There doesn't have to be coolant in the oil to be a blown headgasket. Sometimes it can get in the combustion chamber and burn off without getting in the oil.....hence the white smoke.

 

did not feel wet...the black deposit that i felt i assume is simply carbon, but 2 of the plugs appeared to have black all over plug--in the little indent thingy before the SPARK GAP (AS U CAN SEE, I DON'T KNOW THE terminolgy)

i peered down into the cylinder when i removed the plugs...let's see, i thinkl the passanger side cylinders are numbered 1, 3, 5

so #1 and #5 had more black than #3...when looking into cylinder #1 and #5..no visual of oil or anything else funky

#3 had a little black deposit right above the plug threads (this was the plug that had the least amount of carbon deposits and looked the most normal)

anyhow...i'm still betting on turbo seals--i'll keep you posted--any additional feedback--please give it

TODD

 

pistons tops that are any color other than black can be a bad sign. Either coolant or leans can "clean" the tops to they look golden.

The lack of oil on the plugs or piston tops is a good sign.

All this speculation will drive you nuts! Just get the compression test first. It will answer many many questions for you. Still hoping for the best.

 

Exactly

My blown headgasket that i replaced recently (presumed "seeping" head gasket) had no sign of coolant in oil... but did have the #6 cylinder washed out, with a whitish/rusty deposit on the piston dish. I had NO symtoms other than this findhing and a VERY slow and occasional overflowing coolant reservoir level. A blown headgasket that leaks only between the water jacket and the combustion chamber would yield a white smoke, whereas oil would be blueish smoke. I am betting t

Bottom line, your compression test will tell you if it's a blown ring. Also, the fact that this happend during/right after a run, strongly suggests a failure of some sort, and not a poorly placed coolant return tube gasket or the like. It's either a headgasket or ring, and IMHO, from what I have heard from people, it is less likely to be a turbo seal given the circumstances under which it failed.

 

TEST SUGGESTION:

Sometimes if you crank the engine with a spark plug out, water or steam will squirt-out of the plug hole. This would indicate a blown head gasket.

This test is best if you remove one plug at a time and then crank or start. (I'm not sure if running this engine on 5 cylinders is possible.)

It is a good sign that you have no water in your oil pan.

Sorry about the "bet on" comment.

 

I just recently looked at a Honda motor that had severe detonation damage but still had good compression and ran fine. When we pulled the head off, 3 of the pistons had chunks of piston missing around one of the intake valve reliefs!! Pieces were about 1/4" X 1/2" long and you could see the top of the compression ring easily...but it still ran fine and had good compression....go figure. Compression test does not always tell the tale. The only reason the head was pulled was because the radiator resevoir was overflowing and blowing coolant everywhere. If the head had not been pulled then he would have never known about the damage. Detonation turned out to be from a failing 3 year old Walbro in tank fuel pump that would drop pressure intermittently. Miracle of the situation was that the chunks of piston blew out the exhaust and did not damge the turbo impeller....don't ask me how but there was not a nick on any of the blades.

 

First, sorry to hear about the smoke, but hopefully it's not anything major. As far as your track runs go, even though the actual time is not that great, the trap speed is telling you the "actual" times your car is capable of. That 118mph trap speed should get you deep into the twelves with a little more practice and some traction (drag radials). With slicks, who knows just how far down you can go. Just to give you an example, I know of an SRT-4 up here trapping only 103-104mph that got down to a 13.5s on slicks.

 

Well, technically, he is already in the mid 12's (at sea level). Though, at sea level he should be in the mid 11's. If he practices he'll get the times he wants easily .

 

thx for the positive thinking

i am well aware of the trap speed vs et...i wasn't really attempting to launch at all after spinning out so much in 1st and second...my stragedy was starting off the line like a grandma...3/4 throttle 2nd..flooring it in 3rd...
even doing so... i would lose so much traction throughout 3rd and into 4th..i was hoping to hit a high 12 with this stragedy...and break into mid low 11's with some descent traction

i'll find out in a few hours if it is indeed my turbos--the signs are leaning in that direction

TODD

 

This is an unsual situation, but I suppose it could happen. The compression/leakdown test is not the end/all tests, but it is probably the best single test to determine the health of an engine, aside from performing the usual visual inspections and tests.

 

actually, the altitude correction factor for FI cars is usually closer to about half that of NA cars (different people will tell you different factors, but from seeing various stock FI car times up here vs sea level, I am positive it is at most half that of NA, possibly less). This is because in FI applications the air being forced in gets compressed, making it less dense (more oxygen).

 

Doesn't really matter does it? A 1/4 mile time is a 1/4 mile time no matter if you are N/A or F/I.

Plus I would think the NHRA would list different forms if it did since top fuel dragsters use superchargers...

 

Yes, a 1/4 mile time is a 1/4 mile time, but my response was to your statement that "technically, he is already in the mid 12's (at sea level)", from having run a a mid 13 at our altitude. That factor of about a full second translates closely to the NA sea level correction factor for our altitude. However, the correction factor for FI is closer to half that factor. In fact, last time I checked the correction factors from the NHRA web site, on the page it literally said (as a footnote) that the correction factor was only half for FI cars.

 

i am already in the 12's for sure based off of my trap...correction factor or not..my problem is traction..once that is resolved, 12 second passes will be consitant...11 seconds will be doable..and with a little bit of practice low 11's will be a reality..


ooooooh yeah

so, turns out- driver side turbo seals gone- oil on exhaust and compressor side---

sending out turbos and ecu to be reflashed today..be up and running in less than 2 weeks--hopefully

TODD

 

good news....

 

Why would this cause water to overflow? (Water cooled) Turbo gets too hot?

 

What flash are you getting?

 

Water overflow is from hot exhaust gas getting into the block coolant and superheating the system...from a headgasket problem. Has to go somewhere so it blows out into the overflow resevoir tank.

 

overflow tank would not be caused by insufficient radiator or something else along those lines???

the reason i ask is this,
charles' car
ernies' car
my car

all overflow in that tank when run hard for prolonged time...starting to see a pattern here--is this another one of the new discoveries that we have paved the road to uncover? any other possibility other than headgasket problem?
we all used arp head studs, all used stock gaskets (strong as hell) and all have similar builds

please explain

TODD

 

l spec
raise rev limiter (not that i plan to rev higher-just dont want to bounce off the stock limits)
take off governor (yes i'd like to open it up to 170mph every once and a while)
reflash stock ecu injector sizing to 440cc then scale up with e-manage (mush less of a jump for the stock injector setup)
put the standard timing map in the other locations (3 maps total- leave the "bad fuel" map as is to pull timing in the instance of getting bad fuel-replace the upper map to avoid a situation that further advances the timing)

TODD