Rough idle at first then smooths

[burijon]

So I'm pretty sure I have a head gasket leak. After replacing my overflow tank because the seams split on it I thought I had the coolant issue figured out. I don't see any coolant or residue from the weep hole in the water pump but it could be burning off before I can actually see it.

I have had to add at least a gallon of coolant after filling up the system from the overflow tank replacement so it's going somewhere.

The oil on the dipstick looks fine to me but I'll admit I'm no expert.

If the car starts rough then smooths out, is that indicative of coolant on top of the pistons then burning it off?

Is it possible to have an open injector and fuel is collecting?

I am aware of hydro-locking but at 146k on the car I have gotten some good life out of it. As long as I keep dumping oil and coolant in it it just keeps going and going! I need to buy 55 gallon drums of the stuff though...

[burijon]

Head gaskets it is.

If I get it fixed, is there anything else I should get replaced while the heads are off? Anything related to oil consumption that could be replaced?

Am I better off getting a used engine and swapping the whole thing out knowing it will probably blow another gasket?

Either way its almost the same price.

[harmankardon35]

normally i'd say if its been burning antifreeze for any amount of time then it can do a number on the engine, but if you are running factory dexcool I dont believe its nearly as bad as regular antifreeze...I would fix the gasket, As far as i know the 3.5 is just prone to oil consumption so not much you can do for that.

[Tobey]

I think I'd keep the engine. You could really end up screwing yourself if the other engine had problems too.

As for oil loss, definitely replace the valve cover gaskets. They're surely leaking by now...

BTW, how did you determine the head gasket was indeed leaking? White smoke? Milky oil?

[burijon]

My tech did litmus(not sure what its called) test where the dye turns a color if it sees oil in the coolant.

I know the feeling of not knowing what you are getting with a whole nother motor. But I'm not sure how good my motor looks on the inside if its been drinking antifreeze for a while. I have run exclusively Dexcool till the past month as Peak 50/50 was on sale.

My exhaust is extremely milky and extremely stinky. I feel bad for whomever is behind my car.

I suppose the upper intake manifold gasket gets replaced with a head job(I hope). I haven't seen any oil drip from car ever. It all goes out the tail pipe!

Anyone have any thoughts with the bolt threads on the block with a new head bolt set? Will they hold? My tech didn't think it would last too long if he did a head gasket job. Any experience?