Hi Guys,
The cooling water of my 95 Camaro Z28 is disappearing. After driving less than 10 miles and I have stopped the car, usually I’ve seen a white smoke on idle. Then, if I check the water level in radiator and expansion bottle, they are low. The oil is not changing the color, viscosity or smell. I didn’t find any leakage in the cooling system and then, in my opinion one of the head gaskets had blown.
During the first start I’m hearing a “knock” from the valve train (just 1 cylinder) and I can’t hear any noise in less than 1 minute, after the warming period.
The engine has 60k miles, the oil pressure is normal and it’s not lowering oil.
As I will disassemble the engine heads what parts do you recommend me to buy before? As I live far away from the USA, I don’t get the parts easily.
I’m thinking to buy the following parts:
1. Engine gasket set
2. Intake/Exhaust valve seals
3. Lifters
4. Push Rods
5. Serpentine belt
Is any sensor or wiring that is a good idea to change even if it doesn’t show failure signal?
Your experience is very welcome!
Regards
Carl

 

I would pressure test the cooling system before assuming the head gasket is bad. If you only drive 10 miles, the exhaust system may not be fully warmed up, and you may be seeing the normal water vapor in the exhaust condensing. Have you tested the coolant for the presence of hydrocarbons?

Have you determined the source of the "knock" by listening to the individual valve trains with a stethoscope? The LT1 tends to experience "piston slap" during cold start. Since it goes away in less than one minute, have you considered that as the source of the "knock"?

 

Hi Carl.

I had a similar issue, with coolant going missing - I agree with Injuneer on pressure-testing the system first. I found that my car had a very slight leak in one of the fittings leading back to the heater core, that caused the loss over time without being really problematic. It did not leak enough to leave droplets anywhere, just steam.

If you are not getting any smoke out of the exhaust and your oil is clear, I wouldn't waste the money and time to replace the head gaskets on a hunch.

 

I'll check the cooling system and take look on spark plugs. If one of them will be a little bit brown, probably I have water going in a cylinder.
Thank you for your comments.
Carl

 

When my head gasket blew, i didn't get any coolant mixing with oil. If its cold where you are, take radiator cap off after starting the car, see if the exhaust is coming out of the radiator. That's what mine did.

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When mine went the antifreeze in the radiator and recovery tank smelled like raw fuel and the stream from where the steam pipe get routed into the radiator near the cap would not flow a nice steady stream of coolant when running.

I never did have obvious oil contamination until i removed the valve covers and saw the oil and antifreeze mixed jell/crud stuck on the underside.

unless you have really bad oil contamination and since your mileage is low i wouldn't bother with new pushrods or lifters