I know what this usually means, but my friend's truck spews out steam/white smoke when it runs, this has happened with 3 different engines and a new intake in that truck, he's at wit's end.

however I noticed some things:

no white stuff under the cap
when it was running, no pressure in the cooling system

it's an '87 pickup with a carb. the newest block came from an EFI, but the intake is carbureted.

any ideas other than the obvious blown headgasket? (which would be just irony at this point.)

 

where is he getting he motors from? rebuilds or just junkyard motors?

 

check the intake manifold/gasket. A leak there could also be letting coolant into the combustion chambers.

 

salvaged, pretty much, one was a rebuild and it failed pretty bad, the block itself was messed up. the truck he got the current block out of was running IIRC. it was an EFI.

most of the parts are from the first motor (intake is new, and the original intake was the initial problem)

I'm thinking either the water pump is busted or the thermostat is stuck closed, and possibly the block is expanding while the head isn't; causing a leak. Hopefully, it didn't blow the head gasket when it ran it last time.


and the intake was taken care of already, isnt the problem (now anyway, it used to be the problem)

I'm starting to think it's engine gremlins.


Anyone have any cooling system diagrams that are in depth and show where the coolant goes throughout the engine?

the loss in pressure baffles me.