Head gaskets???

**ZCam95** · 05-16-2008, 05:06 PM

So, my 95 Z28, "my 4-wheeled wife" as my roommates have deemed her, is burning through antifreeze like crazy, the radiator and all the hoses were replaced about 2 months ago and it was fine for like a day but now it seems like every 3-4 days I have to add coolant. I checked all the connections and what not, there's no external leakage....I have a feeling that it's the head gasket....can anyone confirm that a little more or shoot any other ideas as to what might be the cause...outside of that the car still runs like a champ and there are no other problems. Thanks

**5.0THIS** · 05-16-2008, 05:35 PM

Well, if it isnt leaking on the ground, but disappearing anyway, there arent many places for it to get except out the tailpipe. Drain your oil to see if there is any coolant in it. If there is, that could indicate a cracked block, or that ALOT of coolant is somehow getting by the rings. I would agree though that the most likelu cause is a head gasket issue. Having the cooling system pressure tested will identify it for sure.

**ZCam95** · 05-17-2008, 06:31 AM

Thanks 5.0, yeah i'm gonna take it over to the shop this weekend and see if they can't diagnose the issue. If the block was cracked would I be loosing power when I am driving or anything?

**5.0THIS** · 05-17-2008, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by ZCam95

Thanks 5.0, yeah i'm gonna take it over to the shop this weekend and see if they can't diagnose the issue. If the block was cracked would I be loosing power when I am driving or anything?

I've seen a few cars come in with that issue, and sometimes power loss is NOT one of the reported symptoms.

**XcamaroZ06X** · 05-19-2008, 08:02 AM

just did the head gaskets on my car.. notttt fun lol 94 camaro , swapped out the manifolds for some headers , eliminated egr and air pump :-)

**bigrondownhiller** · 05-20-2008, 02:41 PM

An easy way for the shop to check the head gaskets is put the tailpipe sniffer into the radiator, if it gets hydrocaron readings something is bad.

**epmedia** · 05-23-2008, 10:44 PM

As the other folks mention; if no external drips = probably head gasket(s) starting to leak. My step son and I, just replaced the head gaskets on his 95 LT1 Camaro. The head gaskets were in an advanced stage of failure; adding coolant almost daily, and steam out the tail pipes. It seemed fine during the cold winter season, but as soon as the weather started to warm - the gaskets started to leak obviousely.

Be Aware : do not start an engine that is nearing this sort of advaced stage of a leaky head gasket (may cause serious engine damage).

During disassembly, It's always good to find obvious signs of leakage on a gasket : When you remove your heads, carefully inspect for any suspect leak areas of the head gaskets. Be careful with the old gaskets for this inspection.

During our repair, we found several gasket leak areas. The most prominant leak areas were in the rear on both heads, and another leak area was caused from a deep machine cut that extended from a water jacket, to the combustion chamber.

The valves were in very good shape and the heads were not warped at all. We cleaned the head surfaces up really good with circular scratches and used a bit of "Permatex Indian" on the deep machine cut.

Excellent engine. Runs like a champ, once again.

Good luck with your car.

I just remembered; There was about 2 quarts of coolant in the engine oil and lots of sludge. It was a mess. May want to consider running "real easy" on atleast two oil changes with detergent engine oil, before running your typical expensive engine oil.