Diag help Needed on a head gasket leak
Help!
I tore the engine down and did not find the obvious cause...so here is the details:
Been losing coolant, but engine has been running fine, no other symptoms (gas mileage is fine, no smoke/steam or boiling over, etc).
replaced the O2 sensor 2 weeks ago, got the code for it, did it, all fine now.
Got a cooling system pressure tester, system would hold NO pressure - it would drop about as fast as i could pump it up...and AF ran out the tailpipe.....AH HAH! I found me thinks...
OK: Plugs look worn, but not steam cleaned.
Cyl heads look normal (not steam cleaned as one would think if AF was getting into the compustion chanber)
Gaskets: nothing obvious
Heads seem flat (i am NOT a machinist)
One cylinder had AF laying on top of the piston. all other holes were completely dry.
The head bolts on the suspect side did not seem as tight as those on the probably good side.
Engine: 96 Dodge 3.3 V6 in a Caravan. Iron block, alum heads, 115k miles. History before 90k unknown. The rear bank is suspect because of the AF running out the tailpipe so easily, that is where i found AF puddle on the piston, and the head bolts were not as tight.
QUESTIONS:
Should i clean and reassemble? The bolts 'should' be replaced, but dealer people tell me 'not unless they are stretched'...So perhaps new bolts and (of course) gaskets and put it back together?
Do i send the heads out...that will delay reassembly for several days and comst some amount of money, and probably mean new valve seals as well.