Blown head gasket ?

[Ricko1966]

Ok, so I checked it few minutes ago, gone down about 3 1/2 lbs. Turned it iover few times, cant see anything coming out of spark plug holes. Did notice tiny leak at waterneck. So Im not sure where that puts me. I keep going back to the thing that originally got me thinking head gasket leak and that was bubbles in the radiator. Also , the fact there was coolant in oil when I drained it. I’ll keep investigating, thanks for responses

Change the oil and filter,keep your eye on the oil level and color. You didn't blow water out of a cylinder I'm wondering if the water in the oil you found was from when you tore it down. If it drives good,doesn't overheat,doesn't have amiss at idle, the heater works consistently,not hot and cold at random(check it,even though it's summer) If it gets water in the oil again I'd pull the intake,if it was apart over winter I'd check the block for cracks no cracks inspect the intake manifold( some aftermarket ones are leakers) do intake gaskets. I've never seen a blown head gasket without at least 2 symptoms.

 

[amani260]

The heads are stock steel heads from Summit, the intake is an aluminum Summit intake, dual plane, gaskets were Im sure from a Fel pro kit. Not sure about any part numbers. Its a stock 1987 305 I converted from tbi to carb a few years ago.

 

[amani260]

Pumped pressure back to 15lbs, let sit overnight, it went down maybe 2 lbs. I taped a piece of paper towel over each spark plug hole to make sure if any coolant came out I would know for sure. Turned it over several times, didn’t get anything. So, could it have blown head gasket and just not be leaking enough to spit any water out? I guess Im stuck on the head gasket idea because of the bubbles in radiator.
Thought about getting one of those cheap borescopes off Amazon to see if I can see leak . Anybody try one of these ?

 

[idrivea2002golf]

Since you mentioned bubbling, they make a test probe that looks for exhaust gases in the coolant. Before you drain the coolant maybe try the probe. If you have a head gasket leak the gasses will show up in the coolant.

Combustion Leak Detector

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[amani260]

Since you mentioned bubbling, they make a test probe that looks for exhaust gases in the coolant. Before you drain the coolant maybe try the probe. If you have a head gasket leak the gasses will show up in the coolant.

Combustion Leak Detector

Amazing deals on this Combustion Leak Detector at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

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Yes, I know what you’re talking about, and it would tell me if theres combustion in coolant, but what Im really trying to do is pinpoint where leak is coming from before I start tearing it apart. Meaning if I dont need to take a head off I dont want to . Just trying to investigate as much as I can first. Thanks for all responses.

 

[Sad Sack]

I don't see any mention of a compression test being done but have you performed a compression test on each cylinder? That would maybe help identify which head gasket to replace. Just throwing ideas out there.

 

[amani260]

No I haven’t but thanks for the idea, might try to do that today

 

[Sad Sack]

No I haven’t but thanks for the idea, might try to do that today

Let us know the results!

 

[Ricko1966]

No I haven’t but thanks for the idea, might try to do that today

Another idea although slightly more involved blow compressed air in the cylinders see if you get bubbles in the radiator on any particular cylinder. You will need to park each cylinder on the compression stroke. If air is coming out the intake or exhaust you aren't in the right position.

 

[amani260]

Well , tested compression, each cylinder ran between 150- 158.

 

[amani260]

Haven’t tried blowing air into it yet

 

[xm20k]

I'm thinking you saw the small amount of coolant from the teardown going down the valley or what ran past the rings from what got in cylinders when heads were pulled. Seems no matter how well you think the system was drained this still seems to happen. This is why the last thing I do whenever I crack into an engine and disturb the cooling system is change the oil

 

[Sad Sack]

Hmmm, good coolant pressure, great compression on both banks. I would have to side with xm20k, coolant remnants would be an excellent reason for water in the oil. And maybe the bubbling was trapped air. But when in doubt, rip it out.

 

[YakkoWarner]

The EGR valve is one place where the exhaust and intake can intersect, and there are coolant passages in the intake as well, so is it possible you could have a weak intake gasket that is allowing exhaust to put bubbles into your coolant? Once you pull a head, you're into it for a lot of effort. You'd have to pull the intake to get to the heads anyway. I'd run it a bit and see if the coolant contamination of the oil returns - if it doesn't, that would make me think the intake gasket is where your bubbles come from.

 

[amani260]

Thanks to everyone for the advice, might be couple days before I can get back to it but I’ll keep at it, thanks again