blown head gasket chrysler 3.5 v6

[WilkinsJ]

I have a 2004 Pacifica that has started overheating. I put jug after jug of antifreeze into it and the engine keeps sucking it up and the overflow jug empties.



Is this indicative of a blown head gasket? Is all the coolant just going into the oil pan? I do have a yellow residue at the top of the oil filler neck, which is about five inches above the head where it drains in to.



It only has 88000 miles and has been a second family car since we bought it used in late 04.



I'm going to drain the oil tommorrow and see whats what.



the engine continues to run ok. I'v had a check engine light on for a couple of weeks now; haven't had the car to a dealer to have it diagnosed.



The engine has recently (since it has had a coolant problem) started to emit a valve-train tap at start-up, but it goes away after getting to operating temp.



anyone have any thoughts?



thanks. Joel Wilkins 96 12v Ram, stock, 5 spd, won't die, why replace it?

 

[WilkinsJ]

where are all the Dodge technicions that are associated with this website? I know this Pacifica isn't powered by Cummins but someone's got to have an idea of whats going on here. 15 people have looked at this thread.



Is this car junk now? should I fix it and sell it? Should I stick a 4bt in it and be done with it?

 

[B.G. Smith]

Has the engine been overheated since you have owned it. Might be a cracked head. There is a meter that can test the coolant to see if exhaust gases are present, won't tell you if it's the head gasket or a crack though. A good radiator shop might be able to perform this test. I doubt that a lot of the coolant is going into the pan as antifreeze will cause an engine to lock up sometimes but the residue you see is probably evidence of the leak.

Don't know what the vehicle is worth but suspect it is worth repairing. bg

 

[WilkinsJ]

thanks. I pulled the oil pan yesterday and didn't find any antifreeze in the oil. Just to make sure, I put the oil in glass jars to see if it separates out. so far it hasn't.



there isn't any warranty left and I still owe 24 payments. I'm going to have to repair it.



the question is repair it and sell it or keep it. I 've heard it's very hard to get antifreeze out of the engine and the engine won't last all that long



any thoughts?



thanks.

 

[B.G. Smith]

I am not familiar with the car you have. Are you sure the coolant is not going out a leak somewhere else like a freeze plug or the overflow of the radiator? If yes, then I would pull the heads and have them checked (magnifluxed) by a good shop. I know there is tons of clutter to remove before you can get to the engine. I had a 92 V/6 Chevy that was doing something similar and I did the heads and found no problem, put it back together and still did the same thing. It would get do much water after it warmed up it would hardly run. Tore it down again and finally found a cylinder wall cracked. Had it rebored and a sleeve put in that cylinder and it was like a new one. bg

 

[Flinty]

If you had a enough water in the engine to cause any kind of problems your oil would be a creamy gold color so I wouldn't worry about the life of the engine being affected with regard to that question. You will have to find a trusted mechanic and do some investigating (He will have the expensive tools needed for the following suggestions). Pressure test the cooling system. Put dye in the cooling system. Do a compression test. Carefully check each spark plug for differences. You can run the car with the radiator cap off (do this test when the car is cool) then observe to see if any bubbles come to the top. If the pressurized cap is on the recovery tank and not on the radiator than the mechanic can hook up the pressure tester to the cooling system while it's running and monitor the pressure. It will climb fast if the head gasket is leaking. BTW, is there any oil in the coolant?



All of these ideas will help you to diagnose a head gasket. It sounds like one to me but I would need confirmation from one of the previously mentioned tests and observations before I tore the engine apart. Luck, J.

 

[TBurow]

have you found the source of the coolant loss? leaking or burning it? there is a special bleed procedure to remove the trapped air from those engines. i hope it didnt get too hot, after a 3. 5 overheats a couple of times it is pretty much junk, i have seen many with cracked heads from getting hot once, shop around for a good used engine or get one from jasper, there are alot of reman engines that are junk, get one with a parts and labor warranty.