Head Gasket??

J

judoant

Member
235k on the truck. For the past 2 years I would get a rough idle at start up for about 30 seconds - to 2 minutes and it would go away. No check engine. Over the past 6 months the same occurrence has become more frequent. It happened last night and threw a check engine. Pulled the P0306 code the other day.

Compression test results
5= 200 6= 205
3= 190 4= 185
1= 200 2= 185

Filled and marked the coolant reservoir. I have lost about 1/2" over the past 200 miles

Went and got a leak down tester from harbor freight. got cylinder 6 to top dead center, set the leak down gauge to 0 and connected it. The gauge stayed at 0 and does not indicate any leak. Repeated on 2, 4, and 6 cylinders with same results. The only air I hear seams to come from the spark plug tube where the tester is connected. it just sounds like air flowing through the tube.

I do have faint white smoke coming out the exhaust at any startup whether it stables or not. But once it warms up it goes away. and its 50 degrees out side.

I am very lost on where to go now. I was expecting to see air coming out the radiator cap if it was a head gasket.
 
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White smoke out the exhaust pouring out? Go to your nearest autozone, checkers, pep-boys, and pick up a bottle of blue devil head gasket sealer. Follow the instructions to the tee. Worked perfectly for me at 250k miles. White smoke stopped and no more coolant loss. $50 might save you $2500. Post your results. Positive or negative.


judoant said:
235k on the truck. For the past 2 years I would get a rough idle at start up for about 30 seconds - to 2 minutes and it would go away. No check engine. Over the past 6 months the same occurrence has become more frequent. It happened last night and threw a check engine. Pulled the P0306 code the other day.

Compression test results
5= 200 6= 205
3= 190 4= 185
1= 200 2= 185

Filled and marked the coolant reservoir. I have lost about 1/2" over the past 200 miles

Went and got a leak down tester from harbor freight. got cylinder 6 to top dead center, set the leak down gauge to 0 and connected it. The gauge stayed at 0 and does not indicate any leak. Repeated on 2, 4, and 6 cylinders with same results. The only air I hear seams to come from the spark plug tube where the tester is connected. it just sounds like air flowing through the tube.

I am very lost on where to go now. I was expecting to see air coming out the radiator cap if it was a head gasket.
Click to expand...
 
I have read good and bad things about blue devil.

I see the first instruction is to remove the thermostat and drain the cooling system. Is t-stat removal necessary?
 
Have you tried testing for CO2 in the antifreeze? You can rent the kit from a parts store. Check for antifreeze in your oil or oil in your antifreeze
 
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I didn’t. Picked up the bottle and poured it in. Ran it for hours at idle. Problem solved. I’m around 5k miles on the same tstat and coolant. I purchased an aluminum radiator and TRD thermostat to swap if I ran into any issues.

I’m positive this stuff will fix small head gasket leaks.

judoant said:
I have read good and bad things about blue devil.

I see the first instruction is to remove the thermostat and drain the cooling system. Is t-stat removal necessary?
Click to expand...
 
sakoluvr said:
Have you tried testing for CO2 in the antifreeze? You can rent the kit from a parts store. Check for antifreeze in your oil or oil in your antifreeze
Click to expand...

Yes. It passed that test. I have not looked at the oil yet. Not sure what I would see if there was coolant in there.
 
Formidable said:
I didn’t. Picked up the bottle and poured it in. Ran it for hours at idle. Problem solved. I’m around 5k miles on the same tstat and coolant. I purchased an aluminum radiator and TRD thermostat to swap if I ran into any issues.

I’m positive this stuff will fix small head gasket leaks.
Click to expand...

Did you drain all the coolant or just enough so you could fit all the Blue Devil? Did you pour it in the reservoir or the radiator?
 
I have checked and double checked the piston is all the way to the top but I still hear air coming from the spark plug tube on the leak down test. what does that mean. I have yet to find a description of that leak.
 
Yes I remember draining some coolant so that the blue devil wouldn’t overflow. Poured it straight into the radiator. From what I read it will only precipitate out at the area with a big difference in temperature i.e. head gasket leak. It will not clog up the cooling system as it will remain in liquid form. Probably best to drain and replace the fluid afterward. I didn’t bother. Lol

QUOTE=judoant;2914014]Did you drain all the coolant or just enough so you could fit all the Blue Devil? Did you pour it in the reservoir or the radiator?[/QUOTE
 
We all have our own opinions and mine is not to pour anything into your cooling system.

Go through the process and see if you actually have a problem first. Then you can make an educated decision.

If you are not interested in fixing any found problems and just want to get a little more life out of the engine then go ahead with the additives.
 
LittleCaesar said:
Ok. No air coming out the intake, radiator, exhaust? How high psi was the compressor?
Click to expand...

Yea so I realized I was doing the leak down incorrectly. Now that I have done it correctly here are the results. The PSI on the intake gauge was set to about 20 PSI which sets the measurement gauge to 0.

The losses on 5,3,1 are considered moderate loss according to the gauge. 6,4, and 2 are considered minimal.

5= 50% 6= 32%
3= 50% 4= 40%
1= 65% 2= 30%

I did not hear any air in the intake, exhaust or radiator. The only place I hear any air is in the oil fill cap when removed.
 

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LittleCaesar said:
It sounds like rings, though that doesn't explain the loss of coolant. Any bubbles in the coolant? Maybe time to rent a coolant pressure tester.....

https://mobiloil.com/en/article/car-maintenance/car-maintenance-archive/how-to-do-a-leakdown-test
Click to expand...

No bubbles in the coolent. I will look into a coolent pressure tester. With such poor numbers on the leak down test it may be time to sell :(

The only symptom which started all this is intermittent rough idle at start up. Which works out after a minute or so and never happens while driving.
 
And that is why it sounds/feels like a small headgasket problem between 4 and 6 possibly, where the gasket is only bad enough when cold but when it warms up no more coolant loss.

If you are loosing coolant in the possible cylinders, the top of the pistons on 4 and/or 6 would be cleaner more than likley than the tops of the other four.

Just build up pressure that matches the pressure on the radiator cap and walk away for an hour. If pressue drops, then there is a problem.
 
I'm in the exact same boat. Got 280K on mine and the day after bringing it home from the dealer, from having the valve cover gaskets replaced, I started to have a rough start.

After initial start and gunning it a bit, it runs fine. I took it back to the dealership a month later and they told me they "think" it's a small head gasket leak. Service writer, I trust, said it happened to him. Starts off like as a rough stop and slow coolant leak and eventually blows.

He told me, when the truck is sitting, small amounts of coolant are leaking on a piston (probably 6), when you gun it or it warms up, you blow the coolant out (white smoke) and then it runs fine.

Good luck, we're going to need it.
 
A blown head gasket isn't the end of the world, can't you just fix it? There's good step by step videos. A 2 day job if you're efficient and set up.

OP, have the coolant lines to the rear heaters been bypassed? I ask because in the salt zone these rust out and one day decide to dump all you coołant and you overheat your engine. This could have caused your head gasket problem

Tundratom, since you are from SoCal I doubt this is a problem for you unless you drove it in the ocean

Edit: sorry if I came off as an insensitive prick. I guess it is a big deal if it is your DD. But if it lives in the garage, shouldn't be too bad.
 
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