Silverado

I posted this also in the Tow Rig Thread..But was hoping to pick someone local's brain.. Here is the issue..

I have a 2004 Chevy Silverado 5.3L 4x4 100K Miles. I am burning oil and burning coolant. I have no visible coolant leaks from hoses, radiator, water pump. There isn't any coolant in my oil (just did oil change) and no odor from exhaust. Any suggestions??Should I be fearing the worse HEAD GASKET?

Any Advice?

Intake manifold gasket is my guess without actually seeing the truck

i would say intake gasket as well, the 5.3 has those hard plastic intake gaskets with the rubber inserts, and after awhile either the plastic cracks or the rubber seals deteriorate. test the coolant with some block testing fluid, that will help you determine if its a head gasket as coolant coming into contact with the exhaust gasses will change the PH levels of it and make it acidic.

pull the oil cap and look at the bottom of it! alot of the time the chevys will make milk on the bottom of them before they start showing serious signs.

sounds like an intake gasket though as others have said!

now that I think about it i think the seals themselves are silicone not rubber, but my advice still stands

Thanks guys...I am going to dig into it tomorrow...thanks for the advise!

I would recommend a pressure test for each cylinder for the oil issue, and check the waterpump and area around the pump for signs of white crusty residue. Sometimes the water pump seal leaks only under pressure and makes it's way out of the bad seal, hits the pump shaft, and spins off never really dripping. Plastic radiators are also notorious for steaming out coolant ever so slightly through a tiny crack.

How much oil/coolant does it lose a week?

Cheapest way to tell head gasket is go get a smog check. If you burn oil and h2o your numbers will be way off.