A Hard Lesson Learned.....

[highperf4x4]

Originally Posted by 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

That white smoke is water getting into the cyliners either through a cracked head or blown head gasket. It could possibly be a cracked cylinder wall but it's more than likely up in the heads.

All you have to do is pull the dipstick to see if there is any water in the oil. If there is, it will look like milk on the dipstick. You might not be in bad shape after all.

If you do a head swap make sure you stick to a composite head gasket that's .028 or thicker. The deck of the block may be slightly warped and since we're shooting for salvage yard heads, you probably don't want to pay for a valve job/head mill. If you get the heads from the slavage yard try to get the head bolts with them. Yours may be compromised or weak.

[highperf4x4]

P.S. Sorry I don't have any comments about your personal family business. I'll try to make up for that by offering you extra help with the motor problem....................

[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.

[seldomseen65]

Originally Posted by ashx2

Larry / Larry......

Thanks for the apologies guys. It's appreciated.

Greg

good morning Greg;, the heads sound like they are gone and i know 4x4 is on the right track ,, the heads go first and hopefully you won't have to buy another motor, also make sure when you get some replacement heads that you get the thicker head gaskets. I've gone through a couple of motors that way,, and also check to see what size motor u have in the truck, i know when i had a 400 cid block the heads always seemed to give me some trouble in the head dept.

[tim21391]

my friends dad has 23 small block chevy engines... he wants to get rid of some.. they are blocks and some parts for it.. u can get one from him really cheap..

[highperf4x4]

Originally Posted by tim21391

my friends dad has 23 small block chevy engines... he wants to get rid of some.. they are blocks and some parts for it.. u can get one from him really cheap..

No heads included with any of them?

Any of them 4-bolts?

[tim21391]

ya he has some four bolt mains.. and he has intakes laying around.. pm me for more i dont wanna steal this thread

[highperf4x4]

Actually I was asking questions for Greg. He really just needs the "heads" but in the event that the bottom end is out the door too, he'll be needing a 4 bolt block.

I might be interested in one of them myself though so I will pm you about that later.

[highperf4x4]

And Greg, can you drop us the info on the motor? Year, size, generation, aspiration, etc? You'll need to know that to pick the right heads.

[ashx2]

Engine is an '88 350, not sure of the generation/asperation, etc.

It's gonna have to be fully replaced. Lots of water getting into the oil. It's visible on the dipstick, on the cap of the valve covers, and drained out ahead of the oil this afternoon.

So, it looks as if the whole thing will have to be changed out.

Greg

[highperf4x4]

Yeah that kinda sounds like a split cylinder but you still don't know for sure. A head gasket could do that as well. You might try just pulling the heads off and spinning the motor so you can check each cylinder wall before you pull the motor out.

The block in my 4x4 has 2 cylinders that had to have steel sleaves put in after running it in a drag boat one weekend.

[berencam]

I would recommend checking out craigslist in your area, i picked up a brand new set of 76 cc 350 heads for 375, and 350 block that was bored, fluxed, bearings and freeze plugs installed, with a balanced crank, rods and flattop pistons, with a brand new crane cam, and alot of other misc. parts for 425. So all in ill i have roughly 900 in brand new engine.

On a side note i did the exact same thing to my first c10 when i was 17. It ended toasting the entire engine and breaking a piston off a rod when the piston melted to the cylinder wall.
My truck was out of commission for about a year while i worked up enough cash to buy a crate motor. In any case good luck.

[chrislehr]

where in tx again?

[GASWAGON]

These trucks came from the factory with steel shim intake gaskets. They are very prone to rotting out and leaking coolant internally. I would pull the intake first and see what the gasket looks like. if it's not rotted or displaced, i would continue with pulling the engine and replacing it. When I worked for gm in the 90's we were doing these all the time under warranty. You would be surprised what abuse these things can take. If the gasket is bad replace it and change the fluids and see if your lucky. Alot less money and time if it works out in your favor. Just A thought good luck!!

[yote1234]

i not only bought engines for all (3) of my kids but i also purchased and fully restored each of them a classic car.. 2-in school and one married and working 4-10's.. all for love!

[72chevyk10]

Originally Posted by yote1234

i not only bought engines for all (3) of my kids but i also purchased and fully restored each of them a classic car.. 2-in school and one married and working 4-10's.. all for love!

will you adopt me?

[Camper Power]

Originally Posted by yote1234

i not only bought engines for all (3) of my kids but i also purchased and fully restored each of them a classic car.. 2-in school and one married and working 4-10's.. all for love!

id say my truck is pretty lucky that i pay for most of it, i payed 60% of the price for the truck, all of the insurance, most of the gas and parts, and all the tickets most of the mommy daddy vehicals at school are the ones that tend to wind up wrecked, broken, abused, and illmaintained

as for engines id send you some but im way up north. id take highperf4x4's advise and tear it apart while still in the vehical and see if its salvagable