Head gasket leak?

[gapost]

I have a small leak on the outside of my driver side engine block on my 03 Sierra 4.8. It starts right at the head gasket joint and goes down the side of the block. I have noticed it for a few months and assume it is oil, because it doesn't really dry up. Anyhow, has anyone seen this?

 

The thing is, I am prepared to replace the head gaskets (I have done that job several times on these engines) and have all the parts. But, I am going out-of-town with the truck next weekend and I'm not sure I want to start this job now, in case I have any problems like a broken bolt/stud. The leak is very slow, more like a seep. Does anyone see a problem taking the truck on about a 1500 mile round-trip? It's not like the oil or coolant level is dropping noticeably.

[gapost]

Nevermind. I'm going to do it and hope I don't have any big problems.

[Chris]

Smart choice. Just make sure it is all good instead of chance it

[dgrinnell]

Yeah probably better to do it right now rather than a tow bill. Good luck on it!

[gapost]

Well, I'm glad I started it. I got everything and both heads off this afternoon. The head gasket was leaking and there was a lot of crude in the cooling holes. Some were blocked. (I've only had the truck for about a year and a half and haven't flushed the coolant.). However, it kind of looks like I could have a coolant leak in one head. I don't really have chocolate pudding under the valve cover, but it looks a little "washed" like coolant leaking. And, it was pretty weird but I found that there was rust on the rocker arms and on the top half of the push rods. In fact, so much rust on the rods that the chrome is pretty damaged. Not sure what the rust means or if I need to replace them. Anyhow, I will take the heads to the shop tomorrow for cleaning, testing, and valve seals.

[mfennema]

Did the truck ever sit for a long period even on the dealer lot maybe? The rust could be from humid air getting into valve cover and the engine never getting hot enough to burn off the moisture.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[txab]

Ever seen this:

 

http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/148

 

or this

 

 

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/Bluegorilla/2008-12-05_142924_Coolant_loss_5.3.pdf

[gapost]

mfennema: Yes, before I bought it, it sat up for 6-9 months here in S. GA. So it may be from that. Hopefully, it didn't cause any damage. I guess I can just brush the rust off and it should be okay, right?

 

txab: Yes, I have replaced several of those heads. This truck is not really losing coolant, at least not noticeably. And, the head in question seems to have been a replaced head because I found a different exhaust manifold bolt and this marking on this head says GM. The other head is a Castech head but doesn't seem to have any leaks with 140,000 miles. From what I have seen, the Castechs start leaking earlier, about 100,001 miles, just after the warranty has expired, haha.