jmarthaler

Hi I just joined this awesome club and am looking for some advice about my 93 vette lt1 that suddenly is boiling the coolant out of the overflow tank. Drove it to the local trans repair shop for a zf manual 3rd gear synchro replacement. The repair was completed and now I can't leave the shop due to coolant overheating and overflowing coolant out the resivor. I replaced the thermostat in the parking lot and refilled tank with spill free funnel. At about 213 degrees the coolant will raise out the funnel and spray out. the funnel has a white residue that is like paperlike feel to it? I am wondering if the previous owner tried to repair a gasket problem with some type of sealer and now it let loose? any help

charliet615

It sounds like you have a blown head gasket. The previous owner might have used some type of stop leak to try and seal an existing leak..

bogus

yup... head gasket... rather rare on the LT1... how many miles?

It's not a hard task, really. DIY with the right tools... but again, how many miles?

jmarthaler

its got 107,000 I was going to try the dura seal head gasket sealer its guaranteed to work, If it has a cracked head or something i can't afford to fix it so i might have to try this then. thanks for the response

jmarthaler

yes i think your right when they put a new clutch in something they did must have disturbed it and dislocated the sealer out of the gasket cause It worked fine until they worked on the tranny.

Z51breeder

Well, you can find out by using some stuff called Blue Devil. Try it out and see what happens, you have nothing to lose at this point.

MavsAK

You could have a break in the line somewhere. Your hitting waters natural boiling point (assuming your gauge is off) and it's boiling. Pressure makes the boiling point higher.

Just to be thorough check all of the hoses, and the connection at the radiator. Particularly on the return side. I had something very similar happen on my 89. Turned out that the plastic nipple on the side tank on the return side of the radiator had broken off inside the hose and pushed the hose very slightly open relieving the pressure in the system with no discernable leak. Didn't find it when I got in the driveway that night.

It took me going through everything fearing that the headgasket on my L98 finally cut loose, on the hoses until I got to the front end. Squeezing the hose, it plum fell off the radiator and I found the broken shards stuck in the hose.

Not saying that you'll be that lucky but check your hoses etc. Failing that....then yeah probably head gasket.

desertmike1

nice recommendation! water boils @ 212° f (atmos) "But" at 15 psi it Boils at 255°f.. the trans shop could have bumped a banjo fitting etc. Having said this, it sure looks like a leaking head gasket.

Good luck to you!

scotth48

Is it puffing white smoke at the exhaust. If it is a head gasket it may not need new heads. They may be warped, but can be shaved to fix them. Had mine done at a well known engine builder of race engines for $ 550 for the pair, reseated the valves, new head bolts and complete gasket set to put everything back together.

Hooked on Vettes

Short pin A to pin B on the diagnostic connector located above the drivers right knee. Turn the ignition to On don't start the car. The radiator fans should turn on.

If the fans don't work, they probably left off one of the ground wires that bolts to the lower driver side bell housing stud. One of them is a braided wire that goes to the frame below the battery.

ViperC4

check your rad cap too...it sure seems like you are getting air in the system.