carguygt500

I noticed I have coolant running down the drivers side of my engine block, and upon further investigation I found the coolant to be coming from the block to head mating surface on the driver's side. This is defiantly NOT a freeze plug leak in case you are thinking I didn't check. I'm really at a loss of what to do because I have driven the truck over 500 miles since I noticed the problem and I don't have any indication of oil and coolant mixing nor have I had to add any coolant at all. The truck still has lots of power and gets great mileage. Nearest I can figure its a very very slow leak because the coolant seems to burn off before it hits the oil pan which explains why I didn't notice any spots on the driveway. My question is has anyone heard of an external head gasket leak before or could this be something else? Should I even worry about it since its not really effecting anything? Any input helps.

92 TOY

I remember IAMSUPERBLEEDER having an external leak on his 22re after his rebuild, but,as far as I know, it was resloved with a re-torquing of the head bolts.

I also read that GNARLYX had commented about having an external leak and resolved it with something (I think) called ALUMASEAL???

Any recent work??? Is this a rebuilt engine, any recent head work or overheating???

There is a debate going on right now on another thread about additives such as ALUMASEAL and THERMAGASKET.

For what it's worth, and I hate anyone else spending money for me, but I will say it to you.....it is probably in your BEST interest to change the headgasket at this point....so many other members here have done it or are doing it that there are plenty of threads around dcumenting the procedure very well (my thread as well except mine was the timing chain broke through the wall of the timing cover causing my problem).

carguygt500

Only engine work done semi-recently was a timing chain but i cannot verify that as I have only owned the truck for about three weeks and I was "told" by its previous owner that it had several things done like that timing chain and a clutch as well as some other things. No overheating rough-running or any real issues of any kind related to a blown head gasket (such as coolant in the oil). No loss in performance or economy. Its the weirdest thing.

I completely agree with changing the head gasket, its just a matter of money and time like anything else. I feel like I have the aptitude to do it correctly as well as the tools necessary. I guess I was hoping for someone to tell me its not a big deal, but I know better. I just thought it was a unique problem as I have never encountered this before.

92 TOY

take a picture of the area and post it up.
I've seen plenty of testimony that you CAN change the timing cover without doing the head gasket but I've also seen writings that disturbing the headgasket while doing that can cause future problems.
my opinion is that the more towards the front the leak is, the more likely that is the case for you.
wait for others to chime in, but I would start off simple.....maybe it just needs a re-torquing...that is supposed to be done (I think) within the 1st 500 miles.

carguygt500

I'll try and get a picture up later today. The leak does seem to be coming from up front but its not coming from the timing cover, its defiantly coming from the head gasket.

92 TOY

what I meant was the timing cover sandwiches between the oil pan and the head and the headgasket has a corresponding overhang. In order to do the cover without taking the head off, cover has to be slid in between without destroying the overhanging headgasket portion so either the pan gets loosened down or the head gets loosened up thus disturbing either or both the head seal and the oil pan.
Again, I think the simplist and 1st test would be to check that the head bolts are to spec, I would bet they aren't for whatever reason. If they DID do the headgasket with the timing cover, perhaps they just need re-torquing or maybe they re-used the bolts or the head is warped or the gasket is crap or the bolt holes were not cleaned out properly and made the bolts bottom out falsely giving a proper torque reading.

92 TOY

this is the thread from IAMSUPERBLEEDER that shows his leak
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...essing-188750/

swampfox

a friend of mine had his head gasket done by a local garage, and it started leaking with in 800 miles. the leak was in about the center of the head.we went ahead and replaced the gasket to be safe. once it started leaking we were afraid the gasket might have been damaged. i have also replaced a few timing chains with out removing the head,without any problems .

86 TOY

Any progress on finding the leak? I'm sure your anxious as heck to get out and work in these sub zero wind chills! Mine is leaking too, oil though not coolant.

carguygt500

The leak is defiantly coming from the head/block mating surface but its very very slow so I think im gonna wait till March to fix it with a new head gasket. There is not coolant or oil mixing its strictly an external coolant leak. No pics yet Im working on that.

carguygt500

So I ordered a full timing set from engnbuldr.com including a timing-cover, water pump, oil pump, full timing kit with steel rail and tensioner and all necssary gaskets. Then I ordered a full gasket kit for upper engine and factory head gasket, as well as radiator hoses, thermostat, and all heater hoses from 22reperformance.com. Then I bought all the miscilanious parts like coolant, oil, vacuum tubing, radiator cap, and belts from auto zone. My plan is to pull the head and have it pressure tested and decked then I think I can bolt it back on. While the head is off I am going to send my injectors to witchhunterperformance.com for a rebuild. Any other suggestions let me know. I wanna do everything while I'm in there.

iamsuperbleeder

stock cam?

maybe you can throw in a nice cam from engnbldr



PICS!

olharleyman

YA get a head shim to match the deck you get done on the head to bring it back to stock height also look into oversized valves for the head or a complete head set up from engnbldr makes a huge difference

Beaniam

In summer 2008 I came out to my truck to a puddle of coolant under it at work. Leak was from passenger side head gasket. Threw in a vile of that alumaseal stuff and a 5 gallon bottle of water in the bed and started off home. The leak is still there to this day but it is about a quart of coolant a month. Not really enough to warrant me tearing the engine down yet but I do have the parts on hand for when I do.

carguygt500

I started tearing down the engine but I only had a few hours after the Superbowl. Making good progress and I have been taking pictures too. Toughest part was getting to the idler pulley bolts behind the power-steering pulley. Took off the entire bracket instead saved lots of time. Radiator is out, the exhaust is disconnected including PAIR, and all the hoses are disconnected ready for the valve cover to be taken off. I am removing the exhaust manifold and the intake manifold with the head and stripping it on my work bench. I need to get the head off tomorrow night so I can have it at the machine shop by Tuesday afternoon. They are gonna pressure test it and most likely deck it. Hopefully nothing else. I will post pics and update tomorrow. Any tips would be appreciated.