Early sign of head-gasket failure?

Ok, so here I am 5am...1 hour before leaving on an 8 hour trip. Going to the states for the day. Yesterday i just got my exhaust redone again, so i had been driving around a little. Every 20 minutes or so, I would come to a red light, and just wonder.. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SMELL." ..well, definately antifreeze.

My levels are within spec, my bottom rad hose has a VERY small leak where it connects, but it has not been losing much, or i would be able to tell by the levels.

My heater fuckin sucks, works only on 3,4..and doesn't put out much heat, but theres no wet floor, and this smell has only started today.

So im assuming its the headgasket? Anyone got any other ideas? I mean, I've driven this truck 40k since July, and not ONE problem other than a master cylinder. Seems very unlike this truck, its always well warmed up before going anywhere..and never beat on it, because..well, its got 80 horsepower, and whats the point? lol.

Send teh ideas my way. 1986 b2000 stock everything in case you were wonderin.

does it send out white exhaust white is could be coolant that has gotten in the combustion chamber. Is the oil milky any. does the truck over heat any. Is there oil in the coolant. those are the main things to look for.

about your heater, check your thermostat. it may be getting stuck since it's getting old. could be a bad thing too because your motor is running hotter than what your gauge is saying. but since it's probably like -20F up there, it prolly doesn't hurt it

A small bit of antifreeze can get picked up by the fan and slung around all on the hood and motor and smell really strong.I would see if I could fix the leak first and then see if u still smell the a/f. BJ

Ok, My truck threw its problems in my face today.

I picked up my buddy and these 2 girls and went to the states today, well...i knew my heat was bad, but its totally gone now. I still had heat yesterday, but today i picked em up...started driving out of town, and there was just a constant fuckin buildup of ice on the inside. we drove 8 hours in about -25 weather...NO FUCKING HEAT. i honestly think the heel of my foot is frostbitten.

engine never skipped a beat. thermostat is a few weeks old, no oil in antifreeze, or vice versa. i looked around for a heater core before at canadian tire, they dont sell any. just get a used one? or what should i do? thanks everyone.

IF ur engine is reaching opn temp ok and ur thermo is new I would suspect that the heater core is kaput.However -25 degrees is pretty cold and maybe the ttruck wasnt reaching opn temp and the thermo was just recirculaing heat thru the block and not the heater.Cover 1/2 the front of the radiator with a piece of cardboard and run the truck for awhile and see if the heat doesnt work better.If not,replsace the heater core-I would get a new one.BJ

yeah she's reachin open temp, i've got an election sign in front of my rad (works very well if anyone wants to try...very water resistant unlike cardboard haha..)

are you able to even buy heater cores for these trucks anymore though?

forgot to mention...my defrost still works a bit, not sure if that makes a difference or wat...buut it works enough to defrost my window on that stupid drive yesterday

My local Mazda parts guy has no trouble getting me most anything I want so your local dealer should be able to do so as well.BJ

My local Mazda parts guy has no trouble getting me most anything I want so your local dealer should be able to do so as well.BJ