Noob With Castech Prob

maxf · April 14, 2010

New here, I have owned and driven Gmc/Chev Suv, trucks for many years happily until today. I have an '03 Yukon SLT with 'babied' 79k mi, and was hit with this (new to me) issue with the dreaded #06-06-01-019B "Gradual Coolant Loss Over Time with no Evidence of Leak found". Castech heads cracking is apparently a common thing with '01-'06 GM 4.8/5.3 Vortec engines. My dealer said the cost is over $4,000 to repair. I'll have to do it myself obviously, but I'm pissed. This thing was $50K new 7 years ago, and I take care of my cars. Really bummed out at the moment, and without wheels for a while!

How many have experienced this too?

SeirraRR · April 14, 2010

Welcome to the site.

[email protected] · April 14, 2010

We better keep this one in house because it'll b hard to defend this amongst other brand loyalists , 80k and heads r junk? GMVortec engine durability is one thing i brag about in my neck of the woods ...I think you can find a mechanic that may do the job for under a 1,000 plus all the gaskets; maybe stretch bolts too, if applicable.. i've seen Vortec heads online i think they're 350-400$ each. that's way cheaper than 4k$$.

Is this phenomena too bad to drive? If it don't leak fast , or run poor/hot i'd b tempted to just run it. I hope i don't got 'em on mine.

p.s. use search and enter castech heads... have a pack of tums nearby and prepare to get even madder...

maxf · April 14, 2010

We better keep this one in house because it'll b hard to defend this amongst other brand loyalists , 80k and heads r junk? GMVortec engine durability is one thing i brag about in my neck of the woods ...I think you can find a mechanic that may do the job for under a 1,000 plus all the gaskets; maybe stretch bolts too, if applicable.. i've seen Vortec heads online i think they're 350-400$ each. that's way cheaper than 4k$$.
Is this phenomena too bad to drive? If it don't leak fast , or run poor/hot i'd b tempted to just run it. I hope i don't got 'em on mine.

p.s. use search and enter castech heads... have a pack of tums nearby and prepare to get even madder...

Sure, it gets you mad, but I'd call it more frustrating than anything else. If I didn't care about the longevity of this vehicle, I would just run it, but I feel as though the damage is done, it should get pulled and replaced or seriously cleaned, I mean lets face it water has entered areas that the human just cannot reach..so, now it's sludge. Pulling the pan and stuff, will most likely help, but the oil/filter will have to be changed more than a few times to fully clean all that crap, plus I feel that both the heads should be replaced not just the cracked one, but I can't seem to make the dealership realize that. I just can't believe for the life of me that there isn't a class action lawsuit against GM about this matter, maybe I should start one?