Tow vehicle advice Chevy 350

M

mwilson

New member
My chevy tow vehicle has a 2001 350 vortex with 60 k. I just changed the oil and noticed a color change yup coolant. My dealer says its a intake gasket ant that once I get coolant in the oil I need a new engine ouch!!! Any one heard of this problem? Do I really need a new engine? Only 60 k makes me want to cry. He says once the coolant gets in bearings it only a matter of time till the engine goes. Mbw
 
How often do you change the oil? How long is the coolant been in there? That makes a big difference. If its not long, a head gasket (I don't think there is any coolant in the intake system) change may solve your problem. If you only have 60k on it in 12 years, it may only last another 12... Sounds OK to me from a cost-benefit perspective! :thup

Charlie
 
The dealer would like to be the one to swap the engine Im sure! I wouldn't automatically assume the engine bearings are scored just because coolant is in the oil. I've had this happen in classic cars and swapping the engine wasnt even a thought. I just swapped the gasket and was good for years.

The engine should be durable enough that a gasket change should be all that's needed. If the engine isnt making any strange noises, you should be OK.
 
This may indeed be the intake gasket. There is a coolant passage in the front of the intake manifold that also houses the thermostat. It's the first thing you remove to do the head gaskets anyway, so take a look there first.

I wouldn't condemn the bearings so soon.
 
The same thing happened on my 2001 Olds at about 75,000. It had a couple thousand on it before I before I notice it. Cost $800.00 to fix. Still running great at 112,000. Your engine must be a 5.4 liter not a 350. Hard to kill a 350 or the newer 5.4 liter. JDB
 
This must be a dealer day. First the cost to service an outboard, and now the cost to fix a coolant leak.

I'm no expert on what will ruin an engine, still experimenting, up to about engine 10. For the >$3000 price of a new engine, I'd have 2 suggestions.

1. Go to your trustworthy independent garage, tell them the problem and ask how to fix the problem. I've spent 7 years in Escondido finding a good garage, and I've finally scored. They're hard to find, great to use.

2. Get the problem fixed. The 350, the 305 and the 283, etc. are basically the same engine. And yes there's a couple of coolant holes in the block/intake manifold. So, fix it and see what happens. What do you have to loose? The bearings are probably OK, since water and ethylene glycol will lubricate a bearing, especially when mixed with oil. Remember the oil salesman with the "special oil" that he'd mix with water, run engine and tell you how good the stuff was? As long as he changed the oil after he was out of sight, the mixture would lubricate for a short period.

In defense of the dealer, he had no idea of how long the coolant was in the engine, etc, etc. With your money, the safest recommendation was a new engine.

Boris
 
Thanks for the advice. I am frustrated cause the dealer said if i did the intake gasket repair i would have to sign a waiver saying tha he advised me that the bearings would fail.
I did go to another respected repair facility. He said the same thing the bearings wouldn't last and I'd waste money on a repair. I kinda believe him because he said to go with a good wrench rebuild that the dealer could get. I'm kind of worried now if I do the gasket repair I'll worry constantly about a engine failure in nowhereville.

Oil has been changed at 3000 mi. I just noticed the color change at last oil change. Only drove it to the dealer after that.

Quoted me $900 to fix the gasket $ 5500. For an engine.
 
I'm not a mechanic, but I play one on some weekends and grew up working on and restoring old cars. The bearing races are a hardened steel, and Im having a hard time understanding how having coolant in the oil for only a short period, or even an oil change duration could cause catastrophic damage to the bearing races. They are designed to withstand many, many miles. I would expect cylinder wear to be a problem before crank and bearing wear.

I guess if you have the extra money and need the piece of mind then go for a new engine. My concern would be it's a simple repair could get you down the road for another 150k miles no problem. You just don't know. I usually choose to not fix things unless they're broke and save the money for boats!

I have an old 1960 Land Rover, it blew a head gasket and had these symptoms. I don't know how long it had the issue but it got progressively worse. We spent a Saturday swapping in a new gasket and changed the oil. That was two years ago and it still runs perfect.
 
journey on":12x19gzx said:
1. Go to your trustworthy independent garage, tell them the problem and ask how to fix the problem. I've spent 7 years in Escondido finding a good garage, and I've finally scored. They're hard to find, great to use.
Click to expand...

this, this, this.
Dealers are not to be trusted. I hate to stereotype, but auto dealers are just ........... Its really hard to find a REAL mechanic now days, but when you do, take good care of him because they are worth their weight in gold. (I even edited myself here because of my distaste for my local dealers)

You might visit a forum like http://67-72chevytrucks.com. They aren't just '67 era pickups, they cover all eras and have some great mechanics on there. they have a regional section I believe and you might even find someone near you who can offer advice.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/foru ... y.php?f=58
 
As long as your AAA is paid up, I agree with most of the replies. Find the leak, fix it, sign the waiver, and drive it. If it was one of these little watch-works 4 or six cylinder engines, I'd be more concerned, but a big ol' american V8, I would not worry about it. If the bearings are bad from the coolant, they'll go bad pretty quickly. So if you get a few thousand on it with not problems, then you won't have any problems due to bearings for the rest of the normal life of the engine. Frankly, I'd worry more going down the road on a generic rebuilt engine than with one that you already know has run reliably.
 
When I had mine fixed at 75,000, engine failure was never even dicussed. Thirty seven thousand miles later it's still going strong. Drive it or trade it for a newer model. JDB
 
I have been a service advisor for Nissan, worked as a autoTech, and ran a shop. If it isn't making non-normal noises, it probably is fine. Yeah, it probably didn't do it any good, but without tearing it apart and literally hearing it run, there is a lot of room for debate as to how drastic the damage is, or isn't. Sometimes that god awful dexcool that GM decided to use causes horrific problems with stuff.....stupid, stupid, stupid....I really don't like the cheap plastic intake they put on a perfectly good 350 - it kills me they did it.......see stupid note above.....But, really, it could be good for thousands of miles more. BTW, you'll know really soon as engines with bad bearing don't stay together for long. If this were Vegas, I'd be betting on the 350......

BTW, it is only a matter of time before any engine "goes out"......this dealer is playing your emotions - they both are.......

Why are you signing a waiver?

Just so you know, I got out of the auto business because it sucks.....full of crooks for sure.....just like the sales department.....go figure....
 
In case this helps at all:

I had a situation once where I ended up driving my truck for ~two miles with basically no oil (I was driving over a long/high bridge that was barricaded down to one lane, no shoulders, when for seemingly no reason my truck suddenly started to sound more and more like a sewing machine :shock:).

When I was finally able to pull over, there was less than a quart of oil in the truck (based on what I added to bring it back up). I was beside myself, as you can imagine. I was basically expecting it to be toast, need a full rebuild, etc. Surprisingly, a trusted shop said "It would cost a fair amount to tear it down and find out if anything is wrong; we suggest you just drive it and see what happens. You can always rebuild it later." This went totally against my nature, but it's what I did, and I drove it for another 200,000 miles or so without any problems.

One thing I did do was take an oil sample to a testing lab. Apparently certain bearings are made of certain metals, so if they find any in the oil they can tell what was damaged (mine tested fairly well, but it had been diluted somewhat so I still wasn't sure until 200k later).

Sunbeam

PS: In my case it turned out that an oil sender had suddenly failed and let all the oil run out. Just had to happen on that bridge, natch.
 
I'll weigh in on this one for a bit. First I have an 04 Yukon with a 5.3 Liter engine that had the same indications. Second, I change my oil at 7500 or more miles, but I also use scheduled oil sampling which is an oil analysis program most used by aircraft owners, heavy machinery managers and race or expensive car owners. SOS looks at foreign materials in the oil, such as silicon(dirt) etc and wear materials such lead or aluminum (overlay and wear material on crank bearings) among other things. At 53000 miles my sample reported high sodium which usually indicates a coolant leak. So I talked to the fellow who owns the shop that does the work I don't do, and he promptly told me that it was likely the intake gasket ( a known GM problem). So, I had him fix it for $399. The Yukon now has 89,000 miles, the problem has not reoccurred, and the engine is fine. I just changed oil again last week and the oil sample remains clean. I agree with the other comments posted here. Don't panic! Find an outside shop that will look at your outfit, and/or change the gasket at a reasonable price and move on. Since you change your oil every 3,000 miles you likely have a very small amount of coolant dilution in your oil which means plenty of lubrication to your bearings. Another point to consider is that gasoline engines generally are very tolerant of minor inconveniences like this, and should give you a good long life.
 
I had a head gasket go in my 83 nissan pickup and every few days the temp would start rising. I ran it for months that way. When they pulled the head off to fix it it had the cleanest valves and stems you ever saw. Apparently a little water leaking into the cylinders could have that effect. I( ended up with 469 thousand miles on that truck and only quit when it got rear ended.
 
Not a heavy duty tow rig, (but I did tow my Montgomery 15 sailboat with) my '99 Subaru Outback had the head gasket(s) go at 140K miles. It had to sit for a couple weeks before the repair. After the fix, it didn't sound right, and the shop (dealer's), said it was teh main bearings and needed to replace the engine. $4000.oo :twisted: :evil: :cry :arrow: :idea: :arrow: Sold it to them and now I drive a Camry for a work car. My old Toyota Tercel 4WD wagon had 580K miles on it and the headgaskets were still good.

The problem probably came from not flushing the coolant each year, according to there mechanic, but they are the ones who did the service. Oh well. Found a good, independent mechanic and ..... back to a reliable brand. :D :D :thup

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
A LOT of the problems with head gaskets are because of the different expansion rates between the block (cast iron) and the heads (aluminum) if that is what your car has. The iron/iron configuration and aluminum/aluminum configuration is better for sure in that area. There are also problems with the 100,000 miles antifreeze and how it reacts with various metals and your gaskets. I personally like the good old green stuff myself - but it needs to be flushed 3 times more often.

Going back the original poster's question, there is only one reasonalbe way to find out if that 350 is still good, and that is to drive it.
 
Thanks for all the input. I found a 1800 number for Chevy and actually talked to a real person who took my info and said it got approved to assign to a district manager to review. They may discount an engine replacement. I found this almost unbelievable that
1. I got to talk to a human.
2 that she actually called me back.
3. That I would have an answer by next Tuesday.
4 we'll see if Chevy really will back up their product.

I have faith, ( I think)
 
I agree with those who say "fix the gasket", flush the engine, several times, with fresh oil, and then run it. At 3000 miles get an oil analysis, and every 3,000 there after.

I agree with Potter Water, that I would avoid a rebjilt engine--you can get a "Crate" engine for just a few more dollars, if that turns out to be necessary.

I would be surprised if Chevy steps up to the plate, but good for them if they do--again, I would insist on a crate engine over a rebuilt.
 
mwilson, agree with most posters - change the gasket and drive it. If your engine has ever been overheated it may be a good idea to have the head surface checked while it is off.

I agree it is hard to find a good/honest dealer, but in their defence - unlike a layman who is free to give you any advise without consequence - a licensed mechanic must outline all your options and possible consequences. Failure to do so can leave him open to lawsuits.

A problem diagnosis type repair is often actually cheaper at a dealer because they know your vehicle and its common problems. I worked for 14 years at a Honda(auto) dealer and many times we had vehicles towed in from other independent shops that had replaced part after part trying to fix a simple problem. For example in the early 90's Honda had a problem with the ignitor. This was a simple, cheap repair - when you knew what to look for - but other shops would replace a lot of other electrical parts - which are non returnable once they have been installed.

With todays longer service intervals dealers are under pressure to find ways to keep their service departments busy.

Regards, Rob
 
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