camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

Well I just finished up my head swap I was working on for the past 5 days and it wasn't hard, just extremely time consuming. Well after first startup I started getting a slow thin smoke coming from under the hood after about 30 seconds from both head gaskets. There is no coolant on the ground and the engine has 50psi of oil pressure. I was just wondering if this is from the brand new head and header gaskets with copper spray.

I also am slightly confused on how I should add coolant to the engine. I added about 40oz through the "throttle body bypass" tube and about half a gallon through the regular fill spout. But don't want to drive around the block until I know there is enough coolant in the engine.

Thanks.

twitchtwice

iTrader: (12)

as long as the smoke goes away after a few minutes your fine. those are all those oils from the car and your hands getting burnt off the engine.

50psi is good, especially if you installed ported oil pump, but once warmed up it should hover around 40 depending on your pressure gauge.

before you start the car take off the radiator cap and see how much fluid is in there and start it up and let it get to operating temperature and if the fluid never lowers then your probably fine.

camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

Now I feel sick, was driving fine around the block but after it was at 210deg for a minute, smoke started pouring out of the hood and started coming in the car through the passenger foot well.

It looks like there is antifreeze on the rear of the manifold and on the egr circular valve, can also see some on the firewall. This sucks so much. Is it possible there isn't enough coolant or something came off back there?

Still no antifreeze on the floor though, never went above 2000rpm. Thanks.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

There is a coolant plug in the rear of the passenger side head, did you install it? It is in the back.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

I would check hoses first because it is easier. If a hose is leaking back there it will dump directly on the exhaust. Failing that, you may have a head gasket issue. What gaskets did you use?

camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

Every time I add coolant to the radiator there is coolant pouring off the transmission bellhousing....this sucks so bad.

I was probably driving for 2 minutes with hardly any coolant in the car.

Used cometic gaskets with copper spray and spent hours cleaning the block deck and I can't see how this could be leaking but what coolant tube could be there?

gayslowassNALSjunk

iTrader: (2)

lol, There's a missing plug or a hose is of..

camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

I'm an idiot

Now to see If I can reach this without having to take anything more than the coils off.

camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

Also, every time I remove the battery terminals or connect them my hatch pops but I don't have the hatch button option.

Yahelou

iTrader: (23)

just curious, what is that plug called?

5.3LJimmy

iTrader: (10)

My car does something similar, but much worse. When I disconnect and reconnect my battery my doors lock! The first time it did this I had the keys in the ignition and I only have one set(which is strange since you can't lock the door with the switch when the key is in). Luckily I was in the middle of my TH350 swap and hadn't yet covered the hole where the shifter goes into the car. I was able to lay under the car and pull the key out of the ignition. Now the first thing I do before unhooking the battery is put the window down.

I've never tried but I'm sure it's gonna be tough to put the coolant plugs back on without pulling the intake. Good luck with it.

JimMueller

iTrader: (9)

GM Coolant [Air Bleed] Plug. Typically used with a later design coolant pipes when using a LS6 or later intake manifold.

sscamaroburn02

iTrader: (14)

Yeah that plug is important. when I was installing my heads I forget to put this on the back of the head. it was a pain in the *** to get back to it. had to remove everything again.

camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

F$#K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The drivers side gasket is dripping off the rivit .................................................. ...........................

I'm not taking that **** apart again, I took so much time cleaning that block and the gaskets weren't opened until I was ready to put them on and I used copper spray. What the hell.

01Z0H6

iTrader: (63)

That sucks Bro.... I am hating it for you...!

twitchtwice

iTrader: (12)

what gaskets did you use? did you do the proper torque down sequence for the heads?

camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

Torqued everything down correctly, I didn't notice the passenger side but there are no drops over there. I have now 10 hours total working on this POS today alone! Just pulled the head again.

How many think it's a bad idea to try to reuse the gasket again? I'll most likely just blow another $70 on a new one....

camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

20-12551933 GM LS1 Coolant Seal (4 required) $7.49

Is this the correct part number for the 2 coolant block off tabs and the 2 coolant feed lines for the heads. Thanks.

eallanboggs

iTrader: (1)

It might help if you make a checklist as you pull the top end down and just go in reverse order during reassembly. That way nothing is forgotten. This doesn't take up a lot of extra time, but it pays BIG benefits if it keeps you from forgetting an important step. It also helps if you keep like parts together and marked so when time comes to put things back together you can just grab one zip lock bag and pull out all the fasteners for a particular function. Some people can tear a GenI 350 small block apart and throw every nut, bolt and screw in a bucket and then put it back together without missing a beat. I'm not one of them, but if you don't do this stuff every day these small steps can be a life saver.

camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

Yea, I'll most likely be one of those guys that can just throw it in a bucket after this second teardown in the same day...now I have to wait for gaskets..and my fingers to heal