Coolant out of exhaust

[Cheezer_72]

So I have owned my truck (72' swb, 350 sb, 700r) for a couple of months now. I recently had a head gasket go bad on it, the passenger side. Oh ya, I better mention this, this is my first classic truck and I only know the basics of being a mechanic; with the help of some friends we removed the heads, took them to get checked for cracks, and to get cleaned. They both came back good, I ordered all new gaskets, spark plugs and all the little things I could update or maitianance. We finished putting everything back together today, and it started right up after a couple of tweaks of the timing. Then we noticed coolant coming out of the exhaust ( a lot of coolant, spraying out!), we checked everything on, around and under the engine before we started taking out spark plugs to check them for any coolant, but nothing, we even left one out at a time and cranked the engine to see if fluid would come out, again nothing. I am afraid the gasket got damanged will installing it or I don't know. I'm looking for some suggestions that I can do before I go taking it apart again to check the gasket.

Thanks for the help...
Louie
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[DreamRyder1963]

There are a couple of tests you can perform without taking the heads off that will tell if your gaskets is intact. The most common is a simple compression test. If you find that you have a noticeably weak cylinder then your gasket is likely torn there. Another test is to spray starting fluid, brake cleaner or any such combustiable around the gasket. If the engines revs up when the combustable hits, then you have a leak there.
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[LMREESE]

How did you know the original gasket was bad? When you had the heads checked for cracks did they also check to make sure they weren't warped?
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[Rufton]

I'd start w/ radiator leak down test using free loaner tool from oreilly's, etc.
Then inspect plugs for signs of coolant fouling if coolant system fails leak down test.

[cdowns]

when you did your repair ?? did you go step by step according to a service manual?? or did you just figure out as you went along?

[slow-1]

Coolant left over in the exhaust from when the head gasket let go before?

[Cheezer_72]

The heads were checked fulling checked. I knew the gasket was bad one morning I started her up and clouds of white smoke was coming out the tail pipes.

@cdowns, we did follow a service manual and we didn't it depends on what part we were looking at, for all the tourques and patterns i used, tourquebox.com. my buddy is a mechanic and teaches it to the people coming into the Navy. We have access to all different kinds of manuals we used some of them. Like I said this was my first time tearing it down and he took some time to help and I don't feel right asking him to do it again.

I did read about the compression test and that looks like where I'm going to start.

Thanks for the replies.
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[Koffer]

Originally Posted by slow-1

Coolant left over in the exhaust from when the head gasket let go before?

X2 ,how long did you let it run ? If its just spraying out and not white clouds like before its left over and poss stuff that got in there from spillage doing the head job too .

[Rufton]

Radiator leak down test is a pretty good tattle tell for HG coolant leak.
Small HG leak not as apparent w/ cyl compression tests.
Large leak apparent w/ either.

[Cheezer_72]

Ha, I was just reading about leftover coolant from before in the exhaust, we didn't let it run that long because our first instinct was that something was wrong, so we turned it off leaving the run time at roughly 15 minutes and not continuos.

Going to start with the compression test. The shop opens in an hour, the boss lady gave me a green light for today, even though I was working on it all day yesterday, so game on, love that woman
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[long67]

I am going to say you have left over coolant in the exhaust and also you get condensation on start up as things warm up,although this water is not the color of coolant.

[Cheezer_72]

Ok, I got a compression test and didn't get to test all the cylinders, but I did get to check two on the original side the gasket was bad on and one on the other side. One of the cylinders was the one that had fluid in it when I took it apart originally. One cylinder read 90-120-120-90 and the other 2 read 100-120-115; I changed the oil again (that is getting expensive) to ensure everything was fresh and new. Now there is white smoke coming out and it is a big cloud again. The radiator fluid is not going down. When I pulled the spark plugs they were not wet, either. I am now starting to think it could be something else, maybe the intake manifold gasket or there is still bad fluid in there trying to burn off. I am still going to wait on taking anything apart and finish the compression test and a test on the radiator, but that will have to wait until Wednesday because the hobby shop is closed, bummer.

[volksworld]

the tester I use looks kinda like a turkey baster with a squeeze bulb on top...you put it on the radiator cap opening with the truck running(cold) and it draws air in from the cooling system...any presence of exhaust gas causes the fluid in it to turn from blue to yellow...its very sensitive and will pick up leaks that a compression tester cant... no idea of the brand,got it off a snap-on truck years ago....if you chase down one like this you'll know if its still bad or if its residual antifreeze in exhaust

[MARKDTN]

Could be an intake gasket. Did you use the rubber ends or just silicone? Did you torque them in sequence or just bolt them down?

[Lemield]

Does the truck have an automatic transmission? I've seen bad transmission modulators that cause giant smoke clouds from a ruptured diaphragm...just a thought?

[slow-1]

Originally Posted by Cheezer_72

he took some time to help and I don't feel right asking him to do it again.

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If I helped a friend fix something and it didn't turn out right I would want the chance to help make it right.

[Cheezer_72]

The 72' is put back together and running good. I did a complete compression test and it read 147 on all 8. I did the radiator pressure test and that was good too. We said "screw it" and let it run, it smoked, and smoked, but after roughly 30 minutes of driving around it stopped. It has stopped completely, everything sounds and feels good. I am sure the smoke was from the residual that was left in the exhaust, I just had to be a man about it and run it. I appreciate all the advise and most of all I had fun getting to know my truck.

Oh ya my buddy was nervous, but you should of seen his face when the smoked stopped.

[slow-1]

Glad it worked out!

There is nothing wrong with taking your time and studying things when something's not right...can save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

[Koffer]

I'm also glad it came out ok for you

sounds like you had a ton of coolant in the exhaust.
Now you can start on the next item on it (there's always something )

[Rufton]

Congrats!
Is it still ok?

[mmiddle]

Yes very happy it worked out for you! I was leaning towards that as best case and a badly cracked block on the bad.

I currently am battling injector issues on my 03 Duramax. And I'll tell you after 8 hours of hard work to have it start up and run perfect for about 150 miles is great.... that is until it starts smoking again. Maybe 3 times a charm