Possible engine problems!!!

[Bossmanivy]

Here's the skinny. My 90 suburban 4wd 350 tbi is going through some fluids. It's used oil since I got her but doesn't leak on the ground. I don't notice any blue smoke out the exhaust, so I'm sure it's not burning any(or it's burning very, very little). I did finally notice oil droplets shooting out of the exhaust. With that info, I'm thinking exhaust valve stem seals, or worse, a cracked head. I would prefer a blown head gasket, but that doesn't make sense to me. The burb has also used coolant with no leaks or white exhaust smoke. Not using coolant to the extreme it uses oil until recently. That one is more obvious. The radiator is junk. The drivers side plastic tank is not sealing anymore and that is my biggest culprit. Also, I have very little to no heat, even at operating temp. No signs of a leaking heater core, so I'm going to replace the radiator and maybe water pump. The PO had added some stop leak at one point and I'm sure that is causing some clogging issues. I don't want to trash a new radiator with debris. Could the water pump be worn and not circulating as it should. Would it be worth doing head gaskets and valve stem seals, or am I wasting my time, and should consider a rebuild or swap. I know it's a lot to read, but I need some input. Thanks

 

[MrMarty51]

How many miles are on the engine ?
Droplets out the exhaust can also be caused from condensation mixed with black carbon.
How many quarts of oil between oil changes at 3,000 miles intervals ?

 

[firebane]

Here's the skinny. My 90 suburban 4wd 350 tbi is going through some fluids. It's used oil since I got her but doesn't leak on the ground. I don't notice any blue smoke out the exhaust, so I'm sure it's not burning any(or it's burning very, very little). I did finally notice oil droplets shooting out of the exhaust. With that info, I'm thinking exhaust valve stem seals, or worse, a cracked head. I would prefer a blown head gasket, but that doesn't make sense to me. The burb has also used coolant with no leaks or white exhaust smoke. Not using coolant to the extreme it uses oil until recently. That one is more obvious. The radiator is junk. The drivers side plastic tank is not sealing anymore and that is my biggest culprit. Also, I have very little to no heat, even at operating temp. No signs of a leaking heater core, so I'm going to replace the radiator and maybe water pump. The PO had added some stop leak at one point and I'm sure that is causing some clogging issues. I don't want to trash a new radiator with debris. Could the water pump be worn and not circulating as it should. Would it be worth doing head gaskets and valve stem seals, or am I wasting my time, and should consider a rebuild or swap. I know it's a lot to read, but I need some input. Thanks

1) How much coolant usage
2) How much oil usage
3) Do a compression test

 

[Bossmanivy]

Thanks for chiming in guys. I am using approximately 1.5 quarts of oil a week and probably a gallon of coolant every 1-2 weeks, roughly. I have not done a compression test yet. I have the tools to check cylinder compression and coolant system pressure. I haven't checked coolant pressure because it's obvious the rad is bad. I was losing oil and coolant before my radiator went south. I replaced the t stat a few weeks ago. the old one had some stop leak gunk on it, but seemed fine. I still replaced it. Also when I changed the oil, there was no coolant in the oil.

 

[89Suburban]

Wow that is a lot of fluid loss. I been there with the coolant loss, wound up being a cracked head. I have a thread in here on it. You spark plugs should tell you where to look for the problem internally.

 

[Bossmanivy]

Wow that is a lot of fluid loss. I been there with the coolant loss, wound up being a cracked head. I have a thread in here on it. You spark plugs should tell you where to look for the problem internally.

Thank ya sir. I did read that thread. It was very informative. I'm in denial with the cracked head part. I truly think that is the culprit, but I'm praying its something much simpler and less expensive to fix. I'm seriously considering finding a motor and rebuilding it, then doing a swap. I would like to swap in a BBC but I don't want to lose the tbi. I'm not so big on hp, but torque is high on my list. any threads on swapping in a tbi bbc and making it work with the electronics I have. cruise, ac, ecm, speedo, things like that. I don't want to hack thing up.

 

[MadOgre]

Is the rad visibly leaking? Is there coolant in the transmission ? Oil in the coolant?

 

[Bossmanivy]

the rad is visibly leaking. the plastic tank on the drivers side is coated with the brown residue from the stop leak laced coolant. I haven't checked for coolant in the tranny. I'm assuming I would see signs of that on the dipstick. I don't believe there is oil in the coolant. Ive heard oil would cause the coolant to be thick and foamy. It is not.