Head gasket leak/issue?

860 Views 25 Replies 10 Participants Last post by evsnova74, 9 d ago

PBMunicorn

Discussion Starter · 1 mo ago

So as of the last couple weeks I’ve been noticing on the passenger side head (2004 m6 GTO, 74k miles, bone stock engine/JBA shorties/CAI intake) right where the head meets the block I’ve got this VERY subtle “leak” of coolant right on the corner edge where the corner of the head gasket is visible.

I noticed a couple weeks ago when I popped the hood while the engine was running cuz I had a wire burning up on the headers.

my coolant level is completely fine and has not diminished at all.. no oil in the coolant. No milkshake. Oil looks good. No overheating. Engine runs fantastic.
But everytime I drive the car, when I get home I now check that area on the passenger side head and it’s wet on that same spot. Slightly crusted coolant and just visibly wet. It’s so minute that I’m hoping I needn’t worry, but I worry about every little thing on this car as it means alot to me and I’ve had it since very low miles. I should probably post a pic but you can barely tell what I’m talking about in the pictures I have taken.
I added 4 ac Delco coolant system tabs to the system crushed up in fresh dex.. waterpump is only a couple years old, coolant has been flushed twice since 2020. Still looks relatively new.
Im just wondering if I should take it to a trusted shop and have the heads looked at/address the head gaskets.. or if it’s completely fine and due to a 20 year old aluminum block/aluminum heads with steel GM gaskets?
driver side is fine. Waterpump and surrounding areas are bone dry. And I’ve never heard of a stock LS having head gasket issues. My parents have had 4 or 5 Tahoes and Yukons and Silverado’s none of them have ever leaked coolant at the head gasket.
Looking for some advice of what I should maybe do here or if y’all would end up just having your head gaskets replaced if this happened to you.. (if that’s the case, I’ll probably get the heads worked possibly p&pd and add some performance to it while doing a refresh if the heads have to be pulled). Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated.

will post up a pic of necessary.

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evsnova74

· #21 · 15 d ago

The benefit of using a pressure tester in this case is you could listen for hissing or bubbling noises without the engine running drowning it out. I'm fairly certain you can just rent them from AutoZone so you wouldn't be out anything but time. I'd even douse the area with braklean and wipe it down real good, then pressurize the system and see if anything audibly happens in that area, or if it gets wet again.

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FattCattRed

· #22 · 12 d ago

I was on this same hunt I sure hope it's not what happened to me had the same thing leaking out the corner right below number 8 cylinder after I noticed the leak about 2 Days later I started getting this bad misfire thought I had some bad gas whatever anyway did the whole gas treatment stuff trying to get rid of the misfire moved on the plugs and wires coil trying to get rid of this misfire well don't behold compression test came back within normal ranges well I went ahead and said to hell with it and pulled the valve covers off and to my surprise my number eight valve spring was broken now it would get I have two valve springs so it would kind of line up every once in awhile in the car would run right so it kept making me chase after these phantom gremlin type situations so if your problem even slightly starts to give you a misfire wherever that valve cover blew out is more than likely going to be a broken valve spring I'll send another picture of mine I'm dealing with it literally right now good luck buddy

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PBMunicorn

Discussion Starter · #23 · 10 d ago

FattCattRed said:
I was on this same hunt I sure hope it's not what happened to me had the same thing leaking out the corner right below number 8 cylinder after I noticed the leak about 2 Days later I started getting this bad misfire thought I had some bad gas whatever anyway did the whole gas treatment stuff trying to get rid of the misfire moved on the plugs and wires coil trying to get rid of this misfire well don't behold compression test came back within normal ranges well I went ahead and said to hell with it and pulled the valve covers off and to my surprise my number eight valve spring was broken now it would get I have two valve springs so it would kind of line up every once in awhile in the car would run right so it kept making me chase after these phantom gremlin type situations so if your problem even slightly starts to give you a misfire wherever that valve cover blew out is more than likely going to be a broken valve spring I'll send another picture of mine I'm dealing with it literally right now good luck buddy View attachment 526829
View attachment 526828

Damn dude that’s wild!!! Did it make any weird noises with the broken spring? And how broken is broken lol? Mine sounds a little noisy on the top end but nothing amiss from a normal LS1. Honestly it runs great but I do get this very very subtle feeling of the start of a misfire or like a rough running feel but not all the way. Kinda hard to explain but almost like the very subtle start of the feeling of the engine wanting to stutter but when I get on it and drive it hard at WOT in all gears etc it runs totally normal.

this feeling only occurs at idle. But it’s so subtle you’d have to own the car and daily it like I do to really notice I feel like. Or just know these cars well I guess.
I follow a guy with an 01 formula (4th Gen f body LS1 essentially same set up as ours prolly has the same intake and tb too considering it’s year) his ran fine and was maintained well.. randomly one morning he went outside turned the car over and the damn thing hydrolocked one of the cylinders filled with either fuel or coolant and exploded a rod through the side/bottom end. Total catastrophic failure and he has no idea how or what caused it.. I’m so worried about some random shit like that happening to me. My 04 is my baby and I treat it well and maintain it great.

Another thing, I had the valve covers off like not even a year ago (maybe 10k or less miles ago) and valve train looked great. Not saying something couldn’t have happened since then but broken valve spring seems like something i wouldn’t miss. Who knows tho. I’ll keep you updated and will possibly pm you bro!

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PBMunicorn

Discussion Starter · #24 · 10 d ago

evsnova74 said:
The benefit of using a pressure tester in this case is you could listen for hissing or bubbling noises without the engine running drowning it out. I'm fairly certain you can just rent them from AutoZone so you wouldn't be out anything but time. I'd even douse the area with braklean and wipe it down real good, then pressurize the system and see if anything audibly happens in that area, or if it gets wet again.

I’m gonna do that as soon as I address this random ass starter issue! Parked my car outside of my house yesterday evening after work like normal, came out this morning for work, won’t start. And not like a dead battery no start cuz all the accessories work and locks and what not and lights. No sign of bad battery, plugged my battery tender in let it charge a bit said battery was fine.. went to turn it over again and click click every time. Like no starter or maybe bad solenoid. You can hear the starter is not attempting to crank the flywheel. Super random. But my alternator and starter are nearly 20 years old 🤷🏼‍♂️..

Once I get the pressure tester And say I do hear bubbling or something going on or I see something funky at that corner, what would that signify?

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FattCattRed

· #25 · 9 d ago

PBMunicorn said:
Damn dude that’s wild!!! Did it make any weird noises with the broken spring? And how broken is broken lol? Mine sounds a little noisy on the top end but nothing amiss from a normal LS1. Honestly it runs great but I do get this very very subtle feeling of the start of a misfire or like a rough running feel but not all the way. Kinda hard to explain but almost like the very subtle start of the feeling of the engine wanting to stutter but when I get on it and drive it hard at WOT in all gears etc it runs totally normal.

this feeling only occurs at idle. But it’s so subtle you’d have to own the car and daily it like I do to really notice I feel like. Or just know these cars well I guess.
I follow a guy with an 01 formula (4th Gen f body LS1 essentially same set up as ours prolly has the same intake and tb too considering it’s year) his ran fine and was maintained well.. randomly one morning he went outside turned the car over and the damn thing hydrolocked one of the cylinders filled with either fuel or coolant and exploded a rod through the side/bottom end. Total catastrophic failure and he has no idea how or what caused it.. I’m so worried about some random shit like that happening to me. My 04 is my baby and I treat it well and maintain it great.

Another thing, I had the valve covers off like not even a year ago (maybe 10k or less miles ago) and valve train looked great. Not saying something couldn’t have happened since then but broken valve spring seems like something i wouldn’t miss. Who knows tho. I’ll keep you updated and will possibly pm you bro!

yeah local machine shop guy said double valve springs can sometimes twist and actually wedge/lock itself in the to where it appears to be better that's why I was chasing such a bad gremlin I would do something and for whatever reason the springs were kind of lock horns and stiffen up enough to wear Miss but kind of go away but that last day it was bad I thought I was going to break motor mounts it was missing so hard

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evsnova74

· #26 · 9 d ago

PBMunicorn said:
Once I get the pressure tester And say I do hear bubbling or something going on or I see something funky at that corner, what would that signify?

Head gasket I guess? Maybe a crack? Probably not likely but I'm sure it's possible

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