Help...Coolant leak from head bolt?????

[BCriste]

Hey guys, I got a wierd one for ya. My Truck is a 96',3500, 5speed,3. 54,2wd,x-cab, with almost 200k. The truck is pretty much all stock and origional. It is straight-piped, guages,K&N in the stock box. The truck has had no problems except 1 ball joint went bad and I changed all of them. I've changed front shocks,batterys and brakes, and thats pretty much it. It still has the original clutch, waterpump, radiator,ect... . Anyway I'm rambling... . The problem is about 5 weeks ago It started leaking a small amount of coolant from what at a first look seemed like the 90degree hose that connects the heater core lines to the engine.

So I replace it and all the other hoses (I figured @200k it's about due). A week or so later I checked again and the leak is still there???? But after a closer inspection I found that the first two valve cover gaskets had a lite green tint to them right where the valve cover meets the gasket????? I looked between the first two valve covers and It appears to be leaking around the head bolt????? Are the head bolt holes in the Cummins blocks blind holes or are they through to the water jacket? Anyone heard of this???? The truck has never run hot, never run low on coolant, cooling system flushed every 18months. Oh yea this is the kicker It appears to leak worse when its cold. It isn't a bad leak it uses about a pint of coolant every 2weeks or about 1000miles.

Thanks for any help, suggestions, sympathy, or even if someone has some bad news that I don't want to hear... . go head... I can take it.

Thanks

Brian Criste

 

[Missouri Mule]

Brian,



Have you checked to see if any coolant is in oil?



Excess moisture coming out of tail pipe?



Looking at service manual in engine rebuild section but have not seen any thing suggesting head bolts go into the water jackets.



Will keep looking.



My first take is the head gasket starting to blow.

 

[BCriste]

No water in the oil, no moisture in the exhaust. The truck runs as if there is no problem, and other than the light stain on the side of the engine and the small loss of coolant. Are head gaskets a problem on engines like mine. This truck has been babied, although it has had at least 100k of the 200k miles towing a gcvw of about 18,500lb, the fact that it has never had any other problems. Hell it still has the origional clutch in it. Oh I forgot one other problem I had 2 times was the 5th gear nut..... supprise. I believe that one is fixed for good this time. I just can't see any reason for a head gasket failure... ... . the truck is stock power...

By the way thanks for the reply.

Brian Criste

 

[Alaskaskiff]

More than likely the head gasket. Did mine last week. When I pulled the bolts out several had some oil & coolant gunk on them and you could see the leaks from the gasket. There are passages close to several bolts. I had the stain down the side of the engine you describe. Thought I caused it by being sloppy, but it has since gone away. The 96 is known to leak in the region of #1 on the passenger side kind of in the thermostat region. My truck is at 98K miles. I did overheat slightly last year but caught it real quick. Been watching things close ever since. Check your overflow bottle and see if you have any oil sitting on top. May be hard to see and may look like separated butter.



The job is not hard, but does take some time to do, particularly depending on the amount of time you put into cleanup. A lift to pull/replace the head makes it an easy 1 person job. I can provide a list of parts/part numbers that I replaced (consumables) in the course of the job.

 

[pwknapp]

Mine is leaking to the outside world again. Just have to find the time and $$ for getting the head done when it is out. Ordered the marine gasket set (part # 3804897) and new head bolts, looks like it has everything. Oh yeah picked up new keepers while I was at Cummins.