ok heres the deal... my engine is supposed to be rebiult from the previous owner, the engine is super clean so i fugiured it was... and i noticed i'm loosing coolant! its burning out from the exhaust(steam) and theres some water in the oil ... could it just be the head gasket? anybody else had problems with their heads or block cracking? thanks for any help!

could also be an intake gasket

would that also cause water in the oil?

it can . i had one go and it took out the head gasket next then broke a piston. kinda  a chain reaction. finale damage bent rod.  now i have spare motor parts.

well gonna send the head to the shop and have it checked to make sure... and gonna put it back and see what happens... whats the best gaskets to use?

I like felpro

I had an x-90 that lost coolant, not in the oil, not out the exhaust, not on the ground. Every time after 5 miles, it overheated. Finally replaced the head gasket which seemed to solve the problem, but I sold it shortly thereafter and I don't how it lasted long term. But the darn loss was an eternal mystery. Where WAS the water going?
Eugene

ok i edited it! sorry forgot to put some info in there... so does the head gasket sound like a go?

Head gasket problems aren't uncommon. Pull the head and check it out.

gettin the head back tomorrow! with new felpro gaskets... hope that solves the problem! wanna go wheelin saturday!

I had an x-90 that lost coolant, not in the oil, not out the exhaust, not on the ground. Every time after 5 miles, it overheated. Finally replaced the head gasket which seemed to solve the problem, but I sold it shortly thereafter and I don't how it lasted long term. But the darn loss was an eternal mystery. Where WAS the water going?
Eugene

If the 16v intake manifolds are anything like the 8v's, you might have had the same problem I did: I replaced the head gasket, then when bolting the manifold back up to the head I forgot to tighten the back-most bolt. The result was after 10 minutes of driving coolant would seep into #4 and the trucklet would overheat in a white cloud of smoke. Took a while to figure out what the hell it was, but I tightened the bolt and never had another issue.