how can i tell if i have a blown head gasket on my 1997 5.4L??? can i get a kit from autozone or advance auto parts?? if it is blown how do i know which side is blown or is i a good idea to go ahead and replace both of them??? is it hard to replace them?? i know some of the 5.4's are good for the head gasket blowing out. i hope this is not the problem. the reason i am suspecting this is beacause i took the cap off to where you put oil in the motor and it had a milky looking fluid on the bottom of it. that tells me that there is water in the oil or i had some condensation in the system. i also noticved when i checked my coolent that it had somewhat of a very very slight brown color to it but i also checked th dip stick and it had nothing milky looking on it at all. so what do you all think??

 

I would replace the PCV valve amd drive the truck for awhile. It sounds like it's not getting hot enough to evaporate the moisture in the crankcase.
Does it not get driven very far?
Also, make sure that the themostat is good and it is getting up to temp. this will help burn off any moisture.

 

I think LxMan1 advice is right on the money and you probably don't have a blown gasket. You will want to make sure you are 100% certain and have ruled out everything else before you start replacing the gaskets or pay for someone to do it.

If you were to do it yourself, you are at least looking at $200 in parts and a couple of days to do it. You'd likely spend big bucks for someone else to do it.

I don't remember where I've read it, but I have heard that an obvious blown gasket can show up in "bubbles" or "gurgeling" in the overflow tank as combustion gases leak into the cooling system.

 

i replaced the PCV valve over the summer but i will take it off and make sure it is still OK. i usually just drive the truck back and forth to work. its about a 15 to 20 min drive each way then if i get to go anyplace else i drive it. i would say on average about 200 to 250 miles per week. i will also consider replaceing the Tstat. that might be the prob as well cause the truck dont run very worm at all according to the gauge. it never really has since it was new.

 

also the anti freez hase a sort of very very light brown tint to the green and there is brown residue around the over flow resivore just above the anti freez line in it. i just had the coolant system fushed this summer.

 

Have a pressure test run on the cooling system. This will show if you have a leak or not. If there is no water showing on the dipstick, then I'd doubt that it's a head gasket.

 

yeah there is none on the dip stick. i also felt the hoses on the coolant system and they were all warm. today i took the fill cap off anf wiped it off and also wiped out the neck of the tube where the cap goes. one thing i noticed but it does not go with this problem is then when the truck is in park and is just at idle adn i up the RPM to about 1200 RPM's the RPM's will bounch up and down for a few seconds then level out. when doing that the truck also runs really rough. after the idle levels out it is usually a slightly higher or lower RPM than when it started boucing. every once in a while it will stay at the same RPM after it levels out. problem is worse when it is colder ouside. i was thinking a possable TPS but it could it also need a tune up?? its only got 79,350 miles on it and it runs great other weise and idle is smooth and when driving the truck is it smooth. IAC was replaced one or 2 months ago.

 

I would try cleaning the MAF first.

 

i will give that a try after the 20 inches of snow we have is gone. its still snowing here and i am about to go to work to spend the night so that i do not have to drive in it in the morning cause its going to be really bad by then.