Got some issues...
 

Anti lock, trac off and service engine soon light came on....assuming its the speed sensor.

and then this....i got in the car this morning and started driving. I always wait until it heats up a little and then i turn the heat on. Well...the heat worked for a little bit then it got kind of cold. The temp needle goes past the half way mark....half way to the 3/4 mark and then it goes right back down to the normal mark. Now i know you guys usually say its air in the cooling system but it hasn't done this since i had the bad head gasket (which was like a year and a half ago). NEVER did it.....until now. So does this mean i have a coolant leak? Hope its not the LIM cause i got that done like 90,000 miles ago:lol: I know he replaced it with the Fel-pro gasket....along with the head gasket.... so what does this sound like? I hope its just a little air in the system and i can just crack the cap on the reservoir while i drive it so a little air can get out... any suggestions?

A spike and drop in a temp gauge does suggest air in the cooling system, there is a bleeder valve on the water pump for that, not the cap off the bottle.

However, your loss of heat is what worries me. That usually is a LIMG or head gasket issue. Are there air bubbles in you coolant? Does the car vomit coolant out of the tube on the bottle? More so after flooring it?

Do this.

Park on the street (mom and dad might get pissed if you do this in the driveway ;) ) level surface, pop the hood while your waiting for the car to warm up. Watch the coolant bottle, quick revs in park, if the coolant stays in place, that's one HG leak you don't have. Then crack when hot (be careful) with a 7mm socket and spinner and see what comes out. Coolant should come out right away. If not, it's air, then coolant and see what color the coolant is.

Before you start the car, check the oil and smell the dipstick. People at work make fun of me for this, but sometimes and coolant isn't on the stick just yet, but the scent of coolant is. This happened with one of my LIMG leaks :awesome:

Cool, thanks Ken. Will do tomorrow. Really hope its not a big issue BUT if it is......3500 might be coming sooner than i thought ;) :)

in all my experience working on gm cars iv never had one "just get air in it" if there wasnt a problem. Personaly if it was me a would search around for a "block tester" and purchas one to keep on hand. There usualy like 60 bucks and comes with a tube u stick on ur coolan t bottle and fill with blue fluid. Next with engine running u suck air through the bottle with supplied pump and if there is any combustion gasses in ur coolant the fluid will turn yellow.

Just went out and checked....coolant is dumping out the overflow....just like when i had my HG problem. I didn't bother to start the car and check cause i could tell it was coming out the rubber piece. eff! I dont need this right now....it never ends....

lol...idk what you're trying to imply there Chris but this is a perfect opportunity for me to FINALLY do the 3500 swap. I just need to find one for the right price. Also , when i get this 3500 i want fresh gaskets in it so i dont have to deal with this shit. I've been emaling around today....i guess we'll see what i get in response by monday.

Well the good news is that it's a combustion into coolant leak and not oil in coolant or vice versa.

I drove my car for 6 months with this leak, including to ASS 09 :eek:

I did go thru about 4 gallons of anti-freeze, but no overheat issues

it's a diagram of head gasket removal on a 3400
it's my opinion that the head gasket is leaking

Now the question is.....who do i go through for the 3500? Should i buy one locally, then get the port and polished upper and lower intake mani's plus the bigger TB from milzy or wot....or....should i go through milzy or wot for everything? I emailed them both but i feel like im gonna be paying a lot more if i go through one of them.

BUT if i do go through one of them at least i will get the engine already assembled and i can swap it right in and be done. Got a buddy who's very mechanically inclined so if i did buy one locally he can help me with the other stuff. Its just a matter of time....this is my DD and i can't have it off the road too long.


Decisions decisions.... very stressed out today.....hopefully i can drive it for a while without issues (besides filling the coolant everyday). Ken, i would be nervous driving a long distance with a HG leak....although I have driven her before with a coolant leak....just a PITA....then i worry every time i drive her cause i cant breakdown anywhere or i will go crazy lol.

Can someone educate me on why when its first warming up the needle goes past the half way mark and then goes back down and never goes back up? Today i drove it for like an hour after it did that and it didn't do it again.


New plan....since im in a rush to get this done im just gonna swap in a stock 3500 and do the mods to it a little later when i have the extra money.

I did a 1400 mile trip on my leaky head gasket. And I was giving it some good throttle while far away from home... it was a dangerous game. Glad I made it back without major problems.. had a medium problem and had to fix a blown coolant fitting on the side of the road but yeah.

because the air bubble is purged, and coolant is now fully (or at least more so) enveloping all the metal and transferring heat properly.

until a significant amount of air is added to the system again. you give that thing 100% throttle for a bit and you can bet the coolant temp will spike, and might not come back down. the extra pressure in the system might blow off a hose or cause it to dump all out your coolant tank etc.

same exact behavior on my car.

Yup

And I would go thru Ben at WOT tech for everything. Yeah your going to pay, but at the same time, the market for these motors are limited. There are SOME parts ava on Summit, but only P&P stuff I've seen is from Ben and Milzy.

However, Milzy has gotten some bad rap lately. Stick with Ben