msaluta
Newbie
I bought my 1997 C1500 5.7 Vortec about 4 months ago.
The previous owner stated that they had to replace the head gasket, and that it overheated.
It has been running great for the last 4 months, temp always stable, but I recently noticed a slight drop in coolant.
I recently changed the oil and there's no milky residue, there's no visual smoke in the exhaust, there's no residue on the oil cap.
I pulled into a gas station after taking it for a 20 minute drive, popped open the coolant reservoir, and noticed a few bubbles coming up.
Today I'll be renting a head gasket tester from AutoZone to see if those bubbles are in fact exhaust gasses.
If it is discovered that there are exhaust gasses in the coolant, and the previous owner stated that they had the head gasket replaced, and the truck overheated, I suspect the heads are warped at minimum.
I'm trying to understand what a smart/frugal person would do sequentially in this case. I intend to keep the truck for many years, and haven't heard great things about head gasket sealants so not really interested in that route.
I've seen garage resurfacing of warped heads using 80-120 grit sandpaper on panes of glass.
I've looked at buying new heads from Summit.
I've looked at full reman 5.7 engines.
I've never done serious work inside of an engine, though I've done many other jobs from suspension, AC, brakes etc. so I'm a bit apprehensive so any advice you guys can give is greatly appreciated.
The previous owner stated that they had to replace the head gasket, and that it overheated.
It has been running great for the last 4 months, temp always stable, but I recently noticed a slight drop in coolant.
I recently changed the oil and there's no milky residue, there's no visual smoke in the exhaust, there's no residue on the oil cap.
I pulled into a gas station after taking it for a 20 minute drive, popped open the coolant reservoir, and noticed a few bubbles coming up.
Today I'll be renting a head gasket tester from AutoZone to see if those bubbles are in fact exhaust gasses.
If it is discovered that there are exhaust gasses in the coolant, and the previous owner stated that they had the head gasket replaced, and the truck overheated, I suspect the heads are warped at minimum.
I'm trying to understand what a smart/frugal person would do sequentially in this case. I intend to keep the truck for many years, and haven't heard great things about head gasket sealants so not really interested in that route.
I've seen garage resurfacing of warped heads using 80-120 grit sandpaper on panes of glass.
I've looked at buying new heads from Summit.
I've looked at full reman 5.7 engines.
I've never done serious work inside of an engine, though I've done many other jobs from suspension, AC, brakes etc. so I'm a bit apprehensive so any advice you guys can give is greatly appreciated.
