I think my head gasket may be blown. I'm losing coolant and the dipstick had condensation on it. On the other hand though, there is no smoking, or overheating, maybe it just hasn't gotten that bad yet? My brother in law the mechanic advises that if I'm going to have it fixed, then to go ahead and get the engine rebuilt while I'm at it. But for some crazy reason, I feel like I could replace the gasket myself. I am no mechanic, but I have done a lot of work on this truck myself, so I feel somewhat confident. It is not a daily driver, so I'm not in a hurry. If I did replace the gasket myself, then I would put off the rebuild until the engine fails.

Is this something I could do myself, or should I just take the good advice and be done with it?

Thanks for the advice.

 

Is there steam in the exhaust? Because I had steam in my exhaust so i thought it was the head gasket to but when i pulled the head off i found a crack in the cylinder.
that was some bad news.

 

When you change the head gasket make sure to get new head bolts or you will prolly end up with another blown head gasket .

 

I haven't noticed any steam or anything. I'm not entirely convinced that the headgasket is blown.

 

do a compresson test before you pull anything , i thought that i had a blown head gasket magic dissapering water and my dip stick looked like coffe creamer . so i drove it like 6 month slike that until iwa s doing something else and found my pvc valve wasnt working . 3 dollars and it fixed my prob

 

if you have a cracked cylinder is there any thing you can do?
can it be sleeved?

 

My '92 leaked coolant from a tiny crack in the radiator only when I was driving with the engine hot. Radiator did not leak when pressure tested cold.

How old are your coolant hoses?

I have only taken off 4 cyl heads and they were both two day jobs.

 

to answer DT 466Man's question. Yes it can be sleeved. I was quoted $160 CAN

 

Brand new radiator and upper and lower hoses. Maybe the resevoir bottle is losing it? Last time I checked the resevoir was bone dry, but the radiator was still full.

 

Thanks Goemons 74
if thats what i have i'd rather get it sleeved than replace the block
can any one help me out with my t-case problem in the 1980-86 forum