Hey Guys, got a question. The other day when I turned my truck on (engine cold) my low coolant light came on and threw a code, I will have to check the exact code number. Anyway, i topped off my resevior with roughly 2 quarts of fluid but when I removed my cap it made this hissing noise like there was a vaccum on the system and I noticed before I pulled the cap that the upper radiator hose looked sucked in.. Is this normal? I've read that a hard, over-pressurized upper hose could potentiall mean a head gasket but this was the opposite. Also, my edge evolution monitors balance rates and the #2 and #8 cylinder;s were reading much higher then the others, they have been anywhere from +2 to even +5 i think i saw once. Any help diagnosing what this meens would be much appreciated! :thumb:
Possible Head Gasket Issue
- Thread starter DieselD
- Start date
I would be concerned if it was building pressure in the coolant resi, not vacuum. Vacuum is normal for the most part. And a positive balance rate in park should not be higher than 4, and in drive with the brake applied 6. Not sure how accurate the edge is though
Replace your coolant tank cap. That is usually a sign of it not opening and when the coolant get sucked back into the engine from the tank as it cools air is not getting back in to fill the void.
Stacks, I never thought of replacing the cap, I will do that this week for sure, Thanks! One other thing, I was pulling onto the highway yesterday and i had to stand on it cause some soccer mom in herdamn mini van wouldnt let me merge so after i gave her a nice black cloud a PLOOOM of white smoke came blasting out the tailpipe for like 3 seconds and then stopped. I havent been able to get it to do it again but it really freaked me out! thats never happened before! Could it be the EGR? I have it blocked but am thinking perhaps a delete kit? Help! i hope this doesnt get too expensive
Doesn't the Dexcool degrade to slim if oxygen is leaking into it all the time? I read one tag that was describing sludge gray colored in tank and his cap was bad letting air in so the system flush and new cap fixed it after finding that air leak. He did change to green antifreeze after.
Sorry to hijack but have a question that falls in line with this....
So the majority of HG are blown to the outside. How often to the inside? If the hose is hard somewhat does that mean you have a blown hg? If its blown to the inside would it not release the pressure? Truck ran fine for three days after refill and even went to track and made 6 passes. Drive home late saturday and truck sat all sunday. Start truck this morning and coolant starts coming out when warming up. So release pressure and refill and ran all day with out problem again. Someone explain the to me whats going on.
So the majority of HG are blown to the outside. How often to the inside? If the hose is hard somewhat does that mean you have a blown hg? If its blown to the inside would it not release the pressure? Truck ran fine for three days after refill and even went to track and made 6 passes. Drive home late saturday and truck sat all sunday. Start truck this morning and coolant starts coming out when warming up. So release pressure and refill and ran all day with out problem again. Someone explain the to me whats going on.
Mine's blown into a water jacket. Not a drop of coolant on the block, but upper rad hose is rock hard after driving. Let it idle, it takes about 5 minutes before it builds enough pressure to start dumping it out of the surge tank overflow. Holds pressure over night and I have to add coolant every 3-4 days, usually about 1-2 quarts.
Haven't seen any coolant in the oil but I now have a really loud knock that I can feel. Happens in 5th gear only (that I can feel) usually around 55-65mph. Happens when accelerating and coasting and is so loud, it feels like midgets banging the floorboards under my feet. Not sure if its related to the hg's or not....
I always though that the majority of HG's blow into a water jacket. Haven't heard of too many blowing to the outside of the block.
Haven't seen any coolant in the oil but I now have a really loud knock that I can feel. Happens in 5th gear only (that I can feel) usually around 55-65mph. Happens when accelerating and coasting and is so loud, it feels like midgets banging the floorboards under my feet. Not sure if its related to the hg's or not....
I always though that the majority of HG's blow into a water jacket. Haven't heard of too many blowing to the outside of the block.
This was the info taken from DP. The dealership I went to did the pressure test on the tank and it passed. Does your truck when warming up sit at 160 and not move until 5 minutes down the road? Temp starts at 160 then shoots to 210-250. Seems not to build pressure if the temp is not going up. Would this be caused by a air pocket? Heater inside will blow hot at 90 but at 80 blow cold. This just has me stumped.
My headgaskets went on my LBZ as well. Idling it wouldn't pressurize the system like it would once you drove it or towed with it. Once you did that the hoses would be rock hard, hoses were weeping all over the place, heater core started leaking (now replaced, what a PITA). A few times I blew the upper rad hose completely off the truck on the interstate... For a while I tried replacing caps, cleaning caps, tried different brand caps as suggested, etc. Eventually I "gutted" the cap and ran atmospheric pressure in the coolant system. Towed up to 15K lbs in hilly NH and VT with no issues. Did that for a long time before I could afford the down time to do the head gaskets.
Most of the dmax headgasket failures are internal. They dont normally leak to the outside and all over the ground.
Also, Dieseld, the white smoke may have been unburnt fuel. If you get raw fuel for some reason through the system into the exhaust it will smoke white. It may have been coolant, but it may not have been.
Also, Dieseld, the white smoke may have been unburnt fuel. If you get raw fuel for some reason through the system into the exhaust it will smoke white. It may have been coolant, but it may not have been.
Well I just went out to my truck this morning, engine cold, and the upper rad hose was firm, not like a rock but deff firm. I opened the coolant tank cap slowly with my finger over the overflow tube and pressurused air began to come out the tube. Once the pressure was released the coolant level rose about an inch and the upper hose was then sof (Icould pinch it shut) Does this lean more towards a bad tank cap or a bad HG? Thanks for all your help guys!
Well I put on a new coolant tank cap and that seemed to solve my upper hose hardness issue a little. I topped off the coolant tank before the new cap went on and when i checked the level this morning it was back down again! The truck runs great, no smoke, so i dont know if i should be concerned or just leave it be..
I would drive it some more monitoring it closely and see if the coolant level drops significantly. There may have been an air pocket in the system causing the drop. It is unlikely if it dropped alot that you would not see some sort of coolant burning signs. They are more of a slow burn type of engine
Well After topping off the tank again the other day I went out to the truck this morning to check things out...Upper hose is hard and coolant level is back down. I got under the truck with a light and noticed some fluid on the bottom of the bellhousing. Smells looks and tastes like coolant so i peek around and discover the very back corner of my passanger side head is leaking coolant, looks like a blown HG to the outside, FML! I took some pics.. Thoughts?
FML! I took some pics.. Thoughts?Attachments
Same problem here with my 06. 10/05 is my build date so I have the LLY HG's. Upper hose hard after sitting all night like a tennis ball. Start motor and after 10min of warm up push the coolant out and temp gauge still not move. No smoke at all. Start diving and finally come to temp very fast hitting 250 then coming down to 180.