Head Gasket Versus Intake Gasket

[rcman989]

I have a 1997 Chevrolet K1500 with the 350 V8. It has been drinking / guzzling coolant lately. It was not bubbling in the radiator and when I changed oil a couple weeks ago it was not milky and was black as it normally was. I am assuming it is the intake gasket, but just want another opinion.

 

[Horns]

If you're loosing coolant there's only 3 places it can go. To the ground, into the oil, or out the exhaust. If your intake gasket was bad, it would be burning out of the exhaust. You would be able to smell/feel that it is.

A lot of times if you just have a leak, it won't happen until you are actually driving, in which case you won't be able to see a puddle under the truck.

 

[98_k1500]

Its very hard for a vortec to leak into the exhaust unless the head is cracked. The gasket design is 1000x more likely to dump the coolant in the oil.
+1 on the leak while driving. If its a freeze plug or something, it can drip on the exhaust and evaporate immediately. Also check the radiator cap, they can seep when hot and not really leave any signs.

 

[rcman989]

No leaks on the ground after warmed. It is pouring white smoke out the exhaust right after starting and after warmed up. Idles terrible too.

 

[98_k1500]

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It will have intake gaskets similar to this on it. The end holes are the water passages. It would be very hard for an intake gasket to leak into the intake runner. If the gaskets looked ok when i pulled it off, i'd bet on a head or headgasket issue.

 

[dillhamm]

Check around the fittings going to the heater core as well, they were cheap pot metal pieces from the factory and a very common failure point (same fitting as the one on top of water pump). Whatever it is, after you get it fixed, it is important to replace the oxygen sensors; antifreeze will coat them if passing into the combustion chamber and result in bad gas mileage and fuel economy.

 

[Joey223]

Just wondering if you've resolved the issue? My truck is having the same problem.

 

[jlcms2007]

No leaks on the ground after warmed. It is pouring white smoke out the exhaust right after starting and after warmed up. Idles terrible too.

Sounds like you found your head gasket/head crack.


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[rosco]

I just had something like this happen. I noticed I've been losing coolant for a while now, but could never pinpoint it. I checked my oil yesterday and the dreaded milky substance came out on the dipstick. Today I did a compression check and all cylinders were right around 185 psi. 5 were identical, and the other 3 were exactly 5 psi lower. This tells me I didn't have a cracked head or blown head gasket. I'm picking up the intake gaskets later in the week when it warms up a little. There has been some white smoke out the tailpipe, but I figured it was just the cooler temps. It went away after a little while. If anyone finds a flaw in my conclusion or something else to look for, let me hear it.

 

[dagen_1]

my truck is going through this... im hoping it's just the intake gaskets and not the heads/head gaskets