So, my truck has been giving me no end of trouble and I figure I'll ask the garage's advice. Its an '03 S10 4-cyl with a manual trans . . . . only 88k on it, and so far its never had a single problem . . . .


So Wed I'm driving when the truck starts letting off white smoke from under the hood. First just a bit, but by the time I can pull off there's so much I can barely see outside. Managed to get it the last mile home after it cooled down and I added some more coolant, and took it to the shop attached to the Exxon over on Hillsboro (cheapest around, heh). They said the problem was a cracked radiator.

So I drop in a new radiator for $140, manual trans so there's nothing to it but two hoses and a couple screws. The old one had a pretty dramatic split right down the side. Refilled, ran it for a while, made sure the thermostat was working and it was pulling coolant . . . . everything seemed okay. But now its still giving me problems. Still seem to be losing coolant, though there isn't any visibly leaking (and no smoke/etc from the exhaust). Its been pulling slowly from the reservoir tank, not fast enough to see but definitely lower every time its driven. The new coolant now has a nasty odor almost like gas, and looks cruddy. I've been told it could be it flushing old crap from the system, but the old coolant I removed looked perfectly clean. It seems to drive fine, and isn't overheating, but it does sound a bit odd and act almost like its going to stall for about 15 seconds after being started, which it hasn't before.

I'm worried it might be a blown head gasket, though I'm told it could be a cracked head, cracked cylinder, or any other number of things. Any tips on narrowing it down? I know enough to do most of my own basic work, but this is beyond my experience. Can't really afford to drop a huge amount of money at the shop getting it dealt with, so I've gotta do what I can!

7/25/2008 11:57:44 PM

From your symptoms I'd think head gasket, but someone else that has more experience could tell you definitively. You drove it too far on no coolant, engine expanded and the heat/pressure either crushed and blew the head gasket or just cracked the head. In the future don't try to get those extra few miles or minutes in a situation like that, you've saved yourself a towing charge but just earned a whole lot more in repairs.

[Edited on July 26, 2008 at 1:23 AM. Reason : 5]

7/26/2008 1:17:39 AM

you need to perform a compression and leakdown test. i'll be happy to explain the procedure if you plan to buy the tool (doubt you have it). i believe harbor freight has one cheap that would be good enough.

in meantime, check the following:

-odd colored/gas fume smelling coolant (already got that)

-bubbling in the coolant when the engine is cold looking into the radiator under the cap

-excessive pressure build up in the system which will push coolant back out of the reservoir

-what color is the oil (a picture would be great here for us if possible, or at least a VERY detailed description)

-pull the plugs and examine them for any variations in color on the tip/electrode (a picture here is a must if you want any input from us. it's pretty impossible to give a full, accurate description of everything someone would be looking for. with a good pic it takes no time to read them.

[Edited on July 26, 2008 at 1:49 AM. Reason : .]

7/26/2008 1:47:12 AM

Was planning on taking it to my father's studio in the morning to do a compression test, he has the tool. The coolant does indeed appear to be bubbling when the engine is running from cold with the rad cap off. Oil looks fine, I'd just changed it since it'd overheated and was a tad overdue anyways (the old stuff looked perfectly normal).

Chief: didn't really drive it at all with no coolant, just didn't get off the road fast enough I guess. It started blowing steam in the middle of stop and go traffic, took me a couple minutes to get out of the intersection. Ah, well.


I'll take pictures of the plug electrodes, though I'm guessing my dad will know what to look for either way. At this point I guess it sounds pretty definitively like the head gasket at the least. Should it be safe taking it the 15mi or so into Durham to my father's studio? It seems to run and drive just fine, but the last thing I need is to do more damage.

7/26/2008 2:00:43 AM

yep, should be fine as long as it's staying cool. if it's losing coolant rapidly, you might stop along the way and refill it depending on just how far you're going.

7/26/2008 2:35:28 AM