Well, the 4th of July weekend is finally over... ...thank goodness! My wife convince me to go to the lake(against my better judgement) so I spent the week prepping the water toys, travel trailer, etc. and ignoring the truck project.
A good time was had by all, all weekend, it was the return trip that went into the toilet.
First, truck and trailer buried at the lake in the bottomless sand, but with the obligatory swapping of the cash a duece and a half pulled out my entourage with only minor problems (mainly destroying the elecric tongue jack on my trailer).
Second, on the road to home the old Suburban started overheating, ugh. I pulled over, cooled it off and away we went again. OK, skip forward another 3 overheating, cooling off, refilling radiator stops and I'm wondering where all the danged water is going. This is where I notice that it is being pumped out the exhaust......Major aaaaggghhh!!!

Now I've been around the block a time or two and am smart enough to know that water cooled exhaust in a non-marine application is not very feasible. I am also smart enought to know that if I don't spend my time and money getting the wifes driver back on the road(instead of working on my truck project) then things might be mighty chilly in my household for a long time to come.
Now it is pretty hot out here in the dessert and a chilly household at first doesnt sound so bad... ...but its not true. A chilly household is very bad for truck projects and if you alienate your main supporter....

well.... ...its a bad, bad, thing

I hope everyone elses holiday weekends were more enjoyable than mine

Bobby

 

Sounds like your engine might be shot. Our '90 Chevy van with a 305 V-8 would slowly lose antifreeze. We finally dropped in a rebuilt one and found that the block had cracked. They said this was very common. Dumb Chevy for having side by side middle exhaust. Ford learned not to do this from the Flathead V-8.

 

51, yea, its a '93 350, GM had alot of problems in those years with intake gaskets leaking internally. I think I'll have to spend a couple grand and drop in a long block and get this think back on the road.
I have to add that the only reason I was pulling the travel trailer with my suburban instead of my F-150 is that the F-150 is only 2wd and I new I'd be in the sand (I tried to get my company to by me a 4x4 but I couldnt really justify it)

Bobby

 

Bobby,
Short term fix.....Try some block sealer. I had a chev van (shhhh dont tell too many people) one time that had a blown head gasket, and I tried the bolck sealer and it worked like a charm for over 6 months...Then the trans went out and I sold it.....But the bottom line here is that it worked for a good period of time....Long enough to save the money to fix it the right way when it might have happened again at least. I would try that first before tearing into it too far.

My 4th was pretty good...We went up on top of the hill here and watched about 5 different fireworks displays at once then came home to listen to the idiots next door in the QFC parking lot fireing them off right next to the fireworks stand.

 

53, Good tip, I think I'll try it. I'll stop by the parts store and get a can of "wishful thinking" and pour it in. I could sure use a few months to get the money up. I hear you about the trans....mine is 2 months old (tax refund bought it).

Might have been a good show if the stand would have went up!! Woohoo!! The town I live in does a really good display about a mile from my house so we walked over last night and avoided the traffic nightmare. It was a pretty good show.

Thanks again for the tip

Bobby

 

I would run a compression check on the motor to see if a cylinder is running a noticeable amount lower than the others. Then you might be able to pull the head and replace the head gasket. I've bought a few vehicles with blown motors and replaced head gaskets and had running vehicles.

 

I just got off the phone with a buddy at a dealership, I can get a factory long block for $1600.00. I hate to spend the money but there is alot to be said for not having to mess with an engine overhaul right now. I have my garage full of more important things (namely my 49 F1)

 

That's a good deal on the longblock!
This was a stay at home and get somewhat caught up weekend after racing in Oscoda MI the weekend before and in Ayer MA next weekend. The AC on the Miata has been leaking down refrigerant so I put a can of leak detector in it Sat. Checked it with black light on Sun afternoon but couldn't see any leak even with a tarp over the hood. Went out after dark, and found out that several of the plastic bits and pieces flouresce pretty colors none were the color of the dye, so still don't know where it's leaking. I'll just pack a couple cans of refrig. for the drive to MA. I don't relish the idea of spending 12 hrs drive each way without AC, the expressway noise is too loud to drive that long with the top down and we'd end up fried. The last time I tried that, I ended up with a 1/2 moon burned into my forehead since I wear a baseball cap backwards with the top down so it doesn't blow off. Got to work on Gracie some too when not mowing the grass. Remounted the AC/heater unit under the dash after modifying the mounting bracket and bolted up the brake mastercylinder. I also made a new throttle cable bracket for the engine to replace the mutipiece cobbled together one on it that evidently was made by a company by the name of Stanley by the name stamped on the biggest piece of it!
I then spent some time deciding what I needed to make my front hood hinges and figured out how to fix the cootered radiator mounting as well. Got to watch the Busch race Sat evening and about 1/2 the rain delayed cup race Sun eve before falling asleep in front of the TV somewhere near 1 AM.

 

AX, I understand about the AC. Before our lake trip I had to put a couple cans of refrigerant in the suburban. Is the Miata R-12 or R-134. I have one of the old propane style leak detectors for R-12. The ones that have a reactor plate sitting ina propane flame and a hose that you drag around the ac lines. In the presence of R-12 the flame turns purple, in extreme leaks it gets greenish and smokes like he**. I've been told the smoke is the equivelenat of mustard gas....ooph.
I hope the races were succesful.

I have a call in to a buddy at a machine shop also so I can see what it would cost for me to build my engine...ugh. I think I'd rathere stuff a factory built long block in it and be done with it...and the price isn't too bad. I need to get it back running so I can focus my attention back towards my truck

Be safe on your trip
Bobby

 

Bobby

Rule #1 - When Mommas Happy everyone is happy.

I'd hat to see the Great State of New Mexico suffer from an early Ice Age.

I'd have to check for a blown head gasket before I popped for a block.

 

Like I said Bobby, try that block sealer....The stuff I used was from Eagle One I think. You have to follow the directions to the letter though for it to work properly. My problem was a simple head gasket as well, but the block sealer did the trick for over 7 months. (Maybe longer, but thats when I sold it)

 

It's a 99 so it's 134. I have a fair sized portable true UV lamp I brought home from work, but not enough has leaked yet to tell where it's leaking (I assume the compressor seals but I want to be sure before I order a new one).

 

Bobby, before you spend the big bucks, understand that the problem with LT-1's is primarily that the EGR feeds into the back passenger side of the intake manifold. On a long hard haul it overheats that corner enough to break the gasket. You may not need anything but a new gasket. Do a web search on "LT-1 intake gasket" you'll find a bunch of info and even a class-action lawsuit that's going nowhere... I have an LT-1 and it leaks oil from the intake manifold, a quart every 5,000 miles, just enough to attract the NM sand.

 

Gentlemen,
Thanks for all the suggestions.

Ross, yea the GM engines had major intake issues throughout the late 80's and early 90's. Does anyone remember the cooling system tablets?

4tl8ford, A little bit of chill is good, the big freeze is very, very bad. (she's a good woman)

I got home last night and fired the Suburban up and filled the radiator to do some diagnosing. Once the engine is running you can see water dripping out of the exhaust connection at the left side exhaust manifold. I shut off the engine and put my pressure tester on the radiator. Wow, major leak! I started pulling spark plugs. I pulled #3 and got a water fall coming out fo the cylinder....not good. The poor old engine is pumping all of its coolant out of #3 cylinder. I took the pressure tester off and stuffed the hose in the radiator.........constant flow out of the #3 spark plug hole.......ooops.
I'm guessing cracked head or head gasket.
The interesting thing here is that there is no signs of water in the oil. There is not the tell tale baby ***** spooge on the oil fill cap or dipstick. I even used the old standby and tasted the oil to see if it had the sweet taste of antifreeze (blech). I would think that if it were running that much coolant through a cylinder it would show up in the oil (well, at least the rings are good)

I have two options;
quick and simple---spring for the long block and have a nice and painless install with factory fresh parts. Compared to the price of a new vehicle $1600 isn't bad
more involved---my buddy at the machine shop is wiling to give me a short block and build me a set of heads. The block is one he built and put 20,000 miles on before pulling it to go with a big block. I could probably stuff it in and only be out maybe $500.

decisions, decisions

 

lotsa luck Bobby, I have also used the block sealant, worked on a 4.0 Ranger I had, drove it for 2 years and never had another problem. I did by-pass the heater core before adding the sealer.
We went to see the USA wing sprinters at the ''new'' dirt track Sat nite, had an un-announced 25 minute fireworks display between mains that was kind of cool, had it choreographed with some good ol' rock a roll. A great night, track was fast, good crowd, cold Corona, hot women!!