TrickyTransAm

I think I'm being tortured from the big man up above....

Ive got about 5,700 miles on my car, drove it 3 times this year, and I've got coolant mixing in the oil. I can smell it in the exhaust, and when I take the filler cap off, it's in the filler neck and on the cap.

I had dexcool in it until year 5, and then I flushed it all out and put Prestone All Make All Model Yellow Long life in. (As Ive done with all of my vehicles now). The vehicle mainly sets with the exception of 3-4 shows per year. It's not abused or raced hard. It's never really overheated, but it has ran hot when it had the dexcool in it (210-215).
Since changing to Prestone, it dropped to around 200 or so.

Head gasket? Is this engine yet another victim of that Dexcool Crap, which may have corroded and ate my gasket away?
If so, does GM offer a Premium "Repair" gasket like they did for the 3.8's?

If not, is there a better aftermarket gasket out there, such as Trick Flow's Multi-Layer gasket?

I was looking at Scoggin Dickey's cylinder head packages - mabee now is the time to put some better parts on.

Anyway... anybody else have this problem? Advice?

OUTLAWZ RACING

iTrader: (9)

Hmmm... do you have milky oil? how often do you start your car i understand this is a show car right so the pcv lines shouldnot be in bad shape and do you ever park the car out side?

Yes gm mls gaskests are good.

conan

iTrader: (5)

I would pull the heads if it were my car. Was there white smoke coming out of your exhaust? I have cometic head gaskets and they great so far, There are expencive though. GM makes a MLS gasket that has very proven around here.

DaddySS

Whoa, condensation in the neck and cap are normal for a car that is rarely driven. If the oil is not a medium creamy bown the consistency of salad dressing, then you don't have a problem. Take it out for a good 30 to 40 minute drive (assuming the oil looks ok now), and then then check the oil again. If it still looks normal, ignore the condensation in the cap and neck.

jsteele90

iTrader: (13)

looks like condensation to me i wouldnt worry about it until the car started overheating or smoking white

TrickyTransAm

The car is in the heated garage all the time.
I start it up once or twice a week just to move it around, or go on short jaunts.
I thought it was condensation too...but the coolant smell really worries me. No white smoke, other than when it initially starts up, and it looks like normal cold engine exhaust. Not thick white like a bad head gasket leak.
The oil looks normal, but then again...in that 3800 nightmare, the oil looked fine in that too, until you put a light on it and saw the green tint.
The Change oil light came on. The oil is only about 6 months old, and is clean. - something that's never happened before....which makes me wonder if it's seeing thin oil.
When I took it over to a customers place, I could smell it heavily when backing out of their driveway. The sweet coolant smell. When I got home, I took the pics attached.
Today, I took it up to top the fuel off and put it's yearly Sta-Bil in, and I nailed it hard.
When I got home, this time, the filler neck had a layer of cream on it.

C

TrickyTransAm

The other questions would be.....
Is it better to drop the whole cradle to replace the heads, or is it easy enough to torque/angle the bolts under the hood?
I don't have a hoist...but if it's better to do it one way than the other..I'll have to find the means to do it right.

If I have to pull the heads... and I want a bit more power, would my safest bet be to just get a pair of GM LS6 heads, that would match the LS6 short block that's in my car? 12564243 - LS6 RPO 405hp Vette heads, and slide in a slightly larger cam?
I looked at Trick Flow's Head/Cam package and at $3K seems pricy. I can buy a whole built engine for about $4500.

SOMbitch

iTrader: (8)

Heads will come off fine w/o dropping the K member. I seriously doubt you have a blown H/G but run a pressure test or a chemical test for exhaust in the coolant and you will know for sure.

conan

iTrader: (5)

You can pull the heads while the engine is in the car. I have head studs and its not to hard. Also if your looking to new heads and cam you wont see the full potential with the stock exhaust. Trick flow heads are worth the $$. With a exhaust and that trick flow H/C pacage you'll be in the 450rwhp range. Check texas speed for the prc heads with one of there custom cams if the trick flows are out of your $$ range.

TrickyTransAm

If I do the heads, I'm going with QTP headers, based on info from a fellow member here.
I don't want to go too hog wild. I want it to look like a stock car, but with a few minor modifications. The stock manifolds are surface rusted from sitting so much...so I wont cry to see them dissapear. Plus the Cat's are still original - I didnt take the car in for the Recall to replace them. So they'll have to go at some point.
I'll do a compression test.
SOMbitch - do you have a link or info where I could get the chemical exhaust test? That's a new one to me, and I'd like to check it out.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

ha thats a good one. computer seeing thin oil. do a coolant system pressure check and a compression check. very simple no guessing.

SOMbitch

iTrader: (8)

[QUOTE
SOMbitch - do you have a link or info where I could get the chemical exhaust test? That's a new one to me, and I'd like to check it out.[/QUOTE]


NAPA sells them. Good luck.

Scoggin Dickey

iTrader: (34)

The oil light doesn't base itself on the actual condition of the oil. IT is based on nothing more than the last time that you reset it. It calculates when to turn on based on how long since it's been reset, based on miles and driving conditions, but it has no actual sensors for oil condition.

dz2a8r

The picture you posted just look like condensation..... absolutlely normal for as little as you drive the car. You can get the dye test at your local auto parts store. They're pretty simple to use. If you do your own oil changes I'd go ahead and change it and look for water as it comes out....or the creamy brown milkshake color. If there isn't any you should be good. You can also buy a coolant system pressure tester from your local parts store and check it that way. pump it up to about 15 lbs and let it sit for a few minutes to see if it leaks down......Good luck, but I think you should be alright.