2012 Silverdo 4.3L Coolant Question
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CF Beginner
Joined: Jan 2018
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2012 Silverdo 4.3L Coolant Question
Hello. About 3 weeks ago I purchased a 2012 Chevy Silverado 1500 with 100K on it. It has the 4.3L. After getting it home and it sitting for about a week I pulled the dipstick to check the oil level. That checked out fine. However when I pulled the oil fill cap a white sludge was beneath the cap. At first I suspected a bad head gasket so I went and bought a block tester. I ran multiple tests with the block tester and there was no trace of coolant in the exhaust gasses (the solution never changed color). I have kept driving it in the mean time and there has been no more sludge buildup beneath the cap. The truck has never overheated on me and I have driven it about 600 miles now. I would think that the sludge just came from sitting for a while and quick drives however I am noticing that my coolant level seems to be decreasing at a slow rate. So I guess my question is what else could this be? Also are 4.3L known to have head gasket problems? I would really appreciate any and all input from this great forum.Thanks in advance.
CF Monarch
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 4,605
Likes: 269
From: USA
Hello. About 3 weeks ago I purchased a 2012 Chevy Silverado 1500 with 100K on it. It has the 4.3L. After getting it home and it sitting for about a week I pulled the dipstick to check the oil level. That checked out fine. However when I pulled the oil fill cap a white sludge was beneath the cap. At first I suspected a bad head gasket so I went and bought a block tester. I ran multiple tests with the block tester and there was no trace of coolant in the exhaust gasses (the solution never changed color). I have kept driving it in the mean time and there has been no more sludge buildup beneath the cap. The truck has never overheated on me and I have driven it about 600 miles now. I would think that the sludge just came from sitting for a while and quick drives however I am noticing that my coolant level seems to be decreasing at a slow rate. So I guess my question is what else could this be? Also are 4.3L known to have head gasket problems? I would really appreciate any and all input from this great forum.Thanks in advance.
