Possibly blew a brand new head gasket?

[bUAkronG]

My dad just finished up a similar project to the one HizAndHerz did here with replacing the lifters due to one being collapsed.

New head gaskets and head bolts were installed and torqued appropriately. Started it up and the lifter tick was gone! However after a few minutes of idle the truck started spewing white smoke. It never got up to full temp, though. His hope was that there may have been some water in the exhaust from when he did the swap, so he decided to try and take it to work this morning.

However he had to turn around and bring the car back home because the temp gauge pegged.

Could there just be air in the coolant system? I'm thinking we aren't going to get that lucky.

Later tonight he will check the oil to see if it's milky and check the plugs to see if they are wet. In the meantime I'd like some opinions from those who know these engines better. He leaves for vacation friday and I need the car for my vacation on August 2 so we are under a tight deadline to figure this out!

Thanks in advance!

 

[doug383]

could be cavitation form air in the pump if the coolant system was not primed after it was put back together. Also any time I remove a head I change the oil before I start it. I have seen antifreeze make it in to the cylinder when removing a head. Could have also caused the white smoke.

 

[bUAkronG]

could be cavitation form air in the pump if the coolant system was not primed after it was put back together. Also any time I remove a head I change the oil before I start it. I have seen antifreeze make it in to the cylinder when removing a head. Could have also caused the white smoke.

We put new oil in before starting it.

Also there probably was some antifreeze that made it into the cylinder, which I agree could make some white smoke. But it tried to overheat on him this morning.

Could it be as simple as there was antifreeze in the cylinder and air in the coolant system and that all we would need to do was get the air out of the coolant?

Problem is if it's bigger than that(like a head gasket), we don't want to run the motor any longer than we have to for fear of catastrophic failure.

 

[KNBlazer]

That sucks, was the head inspected for cracks or were parts just installed and put back in? after starting the truck did he let it idle with heater on low, radiator cap off....

 

[bUAkronG]

That sucks, was the head inspected for cracks or were parts just installed and put back in? after starting the truck did he let it idle with heater on low, radiator cap off....

yeah the head was inspected.


Good news though, I was right. All that was wrong was air in the coolant system. The white smoke was from water in the cylinder or exhaust, but it is gone now. Truck is running like a top! Crisis averted!

 

[jimmyjam]

yeah, blowing an MLS gasket would be quite an accomplishment

I always pull the hose that connects to the steam port when filling the system with coolant, gives the air somewhere to go

 

[HizAndHerz]

Exact same thing happened to me when I changed my lifters and had the heads rebuilt. It blew white smoke for a long time and then started to overheat. I realized what it was immediately. Just had to let it cool and squish on the upper radiator hose to work the air out. It took another gallon of coolant after that.

Glad to hear another 5.3L engine is brought back from Dead Lifterville. Congratulations.

 

[bUAkronG]

Exact same thing happened to me when I changed my lifters and had the heads rebuilt. It blew white smoke for a long time and then started to overheat. I realized what it was immediately. Just had to let it cool and squish on the upper radiator hose to work the air out. It took another gallon of coolant after that.

Glad to hear another 5.3L engine is brought back from Dead Lifterville. Congratulations.

lol thanks, it made the commute to and from Florida with no issues so that is a great sign that it's all good!