replace gasket or start over?

[Tanner]

I have a 1996 chevy k1500 regular cab short bed. it has 238000 miles on the originaly motor. it still runs good but I have ran into some what of a problem. I am fairly certain the intake manifold is leaking coolant down the front of the block. I can see where the manifold meets the block and above it is dry and below it is wet. I also cannot keep the over flow full. I have to put like a 1/4 gallon in every month or so to keep the radiator and over flow within the marks. when its warm it does not burn oil however on start up when it is below 20 degrees it does blow some blue smoke untill it warms up and then it stops.

things done on the truck

new style spider injectors
water pump
relatively new alternator (15,000 miles)
new spark plugs
new distributor shaft, cap, and rotor
new spark plug wires
new OEM ignition coil
all cylinders have a compression of 105-115 roughly (checked about a year and a half ago)

and many many other things that are not engine related. I am sure I could do the manifold gasket without to many problems but with it being 21 years old and 238000 miles I am just wondering if it would be worth it just to rebuild or replace the motor?

obviously it would cost more but I planned on eventually replacing it anyway eventually. I just had the transmission went through and rebuilt due to it not shifting out of park because a bushing in the linkage went bad. in order to fix the bushing they had to pull the tranny and since they had to pull the tranny I just had it rebuilt while it was out.

I have owned the truck since it had 194000 miles on it, been through 2 accidents which were both proffessionaly fixed. I bought it my sophomore year of high school and I love the truck.

what are your guys thoughts? woul it be worth just replacing the gasket? or would it be easier to put a crate motor in it? where is a good place to get a crate motor? I have been looking at westcoast engines but I have never bought a new motor.

are there any swaps that would be fairly easy and simple to do into it?

what would labor probably run me roughly to have a shop do it?

I am just not sure what to do with it so right now I am just keeping the coolant full and being nice to it. thanks for your help

Topic

[Billy]

Certainly replacing the gasket is the cheapest, easiest, most direct fix. If the engine is running well, I see no reason not to do that. The fact that you’re considering an engine swap as a response to such a relatively small problem makes me think you WANT to put in a new engine. And that’s cool too. If you wanna go big and upgrade your baby, go for it!

[Tanner]

well in some ways you are right I do want to put a new motor in it we plan on doing it sooner or later anyway. but then again also like you said doing just the gasket is a lot cheaper and direct fix. it does run good. I have to put a little more than a quart of oil in it every 3000 miles and I know the oil cooler lines leak which I plan on replacing on the next oil change.

I just dont want to replace the gasket and then turn around and put a motor in it soon after if that makes sense.

If I do the gasket then it will be a lot sooner fix rather than later. if I just put a motor in it then it will be a while while I save up to either do it myself or have a shop do it.

Im just looking for different thoughts and advice to weigh out my options.

[Richard Kirshy]

My suggestion..
If the motor is running well and you can do the intake gasket yourself, by all means do so.
That would give you time to research reliable shops that could do a motor swap and give you time to save those pennies to get it done.
Or, if you decide to try the swap yourself, you can use the time to research what motor best suits your needs and what would be involved.
In either case, you buy time to get the needed funds together with out being forced into a situation.

[Tanner]

Thanks for the advice guys. I just decided to get the intake gaskets replaced. I was having a hard time finding time to do them so I went and talked to the mechanics class at the school that I go too. They did it for the price of the parts and since the auto collision shop is right next to the mechanics shop I was able to hit pop in once in a while and check it out. So far no more leaks and it runs good so I have some more time to make plans for her later.

The guy that did it said that the gaskets weren’t in bad shape at all but rather it was the bead of silicone used on the valley of the block that failed. I thought that was kinda interesting. Either way the home intake got cleaned and fresh gaskets so I’m happy with it. I generally don’t let other people do work on my cars but the teacher is a family friend and I was able to check up on it so I took the chance.

[Richard Kirshy]

Glad to hear you got it worked out.

[Author]

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