Head gasket?

[Captain Swampy]

Brooke's pickup died on the way home yesterday. She said the exhaust was white. My wife (Tammie) pulled her home and took a look at it. Tam said it doesn't appear to have antifreeze in the oil. The tailpipe smells like antifreeze. They got it to start but it quit right away and won't start. We're guessing head gasket or cracked head. Any way to test? We probably just need to tear it apart and look, right? I had rebuilt it and it probably had 15-25,000 miles on it. Then it was parked for 12 years until we put it in Brooke's pickup.

So......rebuild or replace? Brooke drives it everyday, so we're looking for balance of MPG and power. I looked at Chevy Performance #12530283. It's a 4 bolt main with vortec heads and a roller cam. I gave her the engine, so I'm going to replace it for her. She has paid for almost everything we've done to her pickup. Other wise I thought of rebuilding the block and putting new vortec heads on it. I think we need a different intake for the vortec heads. We'd love to hear any suggestions.

I haven't been able to look at it yet. I don't know if I should go look at it or pay someone to look at it, and then order the parts I need so I have them when I get home.

[Irish_Alley]

im going to go with what bd said.
http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=32209.msg274158#msg274158
even if you dont know what youre looking at this might be the time to learn. if your in a pinch and she NEEDS the truck yesterday then buy a used engine, we all want more power but being a new driver i dont even think if i would set my boy up with a much over stock engine. yes the more power you make the better your mpgs might be but if your power is at 5-6k it wont do no good unless your rpms are that high. then your mpgs will drop, i put a cummins in my truck and picked up some miles but my power band is at 1700 rpms so even when im taking off if i go above that im waisting power/fuel. if i do a build for my boy i think it will be a diesel maybe not a cummins but it will be a diesel cause he will have the power he needs and he will get the mpgs. wont be a power house but if he needs to pull something he can

[Captkaos]

Was the radiator low on coolant?
pull the plugs and turn the motor over and see if it is blowing coolant out
Do a compression test on all the cylinders and see if they are within 10psi of each other.
Is there coolant in the oil?

If the head gasket blew and that was it you can pull the head inspect and replace it and be back in business.
If it is the head you can buy new ones and be back in business.

[Captain Swampy]

The radiator was full, but the catch tank was empty. I noticed that before I left and forgot to add some to it. The oil doesn't appear to have antifreeze in it. It sat for 12 years and is burning a little oil. I'm thinking some rings are stuck, so if the heads come off it's getting honed and reringed at a minimum. If it needs heads I'm thinking of getting vortec heads. Tam is getting a mechanic to take a look maybe Sunday. Then we can make some plans for when I get home.

[Captain Swampy]

even if you dont know what youre looking at this might be the time to learn. if your in a pinch and she NEEDS the truck yesterday then buy a used engine, we all want more power but being a new driver i dont even think if i would set my boy up with a much over stock engine. yes the more power you make the better your mpgs might be but if your power is at 5-6k it wont do no good unless your rpms are that high. then your mpgs will drop, i put a cummins in my truck and picked up some miles but my power band is at 1700 rpms so even when im taking off if i go above that im waisting power/fuel. if i do a build for my boy i think it will be a diesel maybe not a cummins but it will be a diesel cause he will have the power he needs and he will get the mpgs. wont be a power house but if he needs to pull something he can

Well we don't NEED the pickup, thankfully! It'll hurt her pride more than anything. We took our 95 dodge to have the transmission replaced before I left. It's done except it's waiting on a thing called the transfercase saver. (replaces a snap ring that breaks on a 231 tcase)

My problem is I'm not home to even look at it right now. My wife and Brooke would look at it, but we don't have a garage, and it's a little chilly in Wisconsin. We have a couple great mechanics we use when I'm gone, and one of them is going to (weather permitting) take a look this weekend. It's just odd to me that it won't run. Maybe there is something else wrong? Or a couple different issues. I built the engine at least 15 years ago, but it was parked for the last 12. I think some of the rings are stuck as it's been burning a little oil. So at a minimum, it'll get honed, new rings and bearings, and what ever it takes to fix what's wrong now.

That's why I am considering the Chevy Performance #12530283 engine. I believe it's a stock engine for 96 and newer. It has vortec heads and a roller cam, which I believe make it much more efficient, and a 3yr 100,000 mile warranty. IIRC our current TBI heads were the worst flowing heads and the vortecs the best, that GM offered. Plus I'm limited on time so we would just have to swap them. I was curious if any members had used that engine. I really didn't expect our engine to quit, it didn't have many miles on it. Now I wish I had put it in my old pickup years ago. It all depends on what we find wrong. I gave her the current engine, so whatever we do I'm going to pay for it. She's paid for almost everything including the pickup.

If it's just the head gasket I'll probably do the rings and gaskets. I guess we could put vortec heads on this engine. Too early to tell, I need more information yet. Brooke drives really well, so at this point, I'm not worried about adding some horsepower. Having a job to pay for the pickup and all the work she's done to it have really helped her appreciate it.

[Irish_Alley]

hold up rewind. i know your daughter said the exhaust was white but moister can cause that in the air. make sure its getting fuel and spark

[Captain Swampy]

LOL, yeah, I'm holding out some hope it's something simple. Pete is gonna try to look at it tomorrow. I get to drive it once in awhile, so I'll almost be disappointed if I don't get to put that new engine in it.

[Captain Swampy]

Well -12 at home with a high of -5. I doubt Pete will take a look at the truck today But I probably wouldn't start dragging tools out either.

[george]

My 2 cents - it is very likely only a head gasket!
A rebuilt engine here is approaching C$3,0000.
If only for local driving why not...
Remove the offending head, plane it (probably warped) and re-install with new gasket.
I use synthetic oil with 'Wynns80+' additive (prefer this to STP) for a quiet 'old' 300,000+ Km engine.
If it smokes on start up replace the intake valve umbrella seals too.

[Captain Swampy]

I finally got to take a look at Brooke's truck. I pulled a plug wire, stuck a new plug it and had spark. I dumped some gas down it's throat and it fired right up. I ran a jumper wire to the fuel pump test wire and the pump was dead. I used a pump for a 96 (AC Delco EP381). We ended up with a Delphi, I don't know the part#. They flow more fuel and will build more pressure. We don't need that yet, but as we add mods we'll need it later.

We put in a new pump, sending unit, and new filler neck hoses. Not sure about the smoke or stinky exhaust. Maybe smelly from running lean. White exhaust must've been the temperature. Sure was a lot cheaper than a rebuild.

[Irish_Alley]

Nice a lot better than a head gasket

[Captain Swampy]

Yeah, we were really happy. The dodge is gonna need a little more love though. It's running great but the heater core plugged up. I flushed it and it worked for a day. We flushed the engine and radiator, it'll get a new heater core Monday.

[roundhouse]

Good deal

The roller cams are nice though

Because every non roller Chevy cam gets a flat lobe sooner or later
I've had that happen twice and I'm done with non roller cams
It's pointless.  They just go flat


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[Captain Swampy]

I think eventually that roller cam engine will go in her pickup. The engine sat for 12 years and is burning a little oil. I think some of the rings are stuck. It's running pretty good though. I'll have to pull the valve covers and see what heads are on it. At some point we'll have to freshen it up or replace it. I keep hoping if I put it off long enough the rings will free up, LOL.