possible head gasket..???? i have a Chevy 5.0 alot of condensation coming from exhaust?

Question

it does run good but it seems to be hard to start after a drive through town . slow cranking, have to try it several times after it cools ... any help on this would be helpfull

Answer 1

check see if water in oil or oil in water
take radiator cap of start the car if the water bubbles yep change your head gasket

Answer 2

if it is a head gasket then you most likely will either be losing coolant or oil. You can also remove the radiator cap and crank the vehicle. let it completely warm up and look in the radiator and see if you see air bubbles. if there are several popping up that is a good indication you have a gasket leak.

The first thing i would check would be the timing and even the battery. On a Chevy 5.0 you should have a battery with at least 600 cranking amps. Anything less than that would make it crank slow.

Answer 3

Check your radiator. If the coolant inside is mixed with oil then chances are it's a head problem (could be a cracked/ warped head if you've had over heating issues in the past)

Check your oil. if there is coolant in your oil then again same story.

Does the condensation go away when the car is all the way warmed up?


I would run a compression test on each cylinder. if one or two in a row are drastically lower than the rest then you know where your problem is. I'm not really familiar with Chevy's but the 5.0 is a v-8 right? chances are if it is the gasket, it will be only one cylinder bank.
If you can't figure out what is wrong or are not comfortable messing with it, take it to a mechanic. they will straighten it out.

Good luck!

Answer 4

This is terribly crude but it works. When you notice the water dripping dab a drop on your little finger and taste it. If you notice a sweet flavor antifreeze is coming out your exhaust. The little 305 Chevy's had thin wall cast cylinder head and were pron to warp because of extreme heat. I hate to say this but sometimes these heads crack between the intake and exhaust valves. Cylinders 3-4 and 5-6 run the hottest because of the heat riser passages and placement of the exhaust ports.

Answer 5

check the oil and coolant, if the oil is milky then you may have a head gasket problem, if the coolant is low, that can also be a sign, because the coolant is mixing with the oil. if the car only starts when its cold, it may be the crankshaft position sensor

Answer 6

Inspect each spark plug, and look for bubbles on the oil dipstick.

Answer 7

look in radiator water missing? if it is now u know where its going.. look at dipstick...got low oil and white foam? theres ur sign!