LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

lt1 problem

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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 02:31 AM
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my lt1 lately has been puking water out of the coolant overflow tank. it will only happen when i park the car after i have drove it. it will puke water and leave like a little pile of foam. im not sure what is wrong with it, but my dad says it looks like oil is mixing in with the water. but if that is true, then what is causing it to puke? i was thinking that maybe after i shut the car off, the fans do not stay on to cool the engine. therfore the temps rise, and maybe cause the system to over pressurize?
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 02:51 AM
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A head gasket seals 3 things, water, compression, and oil. If oil and water are mixing, you can bet the cylinder compression is leaking into the water jackets. This will cause the car to 'puke' out water. You, my friend, have a blown head gasket.

They are not terribly difficult to replace, but time consuming and dirty.
You dont want to drive it unless absolutely necessary as the oil is contaminated with water, and this will wear stuff out much faster.
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 04:59 PM
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the problem i am having is that the car is puking out the overflow canister. the overflow canister, when full, will vent out into the atmosphere. the water that the car is puking is pushing past the radiator cap into the overflow, then out through the overflow can. why would it do this? does that sound like a head gasket? if it is, should i just go ahead and change them for some mls?
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 05:05 PM
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it happens to me whenever i fill up my radiator and put too much water in my overflow tank it cycles through the system and then dumps into the overflow and it is too much in there so it drips out
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 05:05 PM
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also check under the battery to make sure that line is not busted it is a common problem and it makes it seem like it is comming out of the overflow tank
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 10:20 PM
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If you did abdolutely nothing to the coolant system, and now it is 'puking' water, and your dad said water is mixing with the oil then YOU HAVE A BLOWN HEAD GASKET! My best friends father owns a local auto auction, your cars symptoms are the easiest way to determine a head gasket leak. We see this all the time there. The hard part is determining which head it is thats leaking. If I were you, I would replace them both. BTW this is a good excuse to upgrade the valvetrain and toss a new bump stick in there.
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Old Oct 14, 2009 | 10:27 PM
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find out if there is actually anything mixed in the coolant, check the oil for milkshake, and what does the temp look like
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