LUVTruck.com

how to tell if you have a Blown head gasket? on a V8 chevy.

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4.3l V6. 5 speed MT 2.55 in the back.

There are several ways a head gasket can blow. If you think that it blew between the cylinder and cooling passages you can get test strips that will test your antifreeze for hydrocarbons. If it did blow that way most likely you would have a cooling system that is over pressured from the cylinder and/or smell the coolant burning from the exhaust. The head gasket can also blow from the cooling port to the oil passages, look for milky oil and/or coolant.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

Do a compression test on the motor.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

the motor also has a miss. the last time he really ran it it blew out a TON of white smoke from the exhaust.

so im guessing its burnin coolant.

chet, is the coolant still full, or did you swap the radiators already?

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

its still got coolant.

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4.3l V6. 5 speed MT 2.55 in the back.

well all i know is it blew a whole hell of alot of smoke that last time when you took it to your dads.

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

i know but it. wont do it agen.lol .

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4.3l V6. 5 speed MT 2.55 in the back.

well i think the only was to find out whats wrong is to bite the bullet on some gaskets and pull the heads. head gaskets and intake gaskets cant cost that much?

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

yep . after i do a compression test .

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4.3l V6. 5 speed MT 2.55 in the back.

yeah that would probably be a good idea! lol

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

Do a coolant pressure test at 15#s and you will know if you have a leak.

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1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

my truck was sitting in my drive way warming up one day and it started smoking hard out of the left tail pipe only. I think it was bad intake gasket. I ended up dropping an aluminum washer from the top half of my tunnel ram down into the head and couldnt fish it out. I ended up pulling the heads and changing the cam in the process so I will never know for sure. I got a Fel-pro full gasket kit from summit for about a 100 bucks.

If it is a blown head gasket you might want to upgrade to a Felpro 1003 gasket. These gaskets help with coolant flow and reduce steam pockets. It also allows you to drill a 7/16 hole in the block between the inner cylinders and slows the coolant flow at the outer cylinders. Most small block Chevy engines blow the head gasket at the inner cylinders due to the exhaust being close together and low coolant flow in the area causing steam pockets.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

White is oil, Black is fuel. Sounds backwards but it is. Also remember that water will condense in the tailpipes, Water can puddle in the mufflers. Water will form on cold mornings on the exhaust while you first take off down the road...

All of these should clear up before too long. The longest would be water in the mufflers.

Oh yea, what everyone said above

Unless you have a propane flame setup in your tailpipes j/k

Richard

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75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

did the test today its good 165 to 125.
thae bad the carb is junk iv rebilt 2 and now its getting replaced.
its off a 66 buick . so time to up date. and getting new pluges .

thay have not been changed since i put the moter in.

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4.3l V6. 5 speed MT 2.55 in the back.

Don't you have to pull the eng. out to get to and change the plugs?

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

do you know what CFM the carb is, if its a small number i might have some use for it.

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

i dont know the cfm its the 1 on the v8. hotrod.
just had to get under the truck for #7 but its not to bad lol

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4.3l V6. 5 speed MT 2.55 in the back.

got a new carb for it runs like a champ.
ordered some spark pluges for it. cant get tham in town.

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4.3l V6. 5 speed MT 2.55 in the back.

i dont really think the smoke was white. didnt have an anti freeze smell. I was right behind u when that happened.... I would think a cylinder leak down test would be the best....

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