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5.3 Castech heads leaking coolant

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Old 11-30-2011, 08:26 PM
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Default 5.3 Castech heads leaking coolant

hey guys, just figured i would share my experience with my coolant loss problem and hope to hear some of your stories and experiences on the subject.i also hope to help people that might have this same issue and have no idea about it.Anyway, long story short, i bought my truck used with 50k and started to lose coolant somewhere.it didnt drop much but enough to notice and for the life of me i couldnt find any leaks i even changed the water pump to be sure...not it...it turned out being a crappy casting on where the cylinder head bolts to the block.needless to say about a $3,000 job at the dealer which they would only pay 10% of which is total BS. but it needed to be fixed so i ended up buying reman heads for $400,gaskets/head bolts $250,various other parts about $100 and spent the weekend with my dad tearing it down and cleaning and cleaning and well you get the idea...then installed and run royal purple with mobile 1 filter and shes runing great now...forgot to mention i have 105k on her now...oh and while i had the new heads i ported them (20 hours) and installed some shorty headers...the reman heads were great for the price...fully loaded with new valves and springs/keepers.so here are some pics for guys like me who like the visual...also i threw a p0420 couple of times recently...just wondering if the exposure to the burning coolant wrecked my 02s and cats...im thinking of welding on some thunderbolt metallics and new denso 02s.anyway here are the pics...enjoy...and by all means chime in.Name:  03GMCSierraHeads016.jpg
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Old 11-30-2011, 08:32 PM
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Holy chit! That is some nasty buildup under those valve covers!!! U ever hear of seafoam? Nice looking heads btw...
Old 12-01-2011, 06:30 AM
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Glad you got it fixed but I dont understand why people have a buy a used vehicle wayyyyy out of warranty and cry foul when the dealer will not repair the vehicle 100% free?

Stock LS series heads are a dime a dozen used, take them by the machine shop to be resurfaced and your good to go.
Old 12-01-2011, 04:37 PM
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Sorry about the misunderstanding...I didn't start this thread to cry...I just wanted to share my experience with the matter and wanted others to share the same...I agree with you about ls heads being of abundance...but the point was that they are not supposed to be defective in that manner...if it was a broken valve or spring that's a different story but the casting was bad and gm is aware of the problem and there are a lot of people out there with the same issue and having to plop down lots of money for no reason...anyway don't want to argue just wanted to share what I did about the problem that's all.
Old 12-01-2011, 09:17 PM
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GM sold me a truck knowing the tires would wear out and they refuse the replace them...BS
Old 12-01-2011, 10:04 PM
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Originally Posted by 03GMC5.3
Sorry about the misunderstanding...I didn't start this thread to cry...I just wanted to share my experience with the matter and wanted others to share the same...I agree with you about ls heads being of abundance...but the point was that they are not supposed to be defective in that manner...if it was a broken valve or spring that's a different story but the casting was bad and gm is aware of the problem and there are a lot of people out there with the same issue and having to plop down lots of money for no reason...anyway don't want to argue just wanted to share what I did about the problem that's all.
Yeah, that's what I got from your first post actually. Not sure why so many think you're a whiner. Good on ya for rolling up your sleeves and gettin the job done. Looks nice and clean now!

BTW, to the poster above...Do you really think defective heads are comparable to tires? Really? Like, when you buy a vehicle you plan to replace the heads every 60,000 miles? Really?

The Castech issue is a well known one. GM should have offered some compensation to the owners of the affected vehicles IMO.
Old 12-01-2011, 10:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Doc_speeder
BTW, to the poster above...Do you really think defective heads are comparable to tires? Really? Like, when you buy a vehicle you plan to replace the heads every 60,000 miles? Really?

The Castech issue is a well known one. GM should have offered some compensation to the owners of the affected vehicles IMO.
Your an idiot if you took my tire comment seriously.

Compensation? this is the problem with modern society everyone feels like someone else owes them something.
Old 12-01-2011, 10:15 PM
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BTW the shorties cleaned up good! Did you paint them?
Old 12-01-2011, 11:40 PM
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Originally Posted by TXSZ66AVLANCHE
Your an idiot if you took my tire comment seriously.

Compensation? this is the problem with modern society everyone feels like someone else owes them something.
I totally agree on your point about people acting entitled to everthing. But I don't really think that applies to the Castech thing. I'm a GM guy through and through, but the issue is well known. I really believe that GM should step up to the plate in situations like this and offer SOME help.

I'm not an idiot, however it's just the internet, so if you still think that, I'm ok with it...
Old 12-02-2011, 06:02 AM
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Originally Posted by Doc_speeder
Yeah, that's what I got from your first post actually. Not sure why so many think you're a whiner. Good on ya for rolling up your sleeves and gettin the job done. Looks nice and clean now!

BTW, to the poster above...Do you really think defective heads are comparable to tires? Really? Like, when you buy a vehicle you plan to replace the heads every 60,000 miles? Really?

The Castech issue is a well known one. GM should have offered some compensation to the owners of the affected vehicles IMO.
Most people on here change out their heads a lots more often than every 60k miles


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