Weeping Head Gasket While Pulling '95 12v HELP!!

1

1slowhatch

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Jul 6, 2009
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Just bought a 24 ft enclosed car hauler to move cross country. Got it all loaded up (around 11k lbs total), and pulled it around some today. Noticed coolant all over the passenger side of the engine. Thought it might have been a hose or water pump, but it has pretty clear rust stains on the front passenger side of the block just under the head. Looks to be weeping coolant out the head gasket. I just towed this trailer back 6 1/2 hrs from Southern GA to Knoxville, TN and lost some coolant, but not enough to really worry about. The truck doesn't run hot and pulls awesome.

It does seem to be losing a lot more with the loaded trailer behind it. Are there any temporary fixes for this? Retorquing head bolts, sealant..etc!? If not, I may have to purchase another truck for the trip. Planned to leave tomorrow..
 
Pretty common area for the head gasket to let go. The good news it is an external leak. You could try re-torquing the head. I would install a lower pressure radiator cap. I drove several months with a 5-6 psi cap with no issues. I think you can make the trip. Take it easy, and keep some spare coolant on board, and check frequently.

Do not use any stop leak unless it is your last ditch effort. You will never get all of that crap out of your system. I don't care how many times you flush it.
 
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I'm with Shainer. Good luck, take it easy on her. Hell you Can even leave the cap on the first click loose.
 
It may run a little warmer, but as said, if you keep the coolant level up it should be fine. Of course, the safest option is to fix it. Make sure to have the head resurfaced when doing so.
 
At 11k you should be good without overheating unless you're doing some long steep mountain grades.

Or you could just pull the head and do a gasket real quick. It'd only take you a few hours if you don't have any seized bolts, and your coolant level might be low enough to where you don't even have to drain that! ha ha

And the only way to get stop leak all the way out is hot tanking the head/block and grabbing a new radiator (imo).
 
If I were you, I'd do a retorque and add in some sort of stop leak. If the truck has no future hotrod plans, this band-aid fix will probably last forever.

Be sure to check/adjust valve lash after the retorque, it will tighten up some when the gasket settles down tighter.
 
Big Blue24 said:
If I were you, I'd do a retorque and add in some sort of stop leak. If the truck has no future hotrod plans, this band-aid fix will probably last forever.

Be sure to check/adjust valve lash after the retorque, it will tighten up some when the gasket settles down tighter.
Click to expand...

What intervals? Final torque?
 
1slowhatch said:
You guys think the truck will stay cool without being able to pressurize the cooling system pulling a trailer?
Click to expand...

That's why I recommended the 5-6 psi cap. That still allows boil over protection around 224 degrees (calculated on straight water, will be even higher with coolant). I didn't press on the head re-torque since you needed to make the return trip. In the off chance a head bolt broke or some other issue occurred you would be dead in the water. You can look into a re torque when you get to your final destination. If that doesn't work you should pull the head get it inspected, decked, valve stem guides checked, and new valve stem seals.
 
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