Earlier I posted that I had a bad vacuum leak in my '82 pickup. I noticed that the truck idles well when cold but then begins to growl and shake when it gets warm. It seems like it's blowing some steam out the exhaust too (only when warm). So I'm thinking that I've got a bad head gasket. However, it's not leaking too bad because there is no water in the oil. My question is this...could a leaking head gasket give me the symptoms of a bad vacuum leak too? I can't get it to idle unless the choke is almost fully shut, telling me that I'm getting too much air. How much does a decent head gasket cost and should I avoid buying it from certain places?

You could try pressure testing the cooling system. Put a pressure gauge on the radiator and look for the pressure to rise with changing engine RPM as it warms up and runs rough. That could indicate that engine compression is getting forced into the cooling system. Or you can get a chemical test kit at NAPA, for example, to test the coolant for exhaust gas contamination.

I'm wondering if I have the same problem. My 82 started idleing erratically so i checked the coolant and it was low. I tossed on some new plugs, cap and rotor and it runs fine until it gets hot and idle goes up and down and now exhaust smells like antifreeze, could it be something other than a laking head gasket?

any help is appreciated????

IT sounds like a HG unless coolant is leaking into the intake somehow, which is unlikely.

The alternative to pressure testing the cooling system is to get a leak down gauge or otherwise pressureize the cylinder itself (if you can rig something up with a compresson tester) - pressureize the cylinder that's leaking, look for bubbles in the radiator.

Pull the plugs - a cylinder that is taking on water will look clean - the piston tops won't have as much carbon as the others.