Guys, I made 2 previous posts about the ongoing leaking of coolant that was seeming to run under my engine.
I took the previous suggestions that it was a water pump, which I thought was a correct diagnosis from you guys,, I replaced the water pump and put water in the radiator to see if that fixed the issue… it did not.. but I didn’t put the fan back in place and I noticed the some water coming right out of the front right where the head and gasket would meet.. and it was milky,,, def water in the oil.
My question is this… could it be simply a blown head gasket with water leaking out and not under pressure or something more nefarious cracked cylinder or warped head??
I’m completely at a loss because it never ran hot,, and oil pressure was always good.
It’s got 190,000 on it. 4.3

I’ve never tackled a major repair like this.. but I can’t afford a garage either.. easy 1500-2000 bucks for that bill

I’ll probably have no choice but to try to tackle it,, I’m just not sure at this point what I’m doing.

Could water coming out, and not under pressure still be a head gasket??

Could be an intake manifold leak. Those were notorious for that, like all GM engines. A bad enough leak will mix water and oil. The water passages are at the end of rhe intake, and the older gaskets would blow out and the intake would corrode around them.

Run some bars leak through it I did this to a 2002 Dodge that had a intake manifold leaking and it sealed it up drove it to 200000 miles and traded it off

Bars at this point isn’t even a remote option,, it’s coming out pretty fast.
I wish I could use the bars though.

That's my guess too, intake gasket.

Look closer,

Thanks guys. Either way,, a major pain in the neck!

Water doesn’t pour out on the ground with a blown head gasket.
Didn’t read the other posts, but did you check the freeze plugs?
Is there water in your oil? Some Chevy head it does not go into the engine but out the tailpipe.
Don’t know what you a working on.
Got ramp so you can look?
Have you checked every hose including the heaters?
Have ya yutubed it?

Check freeze plugs
Usually the culprit.

It’s a gmc jimmy 4.3
Definitely water in the oil,, have a milky substance down on the bottom that has come from a higher point. I noticed a very small seepage coming from the front part of the motor slightly above where the water pump is… but the bigger dripping seems to be coming from the side, possibly under the exhaust, but I can’t see for sure because of the exhaust being in the front of it.
It hasn’t been cold so I don’t think a freeze plug popped.

Still going with intake manifold as the likely culprit.

Try a leak down test. Pressurize your cylinder and see if the air is coming out of tailpipe or spark plug hole.

So to be clear; it leaks water without the engine running? If so, drain the radiator, fill it back up slowly till you start to see water leaking.

What does the oil on the dip stick look like?

Dip stick looks like milk

I consulted my brother in law who knows a whole lot more than I do about vehicles,,, builds race cars and such
He said that it’s not worth the effort to try to pull it apart and fix it.
So now I have to find another beater.

then water is getting from the radiator to oil. water in oil = milk.

Milky dip stick = not good.

Not good depending on how long you ran it that way, but not a death sentence by any means.

We've put piles of those intake gaskets in and over half them had milkshake oil. Ones that were run a fair amount that way had the bearings rattling.

You'll have to change the oil a couple times tho.

Just put new frost plugs in my buddies old Chevy 4.3
One in the rear leaking and one drivers side under exhaust manifold
Area pulled engine and replaced all of them.
Over 300,000 miles on it.
RuSted from the inside out.

Sounds like a head gasket if oil is milky.