Head Gasket... main cause?

DEXCOOL Anti FREEZE is the problem!!!!!

That ORANGE antifreeze EATS GASKETS

GC wrote:

HE wouldnt have put DEXCOOL in a 1986 Chevy....Hopefully anyways.

Please substantiate that claim. Oh...and fix your shift key, while you're at it.

Dave

I asked Prestone,they said as long as you drain it first its ok to use either one , just NOT together.

No I don't use Dexcool... I'm "old school", so I use Peak or Sierra. I replaced the factory 2 row with after-market 4 row of the same design/style. BTW, never did like Presstone either.

Anyone have any other ideas about head gasket failure? This is the first one I've had, so I'm green to this...

Thanks all!

I've had a couple of 305's and never had a head gasket problem. They weren't powerhouses, but they were mostly trouble-free. If yours has overheated, you may have to have the heads trued a bit. Are you doing it yourself?

Dave

Draining is not good enough. It has to be thoroughly flushed from the system.

Dave

Yes Dave, thought about doing it myself... will be my first time with heads. Got any pointers?

Thanks, GC

I knew this had been covered before :)

The main cause of head gasket failure is not coolant type, it is the lack of it or overheating the engine which causes heads to warp slightly and distort gasket contact area.

I would have to agree with the snoman.most head gasket break downs are related to overheating problems but they can also be linked to a non flo off oil which we all know is a MAIN cause of heat being generated in an isolated area.The oil is pumped from the pan to the top of the motor where it is expected to (gravity drain) back down.If there are cloged port holes this is not possible. If proper cooling by the cooling system can not be achieved over a duration of time then the cooling system seams to fail.But in reality7 it could be the use of (cheap) oil which causes build up!!!!!!