Another 2013 Head Gasket

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Wolvie

Wolvie

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Joined
Jun 26, 2006
Threads
9
Messages
63
Location
West Saint Paul, MN
I think it's my turn to draw the HG straw. Coolant level going down without an exterior leak and slightly rough idle at startup that smooths out quickly after. Figure I'll get it pressure tested next week (heading out of town this weekend - not in the LX).

Appreciate this forum and everyone who as posted up their experiences. Helps to go into this with some knowledge and expectations.
 
What’s your mileage?

I have a late model 2013 (manufactured spring 2012) and now that I’m at 192k this weighs over me.
 
linuxgod said:
What’s your mileage?

I have a late model 2013 (manufactured spring 2012) and now that I’m at 192k this weighs over me.
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I’d strongly suggest considering a used oil analysis strategy.
 
bloc said:
I’d strongly suggest considering a used oil analysis strategy.
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I agree. I have called Blackstone and they told me if you send a sample via overnight then they immediately run it. You will results in a day or two.
 
You can also pick up a combustion gas tester and pull suction from the radiator overflow tank. It's a quick, easy, and fairly reliable test that you can do on the road or anywhere.
 
32cls6speedmt said:
I agree. I have called Blackstone and they told me if you send a sample via overnight then they immediately run it. You will results in a day or two.
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I was more referring to @linuxgod deciding on a testing interval for monitoring, whether it’s every oil change or every other.
 
If you don’t have any misfire codes it’s probably (hopefully) more likely a valley plate leak or some other coolant leak that’s slow.
 
bloc said:
I was more referring to @linuxgod deciding on a testing interval for monitoring, whether it’s every oil change or every other.
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Yeah it’s probably time to send off a sample, it’s been 100k miles since I did that last. I’m not sure how far in advance blackstone can really detect an HG issue but it’d be good to run one anyway.

No signs of any HG issues for me, but I’m adding about a quart of oil between changes to offset the leaky timing cover, which is clearly disgusting. $5 between changes probably isn’t worth a $3000 repair, however inconvenient it is, esp since if the HG ever goes the timing cover has to come off anyway.

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CanadianRockyCruiser said:
You can also pick up a combustion gas tester and pull suction from the radiator overflow tank. It's a quick, easy, and fairly reliable test that you can do on the road or anywhere.
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I think you can even just put a balloon over the open overflow tank and see if it expands. Might not detect an extremely tiny HG leak though?

Slightly rougher cold start could be a tiny amount of oil leaking down the spark plug tubes I think. Or a weak battery. Or who knows what else?
 
linuxgod said:
Yeah it’s probably time to send off a sample, it’s been 100k miles since I did that last. I’m not sure how far in advance blackstone can really detect an HG issue but it’d be good to run one anyway.

No signs of any HG issues for me, but I’m adding about a quart of oil between changes to offset the leaky timing cover, which is clearly disgusting. $5 between changes probably isn’t worth a $3000 repair, however inconvenient it is, esp since if the HG ever goes the timing cover has to come off anyway.

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Change to 5W30
 
linuxgod said:
Yeah it’s probably time to send off a sample, it’s been 100k miles since I did that last. I’m not sure how far in advance blackstone can really detect an HG issue but it’d be good to run one anyway.

No signs of any HG issues for me, but I’m adding about a quart of oil between changes to offset the leaky timing cover, which is clearly disgusting. $5 between changes probably isn’t worth a $3000 repair, however inconvenient it is, esp since if the HG ever goes the timing cover has to come off anyway.

View attachment 4206594
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To keep this on topic.. the big question is how quickly these things progress once they start. UOA is extremely sensitive.. really if there is any incipient HG leak going on some of it will make it into the oil and in theory could be detected. But as I said the question is how quickly these progress? Mine wasn't showing any issues cooling and I hadn't even added any coolant to it yet.. my first clue was the slight misfire on cold start.

I guess my thought on the UOA strategy is it can't hurt.

Otherwise get everything running like a top so that you notice and address a misfire if it pops up.



As for your oil leak.. I kept my weeping timing cover leak from getting like that by putting a bottle of Gunk standard engine degreaser onto the bad areas every oil change. There is good access to the area through the wheel well liners..
 
Damn.
 
If testing for a coolant loss issue, might consider a coolant gas test as well, it kind of does the opposite of oil testing, gases in the coolant that indicate combustion, oil etc. bleeding into the coolant.

If the leak is between the cylinders, (which with cylinder misfire is highly possible) it may be a little harder to identify. Both teats along with a compression test may help.

Best of luck, hope it is not the case!
 
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