Thread: Need advice on head gasket

that looks quite thick. does it smell sweet?

Originally Posted by firstgtp

Well I just went outside and started it, it was cold the temp was as low as it could go and no white smoke this time is it possible from sitting for a while and then finally being started?

it could have just been a lot of condensation if it stopped smoking.

is the radiator full of coolant?

have you pressure checked the cooling system yet?

how to flush the coolant.

remove the t stat, put the t stat housing back on, take the upper hose off the radiator, then push it down to the ground to a bucket or let it fly.

get your garden hose out, put it in the rad turn it on, then fire up the car, let it run till clear water pumps out the top hose.

then turn the hose off, run the car till no more water comes out the upper hose. then turn it off.

put your t stat back in, with new gasket, the upper hose back on.

now take 1 gallon of full strength green antifreeze, not the 50/50 crap. ( parts store cheap green is fine to use) dump the whole gallon in the radiator, fire up the car, fill the rad with hose water till its full. top as needed till its ready to be bled of air. it will burp and take coolant as the water in the block warms up the t stat opens up for a few seconds till cold coolant hits it and it shuts again.

now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.

done.


the elbows, take the neg cable off the battery, take the belt off. then the alternator comes off. you got a plug, and a power cable to take off, then its 2 bolts on the back side to a brace bar on the back of the supercharger, one lower bolt and the one in the saddle by the sc snout.

then theres the 3 bolts that holds the bracket on with the 2 elbows, theres 2 upper and lower in the same bracket. theres pics in the how to i posted of the bracket.

clean all 4 holes real good make sure they are super clean, no crust or crap in there. lube the new elbows O rings with oil, slide them in the bracket, then put the bracket back on, then the alt and so on.

Well that's why, you called autozone lol.

You got the aluminum: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...rm=heater+hose

And plastic: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_heater-hose-connectors-elbows-with-o-ring-seals--plastic-dorman--help_17190801-p?searchTerm=heater+hose



I'd use the aluminum ones, but you have to be more careful with them. When installing the assembly, you can't put it on an angle with them in there, or they may crack the timing cover.
If you really want plastic like oem, don't get the ones at advance. As far as I know that's dorman's old version of plastic elbows, they're known to leak after a year. Napa carries their improved plastic version, thats what I used since the aluminum elbows weren't available at the time.

Autozone puts them under "heater hose fittings".

Part Number: 47065HP


Call them with that part number, they should have it.

As long as you're careful with the aluminum ones, you will be fine. It's usually the people that think they can just force things that end up causing a lot more work for themselves. It still takes a bit of force to crack it, now that you know I'm sure you won't have any issues.

do what a smart person would do and run a soft line between the two with a fitting tapped into each port.

those elbows are stupid.

They may be "stupid" but they're also an easy $10 fix.

a couple fittings and a pressure rated hose is easily $10 or less, too.

and if it fails, you replace the tubing on it for 50 cents.

Originally Posted by firstgtp

And I am going to replace my dexkill with some good old fashion peak but should I still repalce my upper and lower intake manifold gaskets? As a procaution?

If the lower one hasn't been done it will probably need it soon. I'd also stay away from the mechanic or shop that told you your head gasket is blown... I'd also get the aluminum elbows as suggested above.

I'd say do the gaskets, elbows, and valve cover gaskets at once. First flush the system of course, and leave just water in it, do the gaskets, and when it's all back together, then add the green coolant.

myself, would be doing a compression test before another dollar is spent on a thing. make sure the head gasket is is ok.

lim gaskets wont leak coolant like this with a l67 and cause the white smoke out the pipes like a n/a car can when its upper intake goes bad.

but a blown head gasket would, as rare as it is for these engines, do the compression test before doing any more work.