You only say that because of his avatar dont you?

 

Do you ever smell any coolant?

I had a light smell of coolant and could never find any leaks or coolant. Finally one day it got to be a heavy smell, still couldnt find it. Finally found found a small leak and tracked it to the front of the radiator. The plastic endcap had a hairline split down it the you could only see and only leaked once it got hot.

 

Ha ha, sorry Whippled, I was just happy to see him in here. I forgot to list you . I know you are VERY knowledable also because the Big Block guys are far and few between. TirRod has learned by mistake ha ha ha. BIG MISTAKE. But anyway, what do you think it might be?? I dont smell any coolant

 

Nah, TieRod has more 8.1L knowledge than I do....I was just bustin *****. Start turnin some wrenches!! Change the oil and see how it looks......look CLOSE for small leaks. Does the truck park outside or in a garage? Leave some cardboard under the truck over night and look for drip marks.

 

OK, I'll do the cardbored thing when it stops raining, its parked outside. And if it were in the oil, would I notice anything while its running??

 

doing a engine/trans swap on a friends 4.8l this week cuz hes loosing all his coolant in one day and its going into the oil pan(drained over a gallon out).. i'm assuming cracked block in a water jacket, hope thats not whats wrong with yours. BTW he has 170k miles

oh yea, towards the end he started seeing 25 psi oil pressure and the gauge bouncing all over the place.

 

I have to agree with BudHayes. Check closely for white deposits around the intake manifold where it meets the head. Also look at the weep hole in the water pump and down the lower hose. That is a very likely place for it to leak while you are driving and you might not see it until the leak gets worse. A pressure test may or may not show with a water pump. I would definately pull the dipstick and see what color you oil is. If it looks normal, there is most likely no coolant in it. A small amount of coolant will make it look like a milkshake and it will clearly show on the stick. Last place to check is to look at the heater hose that connects to the rear of the intake. I'm not sure if they did that in later models like yours but it was a place that leaked in earlier years. Good luck!

 

Whoops, I was not aware of that, sorry

 

This some good advice, except skip the part of look for leaks around the intake.

 

I've seen one Gen-VI and one Gen-VII bigblock leak coolant from headbolts. Both of them were leaking from the short bolts externally visible at the bottom of the head under the exhaust manifold.
I haven't had the problem with mine despite "abuse" (5000+ shiftpoints on stock valvetrain, etc...)
Dex-Cool has a very distinct smell. If you're familiar with the smell you're looking for it's possible to pick it up standing next to the truck without the hood even open in very small concentrations.
For your oil change - I might suggest that you drain the oil into clear juice jugs. Let it stand for a few days and any water in the oil will begin to settle out. Another sign, as you're pouring the oil, is the appearance of lighter strands or streaks in the oil. Oil mixed with water or coolant looks more like chocolate than soy sauce.