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Possibly Head Gasket Problem

3K views 21 replies 2 participants last post by  jdhallissey 
#1 ·
Hi everyone, i hope you may be able to help my delima. I live on The Rock... Aka St.thomas USVI Corrosion city.... Tonight i was drving home and all of a sudden steam starts to pour out the left side of my vehicle and a dramatic loss of engine power. So i pull over and shut it off. i wait about a hour and let it cool thinking its a over heating problem. so i start it back up and continue up the hill the car feeling as if nothing happened. Then it started agian. so i turned it off and locked it up and im now praying that a rasta doesnt make it his home over night.... SO im pretty sure its a head gasket but i want to make sure its not the head... if it was the head it would over heat like a mother right ??? and gasket leak would just steam and loose engine pressure right ????????? :banghead: damn cars breaking at 1 am..................................

Thanking for taking the time to read
 
#2 ·
first TRUCK not a car lol!

Need some more info. How many miles? 6 cyc 4 cyc? What do you mean by pouring out? Are you low on coolant? Is it milk shaked?
 
#3 ·
A gasket does not steam outward. Was it missing? Knocking? Did the exhaust get louder?
 
#4 ·
My Bad with the car thing.. i think a wrangler is a class of its own. Ok lets first start with its a V6 with about 49k on it and i dont believe it was low because i checked it about a week ago. The Engine light did come on randomly some times but i never noticed anything malfunctioning maybe this was it. Not to sure if it was milk shacky but it was transparent( i guess not milk shacky???) Dont know if its missing... no Knocking and no the exhaust did not get louder. just a drop from 30 mph to 20mph and the heat gauge was still away from the red zone.
 
#6 ·
Take the radiator cap off and look in it. If it is not green. IE brown then you know your head gasket went. If it is green there is still hope. The missing is obvious, the engine will feel like it is skipping and you will here it. Sound like your missing a cylinder. Does the rpm bounce when the truck is on?
 
#8 ·
I can be on all nite if need be. list of things to check.
1- different color radiator fluid. Should be green, not brown.
2- Turn on truck. See when it starts to steam. Try timing it(how long it takes to steam).(leave hood open) Note anything that seems odd with it running. Sounds like a diesel and so forth.
3- When it is steaming check to see where it is coming from.

Only do 3 if there are no sounds of rod knock, metal on metal, it will almost sound like somebody knocking on a door. You know what metal on metal sounds like. I really don't think it is a head gasket to be honest.

tow it back with the scooter!
 
#9 ·
I can be on all nite if need be. list of things to check.
1- different color radiator fluid. Should be green, not brown.
2- Turn on truck. See when it starts to steam. Try timing it(how long it takes to steam).(leave hood open)
3- When it is steaming check to see where it is coming from.

Only do 3 if there are no sounds of rod knock, metal on metal, it will almost sound like somebody knocking on a door. You know what metal on metal sounds like. I really don't think it is a head gasket to be honest.
ok ill take picture with camera phone too
 
#10 ·
That works nice!
 
#11 ·
I can be on all nite if need be. list of things to check.
1- there was none in there but when i touched the inside it was rusty looking and black liqued.
2- Didnt start steaming (maybe nothing to steam?) temp never got to red
3- and it looked as if it was coming some where towards the back of the block in the midd section area. possible steaming out of the headers????
4- No knocking or engine light signal..... didnt dare drive or floor it but i gave it gas.





And the liqued on the ground was clear but it might have been just the condinsation from the steam from earlier
 
#12 ·
hmm interesting. How far is the truck to your place?
 
#14 ·
haha- So when you stepped on the gas it reved up just fine? No bouncing?
 
#17 ·
Is this the first time it did it? I am thinking something is loose. Because If you loose the head gasket it will go. No in between stages. In the morning I would say check for liquid leaks under the truck. Check the engine for run marks of liquid running down it. If it is steam that is coming up oil smokes a lot when it hits the manifolds.

DOH I AM A MORON. Check to see if your valve cover is leaking. I could not explain for the power loss tho
 
#18 ·
ok so i found out it might have been a missing freeze plug..... BUT Guess what!!! its not its the damn dealer ship down here they fixed a small hole with some chitty welding and it has rusted and more than likely ruined the entire area around it...... Pictures.... anyone can tell when where about the engine this is im not familiar with inline engines















 
#19 ·
looks like a knock out they welded. Hmm if somebody can tell you the size of that knock out you can buy a new one.Get the old one out some how and put this one back in its place. That sucks by the way. I would try taking it back and going WTF is this?
 
#20 ·
i honestly have no idea what a knock out is...:confused: could you explain the function of that area. like i said im not to savvy about inline engines( is it a knock out freeze plug that some tried to weld because it was leaking ??? and all i have to do is grind away all the old shit and replace it ????
 
#22 ·
Yes if you can get a bit to fit that plug with a swivel and a extension then hook that to the impact gun you should be able to break it loose. Make sure your swivel is made for the impact or you will snap it right in 2. Then get a new one the right size put some pipe dope on it the threads screw it in and you should be fine. The trick is trying to get that old plug out. You may have to pull the motor to get it out.
 
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