Intro/ question

[Badbiscuit85]

Hi, my name is Brad, I live in Laramie, WY as i go to Wyotech, but am from mid Missouri. I have an interest in these trucks. I was curious though I am going to look at one next weekend, looking to buy it. The guy said that is putting boost into the coolant and he thinks it is a head gasket, the truck is a 93 4x4 2500 w/6.5 TD and a 4l80e behind it. He wants 1800 but said he would take 1500, He drove it 80 miles to his house, and I was curious if it could be driven from Denver, where the truck is, to Laramie, where I am? Maybe there is a way to lower the boost and baby it back.

any ideas?

Thanks,
Brad

[TedReminder]

Could be a head gasket or more likely a cracked head. It is not boost that gets into the coolant, it is compression. Overheating due to lost coolant could be a problem. Coolant in oil would be a worse problem. If it was me, I would probably not drive it that far without at least ruling out oil in coolant.(I really meant coolant in oil). If the oil is good, I might baby it with a hell of a lot of stops to check coolant. I sure would carry a lot of water just in case its needed.
It's your call though. That's a pretty good price even if you need new heads, as long as no other serious damage has been done.
Ted

[sixnickel]

Could be a head gasket or more likely a cracked head. It is not boost that gets into the coolant, it is compression. Overheating due to lost coolant could be a problem. Coolant in oil would be a worse problem. If it was me, I would probably not drive it that far without at least ruling out oil in coolant. If the oil is good, I might baby it with a hell of a lot of stops to check coolant. I sure would carry a lot of water just in case its needed.
It's your call though. That's a pretty good price even if you need new heads, as long as no other serious damage has been done.
Ted

I second the motion

[Garth J]

My buddy blew a head gasket and lost a lot of coolant and when he tried to restart it it hydraulic locked and tore the starter out of it and damaged the ring gear and bent a rod.

[Badbiscuit85]

I appreciate the replies, the truck doesn't have any coolant in the oil, I checked. Also I only know that it is putting boost into the coolant because he told me so, when I checked out the truck he was out of town, and his wife didn't have the keys, is there any way to check if it's putting boost into the coolant. He said the temp level was high, and that there were bubbles on the coolant.

Thanks,
Brad

[Garth J]

If you are getting bubbles in the coolant then its either a cracked head or a blown head gasket. Personally id walk away and look for another truck unless its a really good deal

[grancito]

My 82 has bubbles since I bought it, I only took the gasket out of the radiator cap to stop the pressure, it has done 200,000 miles since then. Perhaps it has a very minor head crack. Depends how bad the one you are looking at is blowing, they all have the prospect of head problems. If you don´t buy it, let me know where it is, I could need the earlier parts, I don´t like the computer sh-t on my burb.

[w_huisman]

From a cold start, squeeze the top radiator hose. If it's rock hard long before it's up to operating temp, that's a tell-tale sign of trouble.

[Mtrman]

my 93 had a blown head gasket when I bought it. Watch the radiator overflow tank. If you have a bad head gasket it will be bubbling while the engine is running. It will do this as soon as you start it. I would also smell the exhaust once it is running, burning antifreeze has a sweet smell. If it is like mine it was not using any antifreeze but the compression from cylinder #2 was bleeding into the water jacket. I don't think I would drive it until it was fixed. If it gets worse and the cylinder fills with antifreeze your going to have a very large paper weight. The gaskets are available and so are aftermarket heads. If you can do the work yourself you can get heads, gaskets and head bolts for less than $1000. I am not saying you need heads but just in case.
Mike