Hi,

First want to say thank you to all the input I have received from this forum. Been following a lot of advice on here.

Trying to figure out what to do next.

I purchased a 2001 with 190k miles. Test drove it quite a bit and everything seemed good. Guy told me he had it "rebuilt" at the dealer 12k ago and been great.
After about a week I noticed the coolant was a little low and I could also smell coolant burning. So took it to Walmart to get some coolant and on the way there the temp gauge went into the red pretty much right when I got into the parking lot.
Got some coolant and water, came back and put some water in it. Made it home without overheating. No visible leaks.

-Decided to drain/fill the coolant a few times and replaced the thermostat with a 180 degree one.
-Also got a new reservoir and cap.
-Checked for leaks and went for a drive. Started to go into the red so I pulled over, got a ride and went back to get it later.
-Read on here that there could be air in the system, so did the procedure of raising the reservoir and did get some air out.
-Went for another short drive, same thing happened and it seems like the amount of time I can drive without over heating is getting shorter.
-Noticed white smoke from exhaust.
-Also got bluetooth ODB reader on there so I can see the temp start to creep up to 230 ish so I know it about to go into the red.
-Got a kit and did the exhaust leak test in the reservoir, came back negative and didn't turn green. Did turn green when took it back to the exhaust.
-Did a coolant leak test the first time it showed a small leak from upper radiator hose. Replaced the clamp on that and it seemed to hold pressure after that.
-Thought that was the issue so test drove and same thing.
-Did another coolant leak test and didn't see any leaks but was not passing the test. very slowly loosing pressure.

At this point from everything I had read, just decided to replace the head gaskets. Got the kit from Lucky8. I'll post some picks, but the old gaskets looked pretty good to me. Seemed like there was some steam cleaning on one side of cylinder 6.

Did the head gasket job and just got it back together today. While doing that I also replaced... Water pump, upper and lower radiator hose and spark plugs.
I used a .001 straight edge and heads look good and not warped. Cleaned everything as I was putting it back together. Mostly just got the gasket surfaces clean.

It started right up and sounded great. Let it get up to operating temp and run for a while. I think it was sitting right around 196 or so, never went over 200 deg. Let it cool and then topped up reservoir.

Went for a test drive and then in a very short amount of time it started to get warm again. got up to about 240 before I got back and shut it off. Check engine light also came on. Never been on for me so far.
Looked at the codes and it had a misfire on 6. I guess from reading on here this could be wires or plug I replaced. Seems strange that this is the same cylinder that looked suspect to me when I first got it apart.

At this point just trying to figure out what to do next.
Anyone think I could have a sleave or block issue looking at the pictures of when I first got it apart?
Thinking of trying to find a used block, but I guess with that I really need to figure out how to pressure test them.

Thanks,
Phil

 

 

Someone more experienced than me will chime in soon. I don’t think a slipped liner (sleeve) would cause your issue. I think a cracked block could. That would be really too bad if it was the issue.
I’m assuming when you said the temp gauge went into the red you were talking about the factory gauge. These gauges are terrible and if the gauge was spiking it means the engine got really hot. I hope it’s not that serious an issue.

 

@pheel sounds like a cracked block, block pressure test is the only way to know. BUT my bet is the guy you bought it from knew it had an issue.

 

Thank you both for the reply. My gut was telling me it could be a cracked block, just figured I'd do the gaskets and hope for the best

From what I've read about a pressure test. I think I will have to remove the block, get the kit to block off ports, and heat it up for an accurate test? Especially since the thing doesn't overheat when it's just sitting there idle.

Then I also read something about dropping the oil pan and doing a pressure test? Is that a coolant pressure test from the reservoir cap and checking to see if I can see a leak from underneath?

 

@pheel yea cracked blocks are bitch to diagnose. The problem is the crack often only manifests at temp, when it opens up.

But yes you can try a pressure test and the block does not have to out.

Start with a compression test, hot would be best but that can be a bitch the with exhaust manifold. Just check #6 and two to each side, they should be the same.

If everything is good you can try a pressure test see if it will hold pressure, these are 16 psi systems so don't go nuts. It should hold pressure and there should be no coolant loss. The odds are it will pass this test just fine.

This an out there thing but try some UV coolant dye, from Amazon or anywhere else. If your crack is big enough the dye should show in the oil and possibly on the plug.

• Before adding pull the #6 plug and make sure it does not glow under UV light. Check you dipstick as well and exhaust as well.
• Ignore the directions and put most of the dye in the reservoir, run your engine up you need to get hot say the 200.
• Pull the plug on 6 see if glows bright green after it cools down, also check your dipstick right after you shut down for flecks of bright green under UV light
• Now if it passes that you have to do the hard part get up to 220 or just over and re-check for green glow. Check all the plugs and dipstick.

You can pressure test with the engine in place but it really need a hot test to find the crack.

Now I am not a fan of this stuff as rule but you can try a block sealant, but here is the thing you need to bypass the heater if you are going to try this stuff. You also need to completely flush the coolant 100% not just sort of.
K-seal and K&W Block Seal are your best choices BUT READ THE AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS no shortcuts.
This is not a magic bullet but it has a decent chance on a sleeved block to buy you some time.

 

That number six cylinder looks steam cleaned to me, because there's no water jacket there usually the only way to get number six to look like that is with a cracked block. There are multiple ways to test this but what I would do is rent the kit from Advance Auto Parts to pressure test the cooling system. Start the truck up with a full coolant system and let it get to operating temperature. Shut it off and pressurize the system. Let it sit. More than likely if it's cracked and you've got it in operating temperature you will push some coolant into the cylinder and you can see it with a cheap USB borescope that plugs into your phone from Amazon. By the way, I saw a good 4.0 engine for sale in the Raleigh-Durham area yesterday on Facebook. Not sure what part of the country you're in but occasionally trucks Get Wrecked or the frames rust out and you can get a good donor engine for not much money.

 

@Richard Gallant Thanks for all the good info on how to test the block. Going to try testing first. I was thinking that if I can't find a used block, might also try block seal. Don't have much to lose at this point. For the block seal, are you saying completely flush before or after the seal? Reason I'm asking is that I'm wondering if someone before me used it and when I flushed it I made the problem worse.

 

@Extinct This sounds like another good test to do. I purchased a coolant pressure kit that I have been using but only did it when cold. I will also look on Facebook. Live in NC close to Raleigh-Durham and been looking but didn't see anything yet.

 

@pheel You need to a complete flush before, do a couple it needs to be water only in the system. But it is a last resort if all else fails,it can by you a little time. People have had long term sucess with block seal but it is completely dependent on the nature of a failure you cannot see.