tomcat

I was under my car today and found some streaks of coolant starting from the top of the block (i.e., between block and head) on the pass side. Oil looked ok and the coolant looked ok. No drivability problems. Not losing coolant.

Is this a sign of a soon-to-be blown head gasket?

Mrmerlin

it sounds like the head gasket is starting to leak I would monitor the leak and drive it if it gets too bad then your looking at a head gasket reseal cut the heads and clean up the block, the gaskets seem to get fouled up from not changing the coolant frequently and not driving the car, the head gasket probably wont blow but a leak from the edge will be noticable

tomcat

Thanks Mrmerlin. I don't think I'll be able to take my eye off the temp gauge now.

Oscar M

John,

I've had to replace my head gaskets. When I had everything put back and driving for a couple of weeks, I noticed a coolant seep that I initially though was a mistake on my part during reassembly. It turned out to be the elbows at the rear of the block. They're easy to locate and fix if this turn out to be the problem. Remove the air filter assembly and locate the coolant elbows on each head. The brackets that support the air filter assembly are partially bolted to these colant elbbows. The gasket is simple enough to make. Use some sealant and bolt everything back. During final assembly on my car, I needed to loosen the bolts on the air assembly in order to get them to lign up and forgot to tighten them back up......result: coolant seep that at first appeared to be coming from the head. Hopefully it's a simple thing like this. let us know.

Oscar

PorKen

When it got real cold here, I noticed that both cars weeped at the big coolant bridge O-ring (neither have been replaced).

Mrmerlin

Ahh dont try adding a radiator stop leak, fix it right or dont fix it at all. the stop leak will plug up other things that you might not want getting plugged

alex70

Didn't someone use JB weld a while ago?

J/K do not attempt

JP Rodkey

In the absense of other symptoms, it's too early to assume head gasket leak. Buy, rent, borrow a coolant system pressure tester. Much more likely a hose leak or clamp problem.

hupp

I believe the shark Juvius(SP?) purchased had a head which was jb - welded to the block. I believe jb weld was also used to patch a crack in a cylinder wall as well. He is now bulding up a used engine to replace. I wonder how that is going - haven't seen a "jacked heads" post in a while...

hacker-pschorr

Maybe not

My 81 was leaking coolant from the same area - pressure test pretty much confirmed it (at least we thought). During the teardown process I found the coolant bridge leaking on the lower half. The lower hole holding on the coolant bridge was stripped, causing the leak. Due to where the coolant was coming from it looked like a HG.

This was back in '04, since the SC was going on soon I pulled the heads anyway, gaskets were fine.

tomcat

No need for this warning. Maybe a solution for people trying to sell their cars, but not a good permanent one - especially with expensive radiators.

Pressure test sounds like a good first step. But I will check out the other joints to see if the leak is starting somewhere else.

Thanks.

lorenolson888

Make sure you have ruled out the thermostat housing and the various connections to the block, and heads...

You have ro remove a bunch of stuff to get at it and there are several rind seals...

BUt it is more likely than head leaking...

LO