Refresher:

The engine I am currently running is a 1996 LT1 with, now, about 70k miles on it. It sat for the best part of 6 years between purchase (for bastet44's car) and actual usage (my car).

I have notice that I am losing coolant... enough to turn on the low coolant lite, every few months.

My question is this: Would a dry stored engine be prone to puking head gaskets?

I've never heard of that. Maybe it was just bad to begin with? WP leak? Hose leak?

Mine had a radiator issue on the neck of the outflow. A hairline crack that got progressively worse. One of those you can't fix it till it breaks type situations for me.

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Nope.

My 92's doing it too. Not as much as yours though.

A nickel sized drop on the floor SOMETIMES, it fixes itself for a week then, comes back.
There's one drop on the bottom of the cross member but no evidence of where it's coming from. I didn't even loose any on the racetrack last weekend.

When I get around to it, I'm going to get some leak tracing dye at Summit.

Found nothing inexpensive at Summit.

This may work, $22 and $6 for the dye.

http://www.amazon.com/Uview-413010-Ba ... fRID=0RNZFRWNXGDCYSF2VM0W

I may try it if my leak gets worse,

I have the dye kit... will try that.

I do need to flush the mess. It's really quite rusty in there. Should have washed out the cooling journals before dropping it in.

This is why I was concerned... older design head gaskets would dry rot. I didn't think it would effect a modern head gasket, but you are never sure...

The engine is not overheating, it is not losing oil pressure.

do you know someone with a pressure tester for cooling systems ? if not let me know and I will try to find a day to come down and test for ya . oh have you ever changed out your heater core ???? I have had to change out both of mine . thats not a fun job

The core is fine. No smell, no leak. Replaced with known good OEM used part with only 15k miles on it! That was in 2008.

I don't have a pressure test... but it makes me wonder... the cap might be aging out... or did I replace that? hm... questions abound...

No sign of leaks...

time to eat lunch!!

The coolant has to be going somewhere....

If you can't pressure test it, I would at least pull all the spark plugs and check for a clean one.
Will

That is my next step.

I also have the exhaust gas test kit. Could go either way.

I need to check the surge tank. I have had them fail where the fittings meet the plastic, but they usually blow out REAL quick.

I also need to get under the front and see if I have a weeping gasket on the block.

I would question the head gaskets, Dry rot?

That was my concern. I know this was a problem back in the day... but at the same time, modern head gaskets can sit on a shelf for years... but what happens once it's been hit with coolant and dried a few hundred cycles? Then left to sit dry for several years?

Exactly !

Radiator side tanks a notorious for cracking

what's the overflow look like?

Have you trying running it with the cap off and look for bubbles/surge?

Rad is a DeWitt's... it better not be leaking!

That's why I want to check the surge... good point about the overflow. It's old and plastic...

oh, dear... a few observations...

1. The coolant is brown. rusty as hell. MUST FLUSH.

2. Lots of gurgling sounds from the overflow tank. Lasted about 15 min.

3. All temp gauges were ok. Nothing hot.

4. Things felt really hot after shutdown.

A bit more analysis on the temp sensors... the one on the right head is very slow... when the digital reads 194, that one is still between the low and first marks...

The gurgling makes me think it's the headgasket

AFTER shut down?

ck for bubbles after the thermostat opens if there are a lot of bubbles then you might be looking at a headgasket . the motor should be running while you ck .

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Yep, mine does it a lot.

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yup. plan on that, along with the exhaust gas test.

I just dumped a 22 oz bottle of coolant system cleaner. let that work on things for a day or 2!

andy be careful leaving that stuff in there too long and . I had a buddy do that and it caused his brand new heater core to leak ..jmho

the instructions indicate to leave it in for 3 days for heavy duty cleaning. This is the Prestone brand... I do think they are a bit above average, eh?

I am flushing it all out today.

I've used different brand names of coolant flush over the years and I've found some more agressive than others. Some will cut enough scale loose that the thermostat will clog up. Just keep an eye out for this, or just change for peace of mind.

Joel

I have the system pretty much gutted right now.

The cause? (drum roll) A lose hose at the lower radiator into the water pump... rust all over the side of the pump. Problem found!

The insides of the pump are CLEAN! Can't say the same for the insides of the surge tank... yuck... I am not going to lose much sleep over the surge tank. It's been in there since 2002 or so, and they are prone to give up around the rad cap over time, so screw it, I am putting in my spare.

If it didn't have 130k on it, I would take the time to clean it, but the OEM part only lasted 70k or so.

The stat is out, and it is mucky, but not clogged or damaged, just dirty. It's soaking in clean water and will be washed with Purple Power, rinsed and put back in. I plan on flushing it out with a garden hose via the t-stat and through the entire system. Once done, I will then remove the knock sensors to drain the block and I should be able to refill.

The current t-stat is only a year old, and the rad cap is only a couple months old.

Sounds like the best of a bad situation plus it made you clean the system and put in fresh coolant. Now...... How old is the air in your tires?

only a year or so... so there.

good you didn't get the real nasty cleaner . glad you read the instructions . my buddy unfortunately didn't hopefully that will solve your problem. if you need to replace the head gasket . give me a call I can come down any sunday to help ya change it out . and I will do it for cookies . hehe

I think we are ok! The leak is obvious... there is a rust stain on the right side of the water pump, from where the coolant has been weeping out of the hose to gooseneck junction...

The rad is clean, awaiting final draining. The heater core is clear, awaiting final drain out, too... next is to drain the block and it will be done. All sealed by lunch tomorrow.

all cleaned up and back together. Seems fine.

The gick in the overflow tank was epic, yo. This layer of brown shit that looked like coffee grinds. yuck-o-rama.

I was able to get it out with some Purple Power and a few large screws to scrub the bottom. Worked quite well. Perfect? No, but serviceable. I will get a new one later on.

Awesome. Glad it was an easy fix (compared to pulling cyl heads).
Will

Yea... no kidding!!!

next up, fixing a drowned IAC..

Glad it was something simple

no kidding!