Low mile 03 & 05 GM 6.0's using coolant ?

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

2 pick up trucks here with the low coolant alarm coming on every couple hundred miles, adding about a pint each time the light comes on.
No visible leaks, no coolant smell, no witness marks.

The 05 has 62k the 03 has 53k and I am guessing the intake gaskets are leaking and consuming the coolant. Thoughts ? Opinions ?

Heard Fel Pro makes a problem solver metal base gasket for about $100 ?

[BAD LS1]

Water pump leaking or head gaskets, the factory MLS gaskets work pretty good, but if there was any issue with the mating surfaces or the rubber sealant on them were somehow botched then yeah its gonna leak into the cylinders.

GM graphite head gaskets used from 99-01 would be an easy fix too for about $20 a pop in parts.

Should be part # 12558936 IIRC... You will need a bolt kit for each bank too, cant re use the head bolts.

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

Horrible news I guess the heads are only another 40 or 50 bolts deep.
Will replace those TTY ? bolts.

[SLOWC5]

no coolant runs in the intake.

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

No wonder its a head gasket then.
The real reason GM is in the shape they are in ? 2 trucks ? C'mon.

What can be done to prevent this ?

[A B4C Z]

Yank the vavle covers off. If it says castech on the cylinder head in a really small area they are prone to leak. You will have to yank the rocker arm support off also. They leak and suck coolant.

[brotherbenn83]

+1 for probably having 1 or both cracked cylinder heads. pull the valve covers off, clean out all the oil and pressure test the cooling system for a few hours. Then watch for the coolant puddles in the heads. $$$$

[Irish]

...

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

Unreal, so under pressure where will the coolant be going ? No crankcase milkshake here.

[BAD LS1]

leakdown test = bubbles in rad if fire ring is fucked and is creating a path from the combo chamber to the water jacket.

[0TransAm0]

trade them bitches in and buy new :)

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

Yota Or Nissan ?

[0TransAm0]

yota... tundra...


lmao @ tags..

[brotherbenn83]

Unreal, so under pressure where will the coolant be going ? No crankcase milkshake here.

Into the cylinder heads, near the valve springs. Check for underside of valve cover milkshake.

[pjturkey]

Shouldn't there be white smoke coming out of the tailpipes if there's coolant getting in the cylinders? They sell those pressure testers at napa where you take off the radiator cap, attach the test unit and pressurize the system....even if it is the head gasket, the tester is still a helluva good investment for finding pesky leaks. I use the shit out of mine

[brotherbenn83]

The head gaskets themselves are multi-layered metal gaskets that usually don't leak. In this case the HEADS themselves are typically CRACKED. The amount of coolant that is being used may or may not be noticeable through the exhaust, it is usually a very small amount.

[Taetsch Z-24]

GM has a problem with some of there heads, they can crack around the bolts, or valves.

Hell, we have on in the shop now with that problem, this one is a 5.3 though.

Pull the covers off and take a look, as A B4C Z said.

Chirs

[GTO RLY?]

This past summer I had a problem with my GTO barfing coolant in the driveway every once in a great while. Turned out the radiator cap was bad, it allowed coolant to overflow into the tank, but not return.

[BOSS LX]

This past summer I had a problem with my GTO barfing coolant in the driveway every once in a great while. Turned out the radiator cap was bad, it allowed coolant to overflow into the tank, but not return.

Dude, you should REALLY consider changing your name! :rolf

[GTO RLY?]

Yeah, I was PMed about that... wtf is the story with that?