2003 Tahoe coolant system leak or head gasket leak?

[iamdub]

@iamdub - i would totally buy a set of wires off you if you ever got bored. That's out of my wheelhouse.

Sorry for the hijack @tomloans - great work on cleaning the surfaces. I didn't do near as good a job on the tops of the pistons as you did. I agree with the others - slap the new top end on it and send it! You caught yours way earlier than I did, so my plan is to just send it, too, and expect my cam bearings at some point to go. At that point, hopefully I'll have rebuilt a longblock and upgrade. (But I'm going to put the Truck Norris cam on this motor just for fun and I'll get a better look at the cam lobes then.)

I'd make sets if it weren't so time-consuming!

 

[tomloans]

OKAY.... here is the rest of the story, albeit some of it is quite embarrassing. But maybe this will help someone. I awoke a few mornings ago and took in my morning coffee and ran out to finish this repair. I started to install the rocker arms on the driver side. Forgot to put in the tray that they rest on ( believe it or not ) and bolted the rockers straight to the head. I then proceeded to turn the engine by hand after locking 3 in place at 22 ft-lbs. There was some binding and I realized something was wrong. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Thought maybe I should turn myself in. To where, I don't know. This mishap procedure bent a pushrod. Yes true story. I stopped and went inside the house and wondered if I am mentally stable. Then tried to remember what exactly I did - couldn't quite remember in my panic. Ordered all new pushrods for that bank (just to be sure I didn't miss a slightly bent one) and put it all back together. I first turned the engine without the coils and injectors plugged in to circulate some oil. Started the engine and it appears I didn't bend any valve stems. Car is running very good at the moment. Had some amazing amount of steam from the exhaust which also freaked me out. I thought I put in the head gaskets backwards ( even though I know I put front to the front - paid extreme attention to this ). Then I remembered that some Dex-tron spilled into the exhaust when I removed the heads and was cleaning the block. This eventually burned off and no more white smoke out the exhaust. The only other scary part was that there was some valve rattle at first start-up and this dissipated after I turned the engine off and on twice more. All is well now and I am going to sleep well. Thank you for all the support. Ask me questions as I have made all the mistakes and some cool procedures and thoughts as well and would be glad to help as others have helped me here. Special thanks to Iamdub! Thank you all!

 

[mattbta]

Keep an eye on your coolant levels. Also, I'd probably short change interval your next 3-4 oil changes and then send another sample to Blackstone. You ought to be safe with the 799 heads but good to keep an eye out.

We've all been there on seemingly dumb moments. Heck -- even this second time I swapped a head, I torqued it down and then had a panic moment wondering if I put the passenger gasket in the correct orientation. I loosened the head bolts enough to lift the head slightly to check. Thank goodness for ARP bolts and not TTY.

BTW -- back in the first LSx days (late 90's) I had two manual transmission LS1's - 98z28 and a 99 Trans Am. The T-56 was very easy to miss-shift at speed. I was having a spirited contest with a Supra on the highway and went to shift 3-4, but went 3-2. Tires locked up and motor had a tick. Yeah, I bent some pushrods. Dealer amazingly replaced them for me under warranty! From then on, I changed my hand position when shifting and didn't do it again.

 

[MassHoe04]

Don't be too harsh on (had to use the word harsh...apparently, filters won't let you say the opposite of "soft off") yourself! I had a hard time aligning a transmission on my 05 Jeep Wrangler, then it finally went in. Little did I know, may have bent one of the tines on the pressure plate. Was good for a while, then the tine must have worn through my brand new throw-out bearing. That sucked! I ended up having to ditch it in a hurry, because it was my daily driver. I had to be able to get to work and could not be off the road for another major repair.

On the bright side... That is what brought me to own my 04 Tahoe Z71. It needs new rocker panels and some control arms to be replaced in spring, but otherwise is in really decent shape. I absolutely LOVE my Tahoe! Besides, I am finding the Tahoeyukonforum.com members to be much nicer than the Jeep crowd. Nobody could post anything without things turning toxic and just nasty in a hurry. You guys rock!

 

[tomloans]

Don't be too harsh on (had to use the word harsh...apparently, filters won't let you say the opposite of "soft off") yourself! I had a hard time aligning a transmission on my 05 Jeep Wrangler, then it finally went in. Little did I know, may have bent one of the tines on the pressure plate. Was good for a while, then the tine must have worn through my brand new throw-out bearing. That sucked! I ended up having to ditch it in a hurry, because it was my daily driver. I had to be able to get to work and could not be off the road for another major repair.

On the bright side... That is what brought me to own my 04 Tahoe Z71. It needs new rocker panels and some control arms to be replaced in spring, but otherwise is in really decent shape. I absolutely LOVE my Tahoe! Besides, I am finding the Tahoeyukonforum.com members to be much nicer than the Jeep crowd. Nobody could post anything without things turning toxic and just nasty in a hurry. You guys rock!

I agree, this has been an amazing group - very thankful.

Just drove the vehicle about 20 miles in various conditions and so far so good! It is my wife's Tahoe. I am lucky that she still loves this car. We have owned from new way back in 2003. Can't even remotely afford a new one. It was 30k out the door back then and now an LT equivalent will run you roughly 80K with tax and license. Don't know how people afford it really.

 

[ivin74]

OKAY.... here is the rest of the story, albeit some of it is quite embarrassing. But maybe this will help someone. I awoke a few mornings ago and took in my morning coffee and ran out to finish this repair. I started to install the rocker arms on the driver side. Forgot to put in the tray that they rest on ( believe it or not ) and bolted the rockers straight to the head. I then proceeded to turn the engine by hand after locking 3 in place at 22 ft-lbs. There was some binding and I realized something was wrong. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Thought maybe I should turn myself in. To where, I don't know. This mishap procedure bent a pushrod. Yes true story. I stopped and went inside the house and wondered if I am mentally stable. Then tried to remember what exactly I did - couldn't quite remember in my panic. Ordered all new pushrods for that bank (just to be sure I didn't miss a slightly bent one) and put it all back together. I first turned the engine without the coils and injectors plugged in to circulate some oil. Started the engine and it appears I didn't bend any valve stems. Car is running very good at the moment. Had some amazing amount of steam from the exhaust which also freaked me out. I thought I put in the head gaskets backwards ( even though I know I put front to the front - paid extreme attention to this ). Then I remembered that some Dex-tron spilled into the exhaust when I removed the heads and was cleaning the block. This eventually burned off and no more white smoke out the exhaust. The only other scary part was that there was some valve rattle at first start-up and this dissipated after I turned the engine off and on twice more. All is well now and I am going to sleep well. Thank you for all the support. Ask me questions as I have made all the mistakes and some cool procedures and thoughts as well and would be glad to help as others have helped me here. Special thanks to Iamdub! Thank you all!

We all have made dumb mistakes, that's how we learn.

Keep an eye on your coolant levels. Also, I'd probably short change interval your next 3-4 oil changes and then send another sample to Blackstone. You ought to be safe with the 799 heads but good to keep an eye out.

X2

 

[tRidiot]

I agree, this has been an amazing group - very thankful.

Just drove the vehicle about 20 miles in various conditions and so far so good! It is my wife's Tahoe. I am lucky that she still loves this car. We have owned from new way back in 2003. Can't even remotely afford a new one. It was 30k out the door back then and now an LT equivalent will run you roughly 80K with tax and license. Don't know how people afford it really.

You ain't kiddin', man. The cost of new vehicles has gotten completely out of hand - there're lots of things I blame for this - but especially American SUVs and trucks. I drove a '21 Tahoe on vacation last year when my Tahoe left us stranded literally pulling out of town for vacation. It was amazing. I loved it. The comfort, convenience, the quiet smooth ride, I was entranced.

Then I looked at prices and just shook my head and wondered, like you, "How do people do this?"

I mean, I make a good living, although I've got insane school loans and business loans, but holy cripes! I see tons of these newer vehicles out on the streets and every time I think to myself, "That dude's gotta be paying $1200/mo for 8 years!" For ONE vehicle!

Not to mention insurance costs, I dunno. We (Americans) have just accustomed ourselves to living in untold, ungodly massive amounts of debt - it's just accepted as the norm! I'm doing my best to train my son not to follow in our footsteps, but he's 16 and doesn't listen to a GD'd word I say, I swear to God. I'm trying to GIVE him money, in terms of matching savings and IRA funds, and he just doesn't care, isn't the least bit interested.

It's enough to drive a man to drink - I didn't have far to go, as it is.

 

[MassHoe04]

You ain't kiddin', man. The cost of new vehicles has gotten completely out of hand - there're lots of things I blame for this - but especially American SUVs and trucks. I drove a '21 Tahoe on vacation last year when my Tahoe left us stranded literally pulling out of town for vacation. It was amazing. I loved it. The comfort, convenience, the quiet smooth ride, I was entranced.

Then I looked at prices and just shook my head and wondered, like you, "How do people do this?"

I mean, I make a good living, although I've got insane school loans and business loans, but holy cripes! I see tons of these newer vehicles out on the streets and every time I think to myself, "That dude's gotta be paying $1200/mo for 8 years!" For ONE vehicle!

Not to mention insurance costs, I dunno. We (Americans) have just accustomed ourselves to living in untold, ungodly massive amounts of debt - it's just accepted as the norm! I'm doing my best to train my son not to follow in our footsteps, but he's 16 and doesn't listen to a GD'd word I say, I swear to God. I'm trying to GIVE him money, in terms of matching savings and IRA funds, and he just doesn't care, isn't the least bit interested.

It's enough to drive a man to drink - I didn't have far to go, as it is.

Not sure about other states, but here in MA, we have a thing called Motor Vehicle Excise Tax. We pay 2.5% of the RMV's assessed value EVERY SINGLE YEAR! Tax on $65k-80k SUV? Crazy!!!!

The state's valuations are usually below market value, and do drop over time. Eventually, everyone gets to pay the minimum of $25-$30. But still... The first 5 years on a truck that expensive is a hard hit to take every year just for the privilege of owning a vehicle.

Say you paid $80k for a new ride. Even if the state values it at only $60k for the first year, you're still looking at a $1,500 excise tax bill that first year.

It would hurt a lot less, if our roads were perfect. But they are not! We are so famous for pothole season (which is coming soon), that MA-based Friendly Ice Cream came out with a flavor called "Nor'easter Pothole"!

People down south: You can stop laughing now! No, really...

P.S.: That looks like a Jeep going into the crater.

 

[mattt]

Not sure about other states, but here in MA, we have a thing called Motor Vehicle Excise Tax. We pay 2.5% of the RMV's assessed value EVERY SINGLE YEAR! Tax on $65k-80k SUV? Crazy!!!!

The state's valuations are usually below market value, and do drop over time. Eventually, everyone gets to pay the minimum of $25-$30. But still... The first 5 years on a truck that expensive is a hard hit to take every year just for the privilege of owning a vehicle.

Say you paid $80k for a new ride. Even if the state values it at only $60k for the first year, you're still looking at a $1,500 excise tax bill that first year.

It would hurt a lot less, if our roads were perfect. But they are not! We are so famous for pothole season (which is coming soon), that MA-based Friendly Ice Cream came out with a flavor called "Nor'easter Pothole"!

People down south: You can stop laughing now! No, really...

P.S.: That looks like a Jeep going into the crater.

View attachment 365127

Is that in addition to your annual registration for the vehicle, or is that the registration to get your license plate sticker? The name Tax-achusetts does seem fitting after all Who puts these thieves in power? CA where I'm at isn't much better, but this will collapse in on itself at some point. The way I heard it, someone famous once said; Eventually you run out of other people's money.

 

[MassHoe04]

Is that in addition to your annual registration for the vehicle, or is that the registration to get your license plate sticker? The name Tax-achusetts does seem fitting after all Who puts these thieves in power? CA where I'm at isn't much better, but this will collapse in on itself at some point. The way I heard it, someone famous once said; Eventually you run out of other people's money.

NOPE! In addition...

6.25% Sales tax at time of purchase.
$25 Transfer existing registration (or $50 for new plate)

Then...
$35 Annual Vehicle Inspection
2.5% Annual Excise Tax
$60 every two years registration renewal (regular plates) or $80 annually for vanity plates

Don't forget insurance... That's a couple grand a year, even with an 18 year old Tahoe.