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cracked head or block easy to find?

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Old Jan 19, 2010 | 07:18 PM
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Default cracked head or block easy to find?

ok guys my ss has water in the oil after my recent turbo install its not a water and oil cooled turbo before sum one asks.

i posted over in the forced induction section thinking it was a blown head gasket but they said ls1s arent like traditional engines where the oil gets milky. if you get that, its a cracked head or block. my question is will it be easy to find which one is cracked? im in the process of tearing it down now and was curious if itd be easy to spot right away or if im going to have to take my stuff sum where to get pressure tested

thanks guys
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Old Jan 19, 2010 | 09:00 PM
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Someone told you oil in an LS1 couldn't get milky from a blown headgasket? That's just bad information. I've seen many LS1's with blown head gaskets get water in the oil. I actually had one car come in here running with more water than oil in the pan due to blown head gaskets. It could be blown head gasket, cracked head, or cracked block.

Shane
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Old Jan 19, 2010 | 09:25 PM
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a cracked block or head would only be easy to spot if its a pretty bad crack... Usually the blocks are checked by magnaflux (sp?) and the heads are pressure/vacum checked.
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Old Jan 20, 2010 | 08:28 AM
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I hope its just the head gaskets I'm in the process of taking it apart right now I guess well find out shortly the head gaskets should be pretty easy to see if they're messed up right?
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Old Jan 29, 2010 | 09:53 PM
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Aite guys I got my engine tore down but nothing looks bad on the middle studs the big ones at the ttop not the little ones at the very top but the middle 4 when I pulled them out had oil on the studs both sides is that normal? The head gaskets aren't messed up and no obvious cracks ima take the heads to the local shop tomorrow and get them checked and pray its not the block
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Old Jan 29, 2010 | 10:06 PM
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There are tattle tale signs of leaking head gaskets on the cylinder head itself if you know what you're looking for. Any competent machine shop will be able to tell you by just eye balling them. If not, a simple pressure check will tell the story.
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Old Jan 31, 2010 | 08:41 PM
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the head gaskets looked good except for one had a litle bit of this brown gunk not a lot just a little. i really dont know what to call it except for GUNK lol ever seen that before?
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