I think i blew a head gasket.. how to tell?

[mtbfish]

Heading out for a ride, stopped at a light and saw all kinds of steam coming from under the hood. Pulled over and reviewed the situation.. coolant was on the hood and the side walls. Steam stopped, engine never overheated (got sooo lucky), so I had some water and pored it in the rad.. Caped it and started the engine again. In a matter of 15 sec, steam starts coming out from under the EFI rail... like behind where the rad hose goes to the block (I assume that is where the thermostat is). But hose is all good, its like further behind the thermostat towards the firewall.. I see no coolant hoses there, so my assumption is head gaskect blew???

22R 95, 270 k on truck, unknown mileage for motor, this is a 2 month old to me...

No coolant in the oil, engine did not overheat, but all the water boiled away...

Is that a head gasket?

 

[541joseph]

How's it running? Do you have access to a comp tester? And I'm thinking probably.

 

[fourwd1]

Actually, it doesn't sound like a typical blown HG. Usually when a HG goes the coolant leaks into the combustion chamber (cylinder) and gets burned, creating sweet smelling white exhaust. another sign is when it leaks into the oil passages and you get the "chocolate milkshake" effect. You could have a coolant system leak and the leak is spraying o something hot causing the steam, like a bad water pump or hose. If you do a pressure test on the coolant system it will help nail down the source, be bad HG or other leak.

 

[mtbfish]

Actually, it doesn't sound like a typical blown HG. Usually when a HG goes the coolant leaks into the combustion chamber (cylinder) and gets burned, creating sweet smelling white exhaust. another sign is when it leaks into the oil passages and you get the "chocolate milkshake" effect. You could have a coolant system leak and the leak is spraying o something hot causing the steam, like a bad water pump or hose. If you do a pressure test on the coolant system it will help nail down the source, be bad HG or other leak.

We have a winner, FourWD1 nailed it (thanks!!. After wracking my head on how to deal with a dead motor, I filled the rad up to the top, and started the truck... immediately I saw a stream of water, coming from a small hose. When diaging on the road side, no water was evident, making it hard to tell where the steam was coming from, now, water is pouring, and easier to see. Pardon my ignorance, but there is a small hose that goes from the EFI rail, the front of it, towards the thermostat cap looking thing, that hose has a hole.... I'm soo happy its just a hose..

I'll go into the Teck specs I found loaded somewhere and find the correct name for this hose.. would anyone know what its called, and if its a dealer item or something I may be able to find at a parts store?

This site is awesome, thanks for all the help and advise on how to keep these trucks running..

 

[fourwd1]

Don't applaud, throw money..

Glad you figured it out and I could help. Now get it fixed and running

 

[mistersnowman97]

That happened to me. I just had air pockets in the coling system. Burped the system. All good now.

If you don't have sweet white smoke out of your exhaust, it's probably not a HG. but trust me I know the horror of thinking it is!