Head Gasket shot. Committed (1 Viewer)

[musthave]

97 Cruiser, has been sitting for about a year. Purchased from PO, 235,000 miles, Towed it to the shop put in new radiator, water pump, thermostat, belts, tensioner, pully's, changed oil, etc. Ran fine but only drove 10 miles or so maybe.

Today I drive it 30 miles to Tampa and back. Prior to leaving I put in 10 gallons of gas. On the way I had a moment of engine hesitation, but it went along just fine thereafter. Drove home just fine, about 1/2 mile from home I got another 2 or 3 seconds of hesitation, like the engine was struggling. It cleared up and I parked in the driveway. I went out 1/2 hour later and started it, felt a bit of a thump, not sure where from other than engine area. I turned it off. Checked fluids, everything was fine. Checked CEL, 0301 and 0401. 0401 I didn't care about, 0301 I did. No water leaking anywhere, things looked fine.

I started it again and had a very large plume of white smoke. Obviously first thing I thought was head gasket. Turned it off immediately. Fluids are fine, no oil in water. No leaks anywhere. Started it again and it sputtered but idled "ok". Not great. Exhaust was white'ish but only smelled like oil. Turned it off about 45 seconds later. Drained the oil, no sludge, no sign of water. *** EDIT: Oil has water in it, pictures below. Currently have oil sitting in clear container just to see if I see any sign at all of water in the bottom, definitely some water. ***

With no sign of water in oil, or oil in water I'm not convinced of head gasket. I'm wondering if after sitting for a year or so the fuel was crap. Only about 5 gallons before I added 10 this morning. Drain gas and change filter? Would/Could bad gas and filter have similar engine hesitation and white smoke?


Thoughts?

 

[jpoole]

Doesn't necessarily sound like a head gasket. Perhaps multiple issues including super leaky valve seals that caused oil to leak into cylinders during the 1/2 hour of sitting caused the smoke and a separate issue like crap fuel getting pushed through to cause the hesitation?

If you want to be super careful you may want to pull the plugs to inspect for any signs of moisture in the cylinders. Worst case scenario is that water is filling the cylinders and that you hydrolock the engine and bend a rod when trying to start it. Doesn't seem that likely from your info but would really suck.

You could also consider draining some fuel off or adding something like "heet" to the fuel to help deal with any condensation that may have built up while it sat.

If you can safely run the truck more (no HG leak or coolant getting into cylinders) and get the fuel cleared out/etc. you will be able to learn what's going on a lot easier and possibly work the issues out with the old fuel.

 

[Beej]

If its head gasket, nothing you do will make it worse. Heet is a good suggestion. how much crap gas was in the tank to start? Would the 10 gallons have significantly diluted it or no?

 

[rolliges]

One year afternoon of SW Fla humidity,...if you're lucky.

 

[FastCarGuy]

Did you pour in StaBil or similar when you parked it?

 

[morganism]

Start it agin and pull rad cap, see if you are getting blow by into cooling system

 

[LINUS]

Doubt the it’s the HG.

Has the fuel filter ever been changed?

If not, get one & swap it. If it still has issues, get the hydrocarbon tester where you get blue juice you put in a clear tube & it sits over the radiator opening, run the motor & if the blue juice turns yellow/Prestone green in color, then you have a HG issue.

But it sitting for a year & having prob never had fuel treatment during that year is prob the issue.

 

[Proven]

If I wash the engine I can get a misfire code and it usually goes away once everything has dried out.

Pull the plug (as mentioned above) and evaluate. Check the cables if there was any mice that chewed on them.

Listen to the number 1 injector and make sure it sounds like all the others with a stethoscope.

1 year of sitting with old gas and never moving can be wildlife or bad gas, or both.

 

[musthave]

I am sending oil off to BlacStone to have tested. As a precaution and just get information.

In the morning I am going to put the plug back in and fill with new oil.

Next I’m going to check the spark plugs to see if they’ve been steam cleaned.

Next I’m going to see if I can find a way to drain some gas. Or I may just buy some heet and put that in.

As I have a new set of spark plug wires I am going to go ahead and put them in. I don’t know when they were last done.

I am going to try to get a fuel filter to put in, we will see if I can find one locally.

Then I am going to start it and see what happens.

I was not the one who stored the vehicle and whoever did store it probably didn’t put any fuel additives of any sort in.

 

[Beej]

To drain gas, use the drain plug on the gas tank. 17mm

Slowly introduce the old gas back into this or another vehicle. Since getting rid of it is a big pita.

 

[rolliges]

Head gasket...sell it.

 

[musthave]

Update.

I let the oil sit, siphoned off the top. Then siphoned from the bottom. Here is what I have.

 

[musthave]

And.... from the tank where I let it sit for 5 hours. Uh... water

 

[gnarlytoes]

If humidity has been high, condensation in the crank case could explain a small amount of water in the oil. Since it sat so long, I would try changing the fuel filter and fuel pump strainer first.

ETA: Sitting for a year with only about 5 gal of fuel, there is rust in the tank. You will have to change filter and strainer a couple of times and possibly even fuel pump before it is all sorted out. Ask me how I know.

 

[ChaseTruck]

The gas that was in it - did it have Ethanol in it?
Ethanol is hygroscopic - it will pull water in, from moist air.

 

[rolliges]

Could have been caught in a flood of some sort.

 

[musthave]

If humidity has been high, condensation in the crank case could explain a small amount of water in the oil. Since it sat so long, I would try changing the fuel filter and fuel pump strainer first.

ETA: Sitting for a year with only about 5 gal of fuel, there is rust in the tank. You will have to change filter and strainer a couple of times and possibly even fuel pump before it is all sorted out. Ask me how I know.

You think that much water in the oil could be condensation? I’m on the coast of Florida, hot, humid all the time. That serms like a lot of water to me. When I saw it I said head gasket for sure. You think maybe not???

 

[musthave]

The gas that was in it - did it have Ethanol in it?
Ethanol is hygroscopic - it will pull water in, from moist air.

I’m confident it had ethanol. It was from PO but I’d say yes. But that wouldn’t explain the water in the oil above. Maybe I have two problems...?

 

[musthave]

So, for the water in the oil. If I put the drain plug in, fill it with oil, run for 3 minutes or so. Drain. If it has water, it's the headgasket?

 

[LINUS]

It’ll be the #6 spark plug “steam cleaned” if any for ones where the HG design was the issue.

That looks like alot of water, but this thing sat - up here in WA we all get fill caps for the crankcase that would freak out the sunbelt folks.

And the 3UR in the Tundra/200 with its’ 3” plastic fill neck to the valve cover can hold a small milkshake of condensate emulsion if you don’t know what you’re looking at / lived up here awhile. It can freak out any non-local.

If you want a definitive answer - drop in cheap clean oil / filter, that is some stagnant a$$ old brown stuff that **anything** is a reasonable answer for the condensate or coolant.