A thump and then there was none....

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TheGr8Doughboy

TheGr8Doughboy

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Finally got my secondary barrel working on my carb (it appearently had never worked) so my cruiser could go over 60mph. On the interstate tonight there was a thud and steam started pouring out of my exhaust and engine bay envloping my car. :mad: :mad: We stopped and there was radiator fliud POURing out from under the car. Head gasket right? How much is that to fix? Can I do it myself? Does anyone want to buy an 85 cruiser with 222000 miles and a blown headgasket? The rest of the rig is in OK shape, few dumps and dings.
Help! This is my only vehicle! I'm going to have to drive my dad's 83 VW rabbit with no heat or air and a s***ty convertable stop with worn out struts and shocks until I can make the cruiser run again (on move it on to greener pastures)

Chris
 
i've never experienced coolan...... yes i have

let me guess either the radiator cap or the overflow bottle let go cause the exaust gases getting into the cooling system.

thud would be the cap of the radiator or the overflow bottle

easyish fix, straight forward. just make sure you have a torque wrench, and make sure to get the head checked/ machined. i'd hate to see you do the gasket and find the head was cracked, or the mating surface was warped.

ohh, i drove my hj45 for 15 000 kilometers on a blown head gasket, periodically filling the radiator when the overflow bottle let go (i got quite good at opening the cap when it was hot.
 
bad_religion_au said:
i've never experienced coolan...... yes i have

let me guess either the radiator cap or the overflow bottle let go cause the exaust gases getting into the cooling system.

thud would be the cap of the radiator or the overflow bottle
Click to expand...

the rad cap has about a 15psi let off to the over flow bottle, which is open ended.
unless something was wrong with the cap, it could'nt let the rad build enough pressure to pop the cap.

i had a truck that did that. pumped exhaust gas into the rad, it would push the water out of it till it over heated(several times.).
 
Bummer. If you hadn't said steam was pouring out the exhaust, I 'm was hoping you simply split a radiator hose. Was the coolant overflowing the bottle or was it dripping off the engine? Pull the spark plugs to see if one or more is dripping wet. You can even crank the engine with the plugs out to see if a bunch off coolant has settled in a cylinder. You can replace the head gasket yourself but its a bit of a pain. Do you have a garage where it can sit for several days while the head is off? THe head is heavy enough that it requires two people to safley lift it off the engie. You might call some local shops for a quote but I'd bet it would cost at lease $500 to have someone fix it for you. Either way, make sure both the head and the block are inspected for cracks and warping. You might consider a valve job while the head is off also.
 
Brain, are you saying it was something other than the head gasket? If not you are the first person to use the word "easy fix". And my passeneger said he didn't feel a "thud" it was real soft maybe the fliud pouring off teh over flow bottle onto the fender.

Any work over $50 I do I'll have to get a credit card or a loan to do. What about putting a rebuilt 2F or 350 SBC in? Is the 2F core worth anything?
 
Swapping the engine won't be any cheaper or easier than replacing the head gasket. First off, I'd make sure its the head gasket and not a blown hose. I think Brian meant it'd be easier on a desmogged engine because the there are fewer vac hoses to deal with.

Any chance that coolant being sprayed in the engine compartment got sucked in the intake? Is the intake duct hose in place? That could account for steam in the exhaust and the head gasket might be fine.
 
Interesting... no the hose is gone. There was a TON or steam, we couldn't see the car behind us on the interstate and steam continued to come out of the exhaust for 10 mins after we were stopped. Could it have sucked up that much coolant? and if so why was the coolant spraying out to be sucked up? My temp guage was reading normal.

Thanks
Chris
 
It doesn't take much coolant to make a lot of steam. The temp gauge is reading the temp at the rear of the head. As long as the water pump is moving some colant through the head, the temp shouldn't rise much.

The coolant runs at 0-15 psi pressure. If a hose is leaking, it can spray all over the place.

Check for wet plugs, do a compression test and a leak down test. If those look good, fill it up with coolant, start it up and let it idle for a while. Watch for leaks under the hood and steam in the exhaust. Then decide what the next move is.
 
Ok, I went out and checked it. Radiator hoses look ok and the air cleaner is bone dry. There's still a bunch of dust from a few wheelin trips back that I never cleaned out and I assume that if there was coolant being sucked in that it would show up here.

What causes a head gasket to go?

Chris
 
In the compression test, if one or two cyls are way below the rest, you have a real problem. If all are close to 120-150psi that's good. The leak down test is done with a tool that replaces the radiator cap. You can pump up the coolant system to 15psi and let it sit. If the hoses are leaking, its usually pretty obvious. If the HG is leaking, the pressure can push coolant ito the cylinders or into the oil. What you're looking for is to see if the cooling system can hold pressure or "leak down." If it leaks down rapidly then the pressure is going somwhere. After a leak down test, make sure you haven't filled a cyl with coolant before cranking the engine - ie crank it with the plugs out. You might very well have a bad head gasket but test it before jumping to a conclusion. Having a shop do the leak test should be cheap. Getting the rig to a shop might be a pain. You might try draining the oil to see if its contaminated with coolant. That would definitely indicate the HG.
 
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