Thanks, I gave him a call and luckily he's an OSU Cowboys fan so we hit it off. he's a talker! He was really helpful, and advised me to keep driving it and keep track of how much I'm adding weekly in terms of fluids. He also advised tightening up my valve covers as much as I can since they definitely leak, and said to keep listening for any knocks or sounds. He also advised that I run over to O'Reilly's and have them check my running temp every so often. No one here in Stillwater would even look at it--I've gotta drive an hour and half to either OKC or Tulsa to get a professional opinion on it. I'm gonna take it to a shop called O'Brien's in Tulsa next week and have them do a full engine diagnostic.

 

The only thing is, Steve really didn't want to do a head gasket job--he's much more in favor of a total engine swap. That sounds wonderful, but I'm in grad school with a baby due in a month. So an $8000 engine swap just isn't going to happen. At least my tax refund could probably cover an HG job. I just need the truck to last another year and a half, then I can sell it for when I move overseas.

 

Captain, I suggest you try two things that should buy you time. First, buy a bottle of K-Seal, it is a coolant leak additive, if you have a minor leak in your coolant system even at the head-gasket their is a good chance you can stop it. I would also throw in a bottle of Barrs main seal repair.

Now I'm not saying that these two products are the real fix to your possible issue, but I am saying they can do what they advertise to do.

Example I was leaking about 1 gallon a week in my coolant system. It was driving me crazy because even pressure testing it I could only see the leak in the throttle body cooler. I said to myself, I'm going to have to pull the heads this weekend. To be honest, I really didn't want to dive into a 16 hour project at that point of time. I also did some reading and said, why not throw a bottle of K-Seal in and see what happens. It's only 15 bucks, and if it doesn't work I'll do the heads anyway. I'm three months in and it hasn't leaked a drop since.

 

The realistic thing you can do is a pressure test to see if you are actually losing coolant and where from, you can do this yourself with a kit from any auto parts store... they loan the kit with a refundable credit card deposit. Also you can get a test for exhaust gasses in the oil which would tell you if you have an internal HG leak.

No disrespect but suggesting an $8000 engine replacement without even looking at the car puts those guys right in Stealership territory. Ridiculous and premature advice.

Keep in mind once you put a leak stopper in your cooling system you will have to replace your radiator once you find the real problem and solve it.

 

Agreed. And yeah, I figure I'll steer clear of stopleaks if I can... I don't want to gunk up my shiny, clean radiator. Everyone keeps saying borrow a pressurizer--where can I find instructions on how to hook it up and what to look for?

 

I don't think he's pushing it on him, I just think a HG job is not on their list of priorities. Not to mention that price includes install, and a fantastic engine.

Not saying you should do it, just that a HG job is like $3k or so at a dealership.

 

If you have a new radiator, a stop leak won't hurt anything. They only gunk up partially blocked radiators, and many don't even do that.

The fear-mongering over coolant additives is amazing around here. Over the last 20 years I've used probly 4 or 5 different coolant additives in different vehicles, and I've never had to replace a radiator as a result. Sometimes the additive fixed the leak, sometimes it didn't. But never any serious problems as a result.

That said, I'm not convinced an additive will help you. But I guess it's worth a try. K-Seal is supposed to work well, and in my Disco I used the Barr's stop leak tablets, which have worked perfectly for a year and almost 10000 miles now.

Advance auto parts has a pressure tester that fits our truck. I've tried the testers from Autozone and OReillys and neither fits our truck. All you do is remove the coolant reservoir cap, replace it with the cap that comes with the tester, hook up the hose from the pump to the cap, and start pumping. I could be wrong (check the RAVE) but I think the system on our trucks pressurizes at 20 psi, so pump it up to 20 and then get a flashlight and closely examine the entire engine, but especially the front timing cover. Also listen for leaks and watch the gauge to see if it bleeds down.

It's really not clear to me what your symptoms are.

I saw the picture of the oil cap, but the oil itself looks normal and not overfilled?

The coolant was low but looks normal?

Any bubbles in the coolant reservoir when it's running?

Any smoke from the tailpipe after it's warmed up? Does the exhaust smell sweet?

 

Pressure test can be rented at advanced auto, you hook it up to the coolant tank pressurize the system and look for leaks.

Based on the fact you have coolant in your oil, you have one of three issues, timing chain cover, shop book is 5 hours plus parts, if you do it you should replace the water pump, fan and oil pump while your there. Second possibility is head gaskets, 12 hour shop book, plus parts, if you do this think about wires and injectors. third possibly and least likely is a slipped sleeve, loose sleeve or sleeve issue. That being the case it is a big engine rebuild or new engine, Personally if that is the issue, id buy a 2000 replacement Discovery.

 

The first thing "I" would do is drop that oil and filter and see what it looks likes, is it dark brown or does it look like a mocha shake. replace the oil and filter and mark the dipstick.

Then borrow or rent a pressure tester from an auto parts store overnight, make sure it has the correct adapter. Screw it on to the recovery bottle neck and pump it up to 16-18 psi. Now go around and pull and tug on every hose under the hood, if in 20-30 minutes the gauge is where you left it you do not have a leak. You should check your truck cold and hot, as things expand as they get hot.

if the pressure drops you have a leak "I" like to use newspaper (it seems to pickup water from 1/2 mile away) line the bottom of your truck with news print continue to fill the recovery tank and keep the pressure up while you continue to look for a leak.
if after spending a good amount of time validly looking for a leak then you can start looking at internal problems.

Now if you have kept the recovery tank filled and pressure up you have probably refilled a 1/2 gallon or so of coolant.
Now it's time to find it, pull all the plugs and have someone try and crank the truck over, is there coolant spraying out of one of the plug holes? yes, you have an interal problem, No. check the dipstick is the oil level higher or oil Mocha you have an internal problem.
jho

Oh, new radiator or I would not use a sealer, there is plenty of scale in the engine and heater core and that the scale could block something maybe not your new radiator, but possibly your t-stat of heater core. jho.

 

I do not think he (CannV8) is pushing it on him either...he just does not want to get into the HG repair business. If this is even what the issue is... I don't fault him for that. He is in the business to replace motors and in my personal experience after a HG repair and then less than 200miles later, a oil pump gear explosion, I lost all confidence in the stock oem motor and bought from CannV8 a replacement motor...I just figured he was a close resource for CaptCulp to reach out to for repair advice in rural Oklahoma.

CaptCulp if it is a HG repair please do yourself a favor and research for the best "bulletproof way to replace the HG" with correct shaving of the head, the best gasket(not oem) and ARP studs....my 2.5cents