Blown head gasket ?

[amani260]

Hi everyone, been a while since I have worked on the GMC.
Replaced heads , cam , lifters a while back then got sidetracked for a while before really testing it out. Anyway, it starts right up and runs little rough. I noticed bubbling in coolant with radiator cap off . Drained oil and it definitely has coolant in it. So Im trying to take my time before I just tear everything apart. Is there a way of determining , if it is a blown head gasket, which cylinder it is in without taking head off? Mainly meaning, if only one side is blown, why do both sides. I removed spark plugs but they all look same , didnt notice one looking cleaner or different color. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks

 

[Ricko1966]

Did it have coolant in the oil problems before the work? When did the problem start?

 

[amani260]

Well I dont think it was getting coolant in oil before I replaced heads and cam , but honestly its been quite a while since Ive worked on it, ( had some medical issues). I was secretly hoping it might be intake manifold leak instead of head gasket, just trying to pin it down before I go crazy replacing everything.

 

[amani260]

The bubbling in the radiator is what made me think head gasket

 

[Ricko1966]

Do a cooling system pressure test. If you don't have,don't want,can't afford a pressure tester,let me know. I do have a workaround. Anyway pressure test no spark plugs,dist hot lead disconnected,leave pressure on an hour or so,then crank the engine watch for water to shoot out of a plug hole.Yes cylinder head is coming off. No the drain the oil leave the plug out,wait for it to quit dripping,then wait some more. Okay,pressure test again,do you get a leak out of the drain plug?

 

[amani260]

I have a tester, somewhere. If I can find it I will give it a try, thank you