Wow my LS has been having some trouble lately...

[teh_mugen18]

I took the head off the engine today, thinking that my headgasket was blown and upon further inspection, i noticed that the main coolant passage was completely blocked off with dirt. Now, if that is blocked off, would it explain the fact that the engine would have a crapload of white smoke coming out of it on cold startups? would it also explain the engine wanting to have a TERRIBLE idle quality? Would it also explain the engine wanting to quickly overheat?

My engine has been acting really funny lately, and i kinda cant really explain it, other than the fact that the passage was blocked.

[Kaiser]

Overheating: Yes, probably.

Terrible Idle: Maybe, could be temperature or flow related.

White smoke: No, probably not, unless that passage being blocked has pushed coolant into the combustion chamber somehow. White smoke FROM the exhaust (Make sure it's actually puffing the tailpipe) isn't terribly unusual for most cars on COLD cold startups. If you're talking about cold startups as in ambient temperature is around like 70-75 and it's the first run after four hours or so...then you have coolant leaking into the combustion chamber when it's cold, which most likely means a headgasket, as that's the easiest path for coolant to combustion. The gasket might not be shot, just not 100% sealing when the engine is cold.


Second thought: Engine may have overheated around the blocked coolant passage, causing a warped head/block. Your gasket may look fine but only seals when everything has expanded and warmed up enough to seal fine. Leak is probably very small. Blocked passage would DEFINITELY cause the area that's no longer getting coolant to superheat, and this would likely be the cause of the warping.

If the head/block is warped just slightly, then yes, that one blocked coolant passage is indeed the whole reason why your car is running terrible. The bad idle could be related to low compression. Does the idle get better as the car warms up?

[teh_mugen18]

^^^^^ Makes a lot of sense, because when i took the head off the motor, i noticed that the cylinders were bascially flooded with coolant as well....

EDIT: smoke was blue, btw.. not white

[Kaiser]

^^^^^ Makes a lot of sense, because when i took the head off the motor, i noticed that the cylinders were bascially flooded with coolant as well....

...


Yeah. That's BAD buddy. That's REAL bad. If all four had coolant in them then you seriously need to consider where that's coming from. Take a straightedge and lay it across the top of the block and push down. If it does not perfectly lay along the top of the block, you have probably found the source of the coolant. Check the bottom of the head too, as it can warp as well. If it's not major, consider having the block top/head bottom machined down to where they're even, but I won't guarantee that's a fix to your whole problem. If we're talking about floods of coolant, you might have a crack, or who the hell knows.


Blue smoke is oil, which indicates a different problem. That's probably the ring seals or valve stems. O_o

My new suggestion to you: Source a new LS motor. Or a GSR motor.

[teh_mugen18]

Okay, will do; thanks alot bro

+1

[tubby]

...


Yeah. That's BAD buddy. That's REAL bad. If all four had coolant in them then you seriously need to consider where that's coming from. Take a straightedge and lay it across the top of the block and push down. If it does not perfectly lay along the top of the block, you have probably found the source of the coolant. Check the bottom of the head too, as it can warp as well. If it's not major, consider having the block top/head bottom machined down to where they're even, but I won't guarantee that's a fix to your whole problem. If we're talking about floods of coolant, you might have a crack, or who the hell knows.


Blue smoke is oil, which indicates a different problem. That's probably the ring seals or valve stems. O_o

My new suggestion to you: Source a new LS motor. Or a GSR motor.

uum. wenever u take a head off a block all of the colent that was in the head will flod out in to the cillenders,, make shure u change the oil before u start it up again.. bring the head to goza machine shop. tommy will tell u if its warped or not. THE WATER IN THE CILENDERS IS NORMAL WEN U PULL THE HEAD OFF!!!