05 lly with about 120,000 kms and is pretty much stock still running a stock tune now as of right now it's still a daily drive and I'm wondering is there anyway to prevent this ?
Im at about 96,ooo and my HG went once(my fault completely :rofl
and my water pump went once as well.
and my water pump went once as well.
Im at about 96,ooo and my HG went once(my fault completely :rofl
What exactly happend how wad it your fault ?
FWIW my buddy has tagged 200K with his LLY without any problems with HG. He did buy the truck new and has run a Banks Tuner (60 hp) for years without a problem. He tows a 36 ft toy hauler with a lifted truck with large tires. I only have 74K on my truck (Second Owner) I tow a smaller toy hauler during the winter and my boat through the Calif/Arizona deserts....No problems with my truck, but I'm still running a stock tune with a few bolt-on mods.
Ol' dutchpilot on DP has like 300k miles on a LMM stocker pulling his 5th all over so stock runners have the record adding up for steady stay together just takes it easier and lets it have good services too. Then it's like some that really enjoy more power and taking some risks. God it costs when it goes wrong. I can't leave it stock must be a disease.