A Hard Lesson Learned.....

[ashx2]

My young son is learning a hard lesson in life. He's learning what happens to the heart of a truck when you don't keep water in it. That's right folks, he has messed this one up real good.

Needless to say, now good ol' dad needs to find another engine for this truck. So if anyone knows of a good resource for an engine for a '88 Chevy......I'd be appreciative of a pm or a dropped line in this post.

Thanks,
Greg

[kamikazekyle05]

Where in central texas are you?

[ashx2]

PM sent to you.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Bummmer.

[seldomseen65]

Originally Posted by ashx2

My young son is learning a hard lesson in life. He's learning what happens to the heart of a truck when you don't keep water in it. That's right folks, he has messed this one up real good.

Needless to say, now good ol' dad needs to find another engine for this truck. So if anyone knows of a good resource for an engine for a '88 Chevy......I'd be appreciative of a pm or a dropped line in this post.

Thanks,
Greg

you're not alone greg, i have a step child like that, 18 years old and doesn't want to drive, seems that he thinks he's a rich kid with no responsibility,, but made him ride his bike to town, the other day, didn't go half a block, gave up and cried, pathetic. But guess what,, when they wake up, it will hit them real hard. computers suck sometimes, but that what he does all day.!~!

[El Jay]

Originally Posted by ashx2

My young son is learning a hard lesson in life. He's learning what happens to the heart of a truck when you don't keep water in it. That's right folks, he has messed this one up real good.

Needless to say, now good ol' dad needs to find another engine for this truck. So if anyone knows of a good resource for an engine for a '88 Chevy......I'd be appreciative of a pm or a dropped line in this post.

Thanks,
Greg

Boy, I hate to sound like the butthead that I really am but I have to ask,
"Why is dad, not son, looking for & replacing the engine?"

[seldomseen65]

Originally Posted by El Jay

Boy, I hate to sound like the butthead that I really am but I have to ask,
"Why is dad, not son, looking for & replacing the engine?"

EL JAY , your right, son needs to get off his lazy butt and look for that engine
and then work his butt off to repay ol' ,( what's that ol dad stuff) get off of it and get'er- done" KID", and i am a butt head ,,don't mind saying so. that's why i have a step child he's not real, ,,,,I'll bet you still live in your dads house ,,do you pay him any rent,,my step child does !!! and i make him work if he wants to eat here too!! hey Greg if you read this good luck man, any way who's Greg here????? sorry Greg if this offends you, but make your son look for that engine ,,he blew it up.

[Andy4639]

Man you guy's are all tough on a man aren't you! He ask for our help and all you do is slam his son. I guess you all were perfect when you were kids!
I'll know not to post nothing about my family on here.
ashx2,
I'm sorry to hear about the engine. I can't help you since I live in SC but I hope some one will help you and get you in the right direction on a replacement engine. We all have our stories of what we did when younger that weren't so pleasent. I know I do! Good luck with the motor.

[69halfton]

sorry, i have no contacts as I'm all the way up in the great white north.

how old was the motor that was in the truck? was it ready to be freashened up anyway? maybe consider a rebuild if its not THAT bad?

or maybe try to salvage good parts like heads? valve train? something that could keep the cost down? maybe just purchase a short block?

[El Jay]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

Man you guy's are all tough on a man aren't you! He ask for our help and all you do is slam his son. I guess you all were perfect when you were kids!
I'll know not to post nothing about my family on here.
ashx2,
I'm sorry to hear about the engine. I can't help you since I live in SC but I hope some one will help you and get you in the right direction on a replacement engine. We all have our stories of what we did when younger that weren't so pleasent. I know I do! Good luck with the motor.

I'm sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with you.
I was far from perfect as a kid, nor am I now.......but........

I am of the age, or era, where we learned to take responsibility for our actions/mistakes. There was no choice in the matter.
If I screwed up, it was up to me to make things right, not my dad, or anybody else.
And when it came to doing things around the house, the rule was quite simple; "everybody eats, so everybody works."

A bit harsh by today's mollycoddling standards? Oh you betcha!

But I truly believe that I (and now my kids) are better because of it.

And, if Greg was somewhere near to me I'd be glad to give him a hand.

[69halfton]

im 17, and the odd time whenever i ask dad for a little cash for doing the chores on the property his response is always

"your eating supper here tonight, right?"

and then i get back to work.

[El Jay]

Originally Posted by 69halfton

im 17, and the odd time whenever i ask dad for a little cash for doing the chores on the property his response is always

"your eating supper here tonight, right?"

and then i get back to work.

Jason,
I applaud your dad; and I truly believe you'll be a better man because of him.

[oldblue1968chevy]

lol

i dont bother asking dad, 16 here lol go find a farmer give him a hand here there, he'll recomend you to others..sometimes you find a generous farmer and ya learn somethig

[El Jay]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

lol

i dont bother asking dad, 16 here lol go find a farmer give him a hand here there, he'll recomend you to others..sometimes you find a generous farmer and ya learn somethig

You got it figured out, Youngblood.

[67CHIP72]

Learn them young. Age 14 months and then today @ 3 Years old. I say do it together, Father and Son, and you will both be all the better for it. Good luck in your search.

[seldomseen65]

Originally Posted by 67CHIP72

Learn them young. Age 14 months and then today @ 3 Years old. I say do it together, Father and Son, and you will both be all the better for it. Good luck in your search.

now this is what i can say is that this mans kids will not be asking dad to replace a blown engine, great job "67chip72" that's how i grew up ,,working for what i needed when i was young, grandpa was a good man for teaching me what was responsibility ,,and i learned a lot from him,,thank God,,, i did.

[ashx2]

Just to clear things up......

1) My son is not lazy by any means.
2) He does not "expect" me to do it all as he will be doing the work right beside me.
3) He'll be doing work to help pay for another engine because I can't do it all for him, nor can he do it all himself.

He is my son and my responsibility. I do the "good ol' dad" thing, because my dad would have done the same for me. He's learning a lesson and it's a somewhat costly one, but he and I will handle it together. It's what being a family is all about.

For so many to be helpful on this board, there sure are a lot that are quick to damn a young man w/out knowing him or the entire situation.

For those that have been helpful, I thank you. For anybody else who wants to pass judgement......shame on you.

Greg

[seldomseen65]

Originally Posted by ashx2

Just to clear things up......

1) My son is not lazy by any means.
2) He does not "expect" me to do it all as he will be doing the work right beside me.
3) He'll be doing work to help pay for another engine because I can't do it all for him, nor can he do it all himself.

He is my son and my responsibility. I do the "good ol' dad" thing, because my dad would have done the same for me. He's learning a lesson and it's a somewhat costly one, but he and I will handle it together. It's what being a family is all about.

For so many to be helpful on this board, there sure are a lot that are quick to damn a young man w/out knowing him or the entire situation.

For those that have been helpful, I thank you. For anybody else who wants to pass judgment......shame on you.

Greg

Greg; to you i say well done and my apologies to you, and your right,, i didn't know the whole situation and i stand corrected. great luck on your search on another engine. and don't hesitate to ask for help.

respectfully
Larry

[highperf4x4]

Hello Greg, sorry to hear about the engine failure. Unfortunately overheating a motor is one of the worst ways to kill one. You can pretty much write off the heads. They will generally have stress fractures all over the combustion chambers or cracked through to a water jacket. However, you really need to assess the damage before you jump into another complete engine. It would help if you could provide as much info as you have about the damage. Is the engine just running bad, did it pressurize a cylinder and bust a rod/piston is there oil in the radiator or water in the oil? Whatever you can figure out will help you plan an attack.

It also helps to know what your plans for the truck are. Are you looking to drop in a fresh motor and fix the coolant issue or just looking for something that runs?

I'm assuming that there is a radiator, water pump, pressure cap, or other situation that caused the coolant problem and that leads me to believe that this may not be a pristine show truck anyway so my advice to you would be to locate a set of heads for your engine (what engine is it by the way?) from either salvage yards or a head shop (they probably won't want your cores but you can try) and pickup a head replacement gasket set. It will include manifold gaskets, valve covers, etc. and try the engine with just another set of heads to see if it will run ok. You won't even need to pull the engine to do this. Just pull the intake manifold and the heads and swap them out. You could do it in a day if you have everything you need first. This will tell you if the bottom end is ok before you drop alot of money into a motor.

Just a tip: if any water got into the cylinders, oil them up before you put the other heads on to save the rings. It will burn out pretty quick.

I did the same thing to my first truck and swapped the engine out with another one. I wish now that I had just swapped the heads first. I had a 327 in a 1972 Cheyenne Super and I ended up with a later model 305.

I think it's great that you're going to help your son. We all made mistakes when we were kids. Best of luck to ya.

[El Jay]

Originally Posted by ashx2

Just to clear things up......

1) My son is not lazy by any means.
2) He does not "expect" me to do it all as he will be doing the work right beside me.
3) He'll be doing work to help pay for another engine because I can't do it all for him, nor can he do it all himself.

He is my son and my responsibility. I do the "good ol' dad" thing, because my dad would have done the same for me. He's learning a lesson and it's a somewhat costly one, but he and I will handle it together. It's what being a family is all about.

For so many to be helpful on this board, there sure are a lot that are quick to damn a young man w/out knowing him or the entire situation.

For those that have been helpful, I thank you. For anybody else who wants to pass judgement......shame on you.

Greg

I agree with the other Larry.

If I have put you off, please accept my apology.
I honestly believe it may just be a "generation" thing.
Larry

[truckster]

Originally Posted by ashx2

Just to clear things up......

1) My son is not lazy by any means.
2) He does not "expect" me to do it all as he will be doing the work right beside me.
3) He'll be doing work to help pay for another engine because I can't do it all for him, nor can he do it all himself.

He is my son and my responsibility. I do the "good ol' dad" thing, because my dad would have done the same for me. He's learning a lesson and it's a somewhat costly one, but he and I will handle it together. It's what being a family is all about.

For so many to be helpful on this board, there sure are a lot that are quick to damn a young man w/out knowing him or the entire situation.

For those that have been helpful, I thank you. For anybody else who wants to pass judgement......shame on you.

Greg

At least he's learning a lesson and being responsible.

The first thing I thought of when I read your post was the phone call I had with my son when I was in Iraq. He was 20 at the time and had just driven the wheel off of one of my Subarus- the third car he destroyed. He said, "Dad, I'm afraid of cars." I said, "Son, cars are afraid of you."

[highperf4x4]

http://www.chevytrucks.org/engines/ctelocator.html

Used chevy engine locator

[ashx2]

Highperf.....

Thanks for the response. To answer a couple of your questions, the engine will start up, but it blows white smoke out the tailpipe now and there are some unusual sounds coming from the engine while it's running.

The oil will be drained today to see if there is any water in the oil or not. It'd be nice to be able to get away with only replacing the heads and a couple of minor parts vs. a full replacement, but I'm more prepared for the worst than the better.

I'll take your words into consideration and try all my options prior to a full replacement. But the way my luck has ran the last month........probably not gonna be good.

Greg

[ashx2]

Larry / Larry......

Thanks for the apologies guys. It's appreciated.

Greg

[Skirkpat]

The bottom end is probably alright, the top end is probably toast...I would find a set of heads first, Old Small blocks are pretty tough.