I Think my Head or Intake Gaskets are Shot

[mvftw]

I got this car ('86 2.8L) in '98 for free. One female owner (couldn't pass it up). It had 9 quarts of muck in the engine. The intake manifold failed and her mechanic told her it was the oil pump...go figure... So i got a 50k mile engine and used just the new bottom end. I had my heads rebuilt. Anyway for the last 4 years, it has given me no problems. No oil or water leaks, until Saturday. My overflow was empty, I looked for a leak and found none. Sunday morning it was empty again now I said I better change the oil, and I found the green stuff. I put in Bars-All...maybe I'll get lucky or it's back to the parts store...

 

[JohnZ]

If you've got coolant in the oil, Bars-All isn't going to help, and you should stop driving it immediately before you lose the main and rod bearings, cam and lifters.

 

[DPF]

If you've got coolant in the oil, Bars-All isn't going to help, and you should stop driving it immediately before you lose the main and rod bearings, cam and lifters.

You betcha!! :nono
Dave

 

[mvftw]

Well I got one bullet left, I found out about a product that may work, if Not, it's gasket time. I told my brother about the leak (he has a Real 8 sec. race car) and said that the racers use something called Zotite (he said it's not ez to find), so I googled it and got no response, so went to a local auto store and found over the counter brands that seal head geaskets & blocks. I asked the guy if they work, he said NO! He said the only product that May work is called Zotite. Then he says that a local Long Island guy invented it and I can get it a few miles away... Intresting...

 

[goingballistic]

You like living on the edge.............antifreeze + oil is a BAD combination to drive with. If you do find something to plug it, it won't last for long and I'd be willing to bet that when you least expect it, it'll let go and cost you a lot more than a head gasket to fix :cry

 

[mvftw]

That's how I got this car for free...go figure. I'm going monitor it closely. If it doesn't leak, one for the good guys, but if does leak...

 

[MMM]

2.8's have a reputation for intake manifold gasket failure. The gasket is thin around the water outlets and because of the different rates of expansion for the manifold (aluminum) and heads (cast iron) leaks occur. Best way to prevent is to retorque the manifold periodically. Don't ask me how I know. But I did post the procedure I used to get antifreeze out of a lube system. And to date, that 2.8 has 270,000 miles, no rebuild, and burns a quart of 10W-30 every 2000 miles.
Mike

 

[mvftw]

MMM, maybe that's Not a bad idea. Just re-torque the lower manifold...

 

[69396Chevy]

Never ever trust or think any of that "Mechanic in a Can" stuff will work. All any of that bars leak stuff will do is plug up more of your system since its passages are probably much smaller than new just from normal use.

 

[mvftw]

I don't believe that's true. I believe that Bars Leak is used at the factory...With all the aluminum engines and plastic radiators out there. Also so far no leaks with the Bars All...

 

[69396Chevy]

After a head gasket experience with chrysler with a 2.2L in it that plugged my entire system and rendured the car pretty much useless and a brother in law who tried one of those motor flush products I'll never ever in a million years ever dump anything like that in my oil or coolant. The brother inlaw who is a very good mechanic put motor flush in an older Ford LTD he had years ago right before a trip to Cedar Point with the family . . . yea it cleaned it up so good he spun the bearings right out of it!! People dont realize after years of use these things cause MUCH more damage than good . . . maybe in new cars its OK but in older cars forget it!! In the bearings case after years of driving sludge has taken the place of bearing material . . . well what happens after you clean all of that material out is sloppy bearings.

You take your chances when you use any of that stuff but I'd never ever recommend putting anything in. Anyone who thinks any sort of Mechanic in a Can will fix their problems is only dreaming. In the case with my chrysler I added a can after I had a head gasket leak, never fixed it so I had the head gaskets replaced . . . after about 2-3 days the car overheated because all the passages were plugged in the radiator and blew another head gasket so the 450 I paid to have it fixed was out the window and I was minus one car for good since the cost to rebuild the engine and replace the cooling system was more than the car was worth.