I have been loosing coolant for awhile and now when changing the oil I find that by pressurizing the coolant tank coolant dribble out of the drain hole. It looks like the intake on a 01 5.3L doesn't have coolant flowing through it and there appears there is a cover plate that covers the push rod oil galley so it look like the intake gasket is not the problem area. So my best case scenario points to the head gasket as the cause but does anyone know if this is common problem on the 5.3L or is there is any other item I overlooked?

 

check out the heads, these have been prone to cracking heads, i have known too many that have had the same simptoms as you have.

 

Thanks for the info, I will probably yank them off this month sometime are there any specials tools required?