1. Home
  2. Chevrolet 4x4 Trucks
  3. Head gasket problems

Head gasket problems

Hi, I have a 89 Chevy C2500 w/350 engine that I replaced the head gaskets on a few weeks ago. Today I have a lot of bubbles in the anti-freeze. Crap. When I replaced the head gaskets a few weeks ago the problem was between 4 and 6 cyl. where the head gasket just let go after several years. No problem, I thought, so I replaced all the gaskets, cleaned and inspected everything while doing it. The engine has 150,000 easy, well maintained miles, never hauled anything heavy. Everything looked great inside.

I am a custom gunsmith by trade and assembled everything meticulously. The head and block seemed very flat and an indicator only showed about .001" low between the 4 and 6 cylinders, and it is not leaking there now anyway. The engine didn't leak anti-freeze before replacing the head gaskets and I only have 200 - 300 miles on it since. I do know that I got the heads on without damaging the gaskets as I was extremely careful when I did it. There was no dirt either. Now it is leaking compression into the anti-freeze and the radiator shows quite a few bubbles, more than just a tiny leak in there somewhere.

I used a gasket set from NAPA and am now wondering if these gaskets are of poorer quality than they used to be? What are the best gaskets to use these days? I don't want to have to do this again! I used the NAPA HS7733PT-15 head gasket set which I believe is a Fel-Pro set.

Have these Fel-Pro sets been okay lately? What would you use?

Thanks!

Rick

Reply to
Rick McDowell
Loading thread data ...

----== Posted via Pronews.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----

formatting link
The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! >100,000 Newsgroups---= - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

Reply to
Shep

I noticed that the engine had a slight stutter and a slight drop in power, sort of like a plug wire off. I looked in the radiator and saw a lot of bubbles dancing around in there. I also had a bit of anti-freeze being pushed out of the radiator cap like the cooling system pressure was way up, but not over heating. The plugs looked great, none were showing any problems at all, so it doesn't appear to be burning any coolant. Sunday we played around with it trying to decide if it really was a head gasket or not. We still have a few tests to do, ones like you suggested.

I noticed that the coolant will 'cycle' up and down with the cap off and idling. It will push anti-freeze up to the top of the radiator neck, then in a few seconds it will disappear out of sight, at least six or more inches down in the radiator. I have been topping the radiator off and trying to get all the air out. I will watch it for a day or so and see how it turns out. The thermostat and water pump seem to work just fine.

Rick

"Shep" wrote;

Reply to
Rick McDowell

...Perhaps a retorque of the head bolts is in order . Do you see any surge in the radiator which coresponds with the firing of a cylinder ? Was the heat on when you filled it ? Did you give a pump squeeze to the upper hose to check for air ? Is the heater working good ?

Reply to
Black Dog

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.