I need some help please

[Travisbsmith]

My wife overheated our 1996 tahoe. It now has water in the oil,but is not missing,or overheating.I thought it might be intake gaskets but would love to have more input

 

[99hoeon33s]

It could be the intake gaskets they are bad about failing around that year you could try that at while your at it i would replace the water pump and thermostat just to be safe but if all else fails you still might have to do a head job but at least it is worth a shot and also by any chance do you know why it overheated on her? Or maybe how long she drove while it was over heating

 

[Travisbsmith]

The radiator had a small leak,she drove it from "around the corner" maybe 1/4 mile she says. She told me that is was running "warm". I put the new radiator in it I was hooking up the oil cooler line and see water in the oil.

 

[99hoeon33s]

It could be the intake gasket because they do fail on those years or could be the head gasket i think it would be worth tryin the intake gasket how many miles is on it? And when was the last water pump and thermostat replaced

 

[Travisbsmith]

It has 170,000 miles

 

[99hoeon33s]

They usually fail around 120,000 but it may have lasted that long do you kno if it has been replaced before? But i would just change the intake gasket before trying to do a head job

 

[Travisbsmith]

It's original

 

[99hoeon33s]

Yea thats most likely your problem i overheated mine about a month ago because i was low on coolant and it turned out ok so i think youll be alright with just replacing the intake gasket

 

[Travisbsmith]

I sure hope so, it's got me ssstressed out lol

 

[99hoeon33s]

Yea it happens sometimes

 

[lesterl]

When you do the LIM, get the Felpro Permadry Plus ones that are rubber over steel and not the factory plastick crap....

 

[2000CCSB]

Also make sure you change that oil before you run it again
the intake gasket shouldn't take to long 2.5 hours max and you should be able to tell if and where it failed. Like stated above the L31 is notorious for blowin intake gaskets mine upchucked it's gasket at 108,000 and took a main bearing with it . "Previous owner" was on a road trip over headed blew the gasket limped it to gm service shop and found a trashed mian dew to water in the oil. Bummer.

 

[lesterl]

AFAIK ALMOST ALL GM V engines from about 1996-2003 had intake gasket issues, the 5.7l, the 4.3l, the 3.4l, the 3.1l were all real notorious and I have done several...

 

[Travisbsmith]

**update** intake gaskets did not fix it,so I just bought a rebuilt motor from a friend. He sold me a fresh long block for $240, yep $240 lol. Now I just gotta put it in Saturday.

 

[lesterl]

Nice Score dude.....

 

[inthechateau]

While in there if you have not updated the spider injector its a good time to go ahead and do it. You will get much better performance.

 

[Travisbsmith]

I did a pressure test, it's not leaking down. How long should it take for my oil to clear up

 

[Travisbsmith]

Got all the funk out of the engine now I have a spare motor for the Tahoe. Those Fel-Pro upgraded gaskets are awesome

 

[lesterl]

Yeah, they are dabomb.....