88 Coupe Deville Intake Manifold or Head gasket

jamesmdx1 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-19-05, 01:14 AM

Hey everyone
how can you tell if you have a blown head gasket for broken intake manifold?
over 1 day I got alot of coolant into the oil, no overheating ...
thanks

guidematic · #2 (**permalink**) 10-19-05, 03:03 AM

Pressure testing the cooling systen is one way. Listen to see if you can hear where the coolant is leaking into the engine.

The most common cause is the intake gasket at the coolant crossover splitting and allowing coolant into the oil. You may have to remove one or both of the rocker covers, or even the manifold itself to verify it.

Mike

chevelle · #3 (**permalink**) 10-19-05, 02:43 PM

Sounds more like an intake manifold gasket. Head gasket failures on those were pretty uncommon and coolant in the oil is more often than not the intake gasket at the coolant crossover.Take it apart. The intake has to come off anyway to change a head gasket so pull the intake and look at the gasket at the water crossover. If it is leaking it will be pretty obvious.You can't really tell if it is the intake....but you can tell if it is NOT the head gaskets. Use an old spark plug shell or a compression tester adapter to apply shop air to the combustion chambers (one at a time) thru the spark plug port with that cylinder at TDC. Watch the cooling system for bubbling when air is applied to each cylinder. If the head gasket is leaking then you will get lots of bubbling in the cooling system. If not, then the head gasket is likely ok. I would bet that it is the intake gasket....