car is using coolant and when checking the level the stick is a little oily. the temp gauge is all over the place. fans and ewp are working fine.

what are the possible problems???

 

blown head gasket?

 

that's what I'm hoping. any way I can tell for sure without pulling the heads??

 

Leakdown test. You should see bubbles in the radiator. Did you drain the oil to see if there was an coolant in the oil.

 

no I didn't. the dipstick looked fine, but I'll drain some today and see.

 

good luck john, hopefully just a head gasket.

 

If you can find a local tool dealer such as (MAC, Snap-on, Matco) They can sell you a Block Tester that costs about $50. This tool works well in determining if you have a blown head gasket.

 

under the oil cap is creamy white...

 

That really doesn't mean a whole lot. 90% of the LS1s I have seen get that same build up under the cap.

 

hmmm, I've never noticed it before

 

Pull the plugs..If coolant is leaking into the cylinder at all you'll see the difference on the plug.

 

any chance this could be an EWP problem???

 

I know what blown head gaskets are like.

Do this, when the car is cold. Take off the cap, and top up the radiator to full. Start it up, and when it goes down top it up to full. If you drive it for a few days check it and if you need to add a quart or more you have a blown headgasket or a leak. Usually I can smell the burning coolant. When you swapped the intake if you did not torque it right you could have leaned out some cylinders.

 

thanks for the input. It's using more coolant than that. it was cold and I added about a quart, drove it about 10 miles and had to add probably half a quart to fill it. I don't plan on driving it any more till it's fixed, I don't want to screw anything up any more than it is now. sooo glad I bought a silverado ss a few months ago!

I really can't drive it at all. the temp gauge goes all over, it'll go up to being pegged and then go back down to normal and back and forth. it didn't seem to matter much at what speeds I was driving either


I've swapped intakes quite a few times in the past and never had any problems... you could be right though

 

If you are filling up the overflow, and the temp gauge is fine until you stop, and then it rises like crazy, those were the symptoms when I blew a head gasket back in 2000 when I was h/c.

 

ya, from what i remember it's ok till I come to a stop then overheats and will then just go all over driving at any speeds.

good deal, I hope that's what it is.

should be back to the track next sunday then. I'll keep you guys updated.

 

Have you ever raced that blue 03 cobra? If you haven't you need to. Then hopefully that guy will shut up and stop acting like he is such a bad ***. I saw your car on mofbody.com was the picture of you pulling the wheels taken at mokan?

 

yep. last sunday.

 

If you are not using JPR heads I cant tell you what is wrong with it..

 

no I'm not. Raging Motorsports heads.