Eforce - Suspecting head gasket issue, driver side - pls help

[Hi Noon]

My car is a 2010 SS LS3 with the Eforce, did the install myself, and since then has about 600 miles of troublefree fun.

Allright, the other day nice weather I pull the car out of the garage, car starts perfectly, but while I close the garage door I notice a few drops of coolant on the floor. Quarter sized maybe three or four, on the driver side. I think thats leftover from the install, wipe these and forget about it. However, in the evening returning home, car is tugged nicely in the garage, I go at the back to get a rag for something else and immediately notice a faint coolant smell next to the tail pipes.

So immediately I think I have a head gasket issue. Pop open the hood and well there is nothing to see. If I have a leak it is very small. Coolant level has not decreased, at least to the point of being noticeable. I neither noticed white exhaust smoke, nor any other tell-tale sign of coolant related issues (overheating for instance° Car runs very well, no codes. The tune is the Edelbrock one that came with the kit. The Eforce is the only mod to this car (no long tubes, no CAI etc).

I have not driven the car since a few days for fear of breaking something; Did not want to get stalled on the roadside in billowing white clouds... Since I parked her, no signs of leaks I can notice, on the floor at least, and when feeling around the driver side head with the hand (very confined space, poor access) did not notice any coolant dripping, and visual inspection with the shop lamp did not reveal anything suspicious.

Whatever the leak is it is tiny judging from the drops on the floor, tail pipes are dry (maybe a little sooty but I attibute this to the safe and rich canned tune).

So here is what I plan to do:

1) pull driver side wheel and liner to get better access to side of the block at the vertical point of where the drops fell; check for signs of coolant
2) inspect driver side plugs
3) check the oil for signs of white sludge

Guys what else should I do to track this down ? Do you think I can drive the car ?
Some people stated that some blocks might have small leaks like this, not to be concerned with because all that matters is that there is no leak when the block is warm... I have difficulties to buy this story..

In parallel I am preparing for the worse i.e have of replace the head gasket. I am somewhat mechanically inclined and have done it before. Hence more questions:

4) What is the GM part number for the gasket ?
5) Should I upgrade to FI gaskets ? Who makes good ones for the LS3 ?
6) I plan then to use ARP head bolts, in place of the torque to yield factory ones. I have successfull used the ARP ones on my C5 Vette head/cam job. I have a spare set laying around in my garage for a LS1, will these fit the LS3 ?

Thanks a lot guys, any help is appreciated.

[Slowhawk]

I would just drive it more.

[Hi Noon]

Still no coolant anywhere, I might just drive more to see where it goes.
Might be a leak in the S/C coolant plumbing, we'll see.
Well if this thing fails on me I'll yank the engine out and put in a Katech Street Attach 427
Just kidding...

On the corvette forum they have a couple of threads on cases of poorly torqued LS3 heads from the factory, that started gushing coolant on the dyno after S/C install. The torque to yield bolts cannot be retorqued tho, so if the head gasket is the culprit, ARP here I come.

[Oxtar41]

Mine had a little coolant smell for a while after my install but im pretty sure your just smelling the old coolant that splashed somewhere during the install. mine smell went away after a few days. i wouldnt sweat it unless you see it dripping

[lionssfan]

Originally Posted by Hi Noon

My car is a 2010 SS LS3 with the Eforce, did the install myself, and since then has about 600 miles of troublefree fun.

Allright, the other day nice weather I pull the car out of the garage, car starts perfectly, but while I close the garage door I notice a few drops of coolant on the floor. Quarter sized maybe three or four, on the driver side. I think thats leftover from the install, wipe these and forget about it. However, in the evening returning home, car is tugged nicely in the garage, I go at the back to get a rag for something else and immediately notice a faint coolant smell next to the tail pipes.

So immediately I think I have a head gasket issue. Pop open the hood and well there is nothing to see. If I have a leak it is very small. Coolant level has not decreased, at least to the point of being noticeable. I neither noticed white exhaust smoke, nor any other tell-tale sign of coolant related issues (overheating for instance° Car runs very well, no codes. The tune is the Edelbrock one that came with the kit. The Eforce is the only mod to this car (no long tubes, no CAI etc).

I have not driven the car since a few days for fear of breaking something; Did not want to get stalled on the roadside in billowing white clouds... Since I parked her, no signs of leaks I can notice, on the floor at least, and when feeling around the driver side head with the hand (very confined space, poor access) did not notice any coolant dripping, and visual inspection with the shop lamp did not reveal anything suspicious.

Whatever the leak is it is tiny judging from the drops on the floor, tail pipes are dry (maybe a little sooty but I attibute this to the safe and rich canned tune).

So here is what I plan to do:

1) pull driver side wheel and liner to get better access to side of the block at the vertical point of where the drops fell; check for signs of coolant
2) inspect driver side plugs
3) check the oil for signs of white sludge

Guys what else should I do to track this down ? Do you think I can drive the car ?
Some people stated that some blocks might have small leaks like this, not to be concerned with because all that matters is that there is no leak when the block is warm... I have difficulties to buy this story..

In parallel I am preparing for the worse i.e have of replace the head gasket. I am somewhat mechanically inclined and have done it before. Hence more questions:

4) What is the GM part number for the gasket ?
5) Should I upgrade to FI gaskets ? Who makes good ones for the LS3 ?
6) I plan then to use ARP head bolts, in place of the torque to yield factory ones. I have successfull used the ARP ones on my C5 Vette head/cam job. I have a spare set laying around in my garage for a LS1, will these fit the LS3 ?

Thanks a lot guys, any help is appreciated.

Pressurize the cooling sys. if you don't have coolant pressure tester autozone or someone rents them. sounds like it might only leak when it's hot? pressure tester can over come that. If your burning it may be to small of a leak to exspel white smoke. sometimes you get random slight mis-fire at idle that's what mine was doing on my truck. don't know does the coolant pass thru the intake on the camaro?

[redZ28]

I smelled coolant for a week or more after my Maggie install.

[Ovenmitt]

Check for leaks at the heater core connections at the firewall. Those are sneaky, because it just drops into the felt-ish material padding on the firewall, but you can feel it being wet if its leaking.

[Capthowdy]

there is a coolant fitting on the drivers side of the block that tends to leak...I had mine at the dealer for this fix a while back...it is a big 1 1/6 inch alum threaded fitting for the oil cooler..they where cross threaded from the factory on some blocks...look at this closely
you will see coolant on the block under the fitting...

[StreetStrip]

Doubt it's a head gasket, you'd see white smoke from the exhaust and/or notice coolant in your oil. It's probably a loose inter cooler hose on the front right of the E-Force.

[Hi Noon]

Thanks a lot guys for all this valuable advice, I'll be checking tomorrow and report back here (today i'm away for business)

[4xchamp]

Originally Posted by Capthowdy

there is a coolant fitting on the drivers side of the block that tends to leak...I had mine at the dealer for this fix a while back...it is a big 1 1/6 inch alum threaded fitting for the oil cooler..they where cross threaded from the factory on some blocks...look at this closely
you will see coolant on the block under the fitting...

I had the same problem , this hose is just behind the alternator .
No big deal , fixed it myself .

[Hi Noon]

Finally back on the car (my day job is killing me), I took the car out today and after some "spirited" driving , there is definately no white smoke. Oil is clean. Coolant level is OK. So I believe I can rule out a head gasket.

I checked the firewall at the point where heater core hoses mate and no issue to be reported. I checked thoroughly the E-force cooling circuit hoses and likewise, nothing. The oil cooler fitting behind the alternator is dry.

So either the mysterious drops on the garage floor came from the build time and ended up on the floor, or I have a tiny leak on the cooling system. The smell of coolant at the rear is gone, but the engine bay still smells a bit. This dexcool stuff is incredibly sticky, so it could very well be nothing to be concerned with.

I will report here the pressure tests results.

[bigsquirrel]

Dude, I was the same way after I put my sc on, swore I blew a gasket. It was just run off/crap and air pockets in the radiator/intercooler working their way out.

[CC Performance]

last time someone had the same issue it was a coolant hose...

it would take some serious detonation to hose a gasket and my guess is that the piston would frag before that happened