Possible Blown Headgasket?

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1lslincoln

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So I have a 05 V8 Sport, recently put a new engine in it and since iv had nothing but overheating/cooling problems. replaced all the cooling parts including all metal radiator and degas bottle and all the plastic, literally all of it. it holds pressure perfectly no problem at all but last install it worked perfect first drive then upon getting home and letting it idle the heat went out and fan came on, ugh. there was no air coming out of the bleeder. I got tired of messing with it so i brought it to a local lincoln dealer and let them diag it. They told me it took them a couple drives to even get it to over heat (i could never get it past idle without overheating) and said the coolant was 1.5 gallons low. I put about 4 almost 5 gallons of 50/50 in during the fill/bleed procedure so i’m not sure how but that seems like ALOT of coolant. they vacuum filled the system and put more coolant in it and couldn’t get it to overheat after that. once they got it on a lift they said the head gaskets are externally leaking, quoted me 6200 LOL. On the way home the heat cut out and it overheated like it did before? does this sound like a externally leaking headgasket would cause this? should i just bring this to another shop and see what they say?
 
04_Sport_LS said:
After more reading the Dual Climate control valve might be messed up. Same for the auxillary coolant pump. It circulates the coolant after shutdown.
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you know, now that i think about it when it would get hot and i turned it off i could hear a pump running and now i dont anymore, isnt that the aux pump?
 
04_Sport_LS said:
Yup, but it only runs for about a minute or so... depending on how hot the engine is.
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But that wouldn't cause the head gaskets to leak externally. Find a different shop. You may find that there is a hose that runs under the intake manifold and across the top of the engine block.

It's known to leak and typically the coolant runs off the back of the block, and into the transmission bell housing.

That's why the first shop thought the head gaskets were leaking.

Run as far as you can from that first shop. They are idiots!!! (or liars).
 
Go to the magnifying glass at the top right corner of this page, and tap on it.

Then type in "cooling system issues" in the box, and hit enter.

You will see multiple pages of cooling system issues for the V8 LS.
 
04_Sport_LS said:
That hose is about 3/8 in diameter. It's no wonder you have been leaking engine coolant the whole time
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well I replaced that hose while i was in there maybe 2-3 weeks ago because it looked a little sus so i just used some generic coolant hose from advanced that’s the same size. the valley was completely clean no looks of coolant burning off there and everything pressure test 100% fine. and everytime i filled/drained it i always followed the fill/bleed process exactly so i dont think the coolant was low enough to damage anything but maybe it could’ve been. it builds good pressure. i think instead of the headgasket they were really seeing just a lot of coolant from bleeding it because it dumps basically right on the engine/ exhaust
 
1lslincoln said:
well I replaced that hose while i was in there maybe 2-3 weeks ago because it looked a little sus so i just used some generic coolant hose from advanced that’s the same size. the valley was completely clean no looks of coolant burning off there and everything pressure test 100% fine. and everytime i filled/drained it i always followed the fill/bleed process exactly so i dont think the coolant was low enough to damage anything but maybe it could’ve been. it builds good pressure. i think instead of the headgasket they were really seeing just a lot of coolant from bleeding it because it dumps basically right on the engine/ exhaust
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Well ... If the first shop said the engine was 1.5 gallons low, then there has to be a leak somewhere, and it's most likely NOT the head gaskets.
 
04_Sport_LS said:
Well ... If the first shop said the engine was 1.5 gallons low, then there has to be a leak somewhere, and it's most likely NOT the head gaskets.
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yeah im gonna take it to another shop and see what they say. i think its more likely dccv/aux pump, is there any difference in the first gen vs 2nd gen aux coolant pump? i can find ones new for the gen1 but not gen 2
 
1lslincoln said:
yeah im gonna take it to another shop and see what they say. i think its more likely dccv/aux pump, is there any difference in the first gen vs 2nd gen aux coolant pump? i can find ones new for the gen1 but not gen 2
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Look for a Gates 41528E... Or a Rein WPA0034.

Those are Jag aftermarket. IIRC... Advance auto can special order the REIN. Either of those will work, but the orientation of the aux pump might be different than OEM.
 
I find the LS needs to be vacuum filled as we have many threads about trapped air. So glad the shop at least did that. Consider getting one as it does work as advertised and after one use you will never do it any other way.

Head gaskets are easy to check? Go to any parts store and they will have a test kit. You put some coolant in and note the color change. Heck even Harbor Freight has a test kit now. Only $33 and that will tell you immediately if that's the problem. It's too expensive of a repair to do it without a second opinion.
Combustion Gas Tester

If the DCCV has not been changed out I can just about guarantee it needs to be.
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.
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As an afterthought... Did you bleed the cooling system with the nose of the car downhill. The heater core can get "air locked" if you didn't.

Air always tries to find the highest point.
 
clubairth said:
I find the LS needs to be vacuum filled as we have many threads about trapped air. So glad the shop at least did that. Consider getting one as it does work as advertised and after one use you will never do it any other way.

Head gaskets are easy to check? Go to any parts store and they will have a test kit. You put some coolant in and note the color change. Heck even Harbor Freight has a test kit now. Only $33 and that will tell you immediately if that's the problem. It's too expensive of a repair to do it without a second opinion.
Combustion Gas Tester

If the DCCV has not been changed out I can just about guarantee it needs to be.
.
.
.
Click to expand...
iv done the combustion tester and it was fine, itd be hard to blow it from coolant to combustion but not impossible. after getting my hands on a work book and doing some testing (should’ve done this in the first place but i was just tired of messing with it) it’s the dccv and aux pump. the aux pump had gunk in the connectors from previous leaks and the dccv is froze closed. cleaned connections on aux pump and ordered dccv. the heater core hoses weren’t even hot. how the dealership missed it is beyond me.

04_Sport_LS said:
Did you bleed the cooling system with the nose of the car downhill
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yes, iv tried that too. even got a friends vacuum bleeder on it and some air came out but not a whole bunch. that was before the dealer vac filled it.
 
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