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Next step is to put my high pressure coolant cap on and go for another drive with no boost then low boost to see if it happens again.
Interested to see how the high pressure cap works out.
I think JDM35 has a point of a higher boiling point of coolant/water mix but I dont think that's the issue. I run a 75:25 water to coolant and I'd run 100% as water has more/better heat capacity compared to antifreeze.
If the high pressure thermostat cap doesnt solve it I would think to go back and leak-down the engine again.
Ordered a NDSII cable to hopefully increase my idle and hopefully some other trouble shooting. Hopefully in a few weeks i'll be able to figure out why the car hates me and possibly run it down the track. Not a 100% pass but maybe a 50% pass, still need to get with Admin Tuning to clean up some spots while doing normal driving.
Damm. Don’t give up man. It’s too much fun when they run right.
Did you have any knock signals when it started to let go?
Nope. I have a very good idea of what caused it though. I just can't prove it because i didn't take note of which head gaskets was reused instead of buying a new one. FYI cometic says that once you torque down one of there head gaskets it is vwry very unlikely it will ever seal correctly again.
Note: I didn't reuse the head gasket. It was the shop who fixed a coolant leak in my head.
Nope. I have a very good idea of what caused it though. I just can't prove it because i didn't take note of which head gaskets was reused instead of buying a new one. FYI cometic says that once you torque down one of there head gaskets it is vwry very unlikely it will ever seal correctly again.
Note: I didn't reuse the head gasket. It was the shop who fixed a coolant leak in my head.
I think re-using a head gasket is 'in-a-pinch' only … I think there are some instances when you can but best-practice is to replace.
First step is to clean the garage so you have a place to put all your parts once you're done.
End of day one, didn't get a a whole lot accomplished.
Almost have the driver side head ready to be pulled. Cams are removed just put the valve cover on for the night to keep it clean.
Finally got back around to tearing into it tonight.
I cleaned up all the coolant inside the cylinders, and everything looks good to me and my novice eyes. I don;t see anything odd on the heads either indicating a leaking headgasket but i'm not exactly sure what i'm looking for either.
This is all i have left, thankfully it's not like anything important is in the way.....FMLd
A few notes:
One scale of 0-10 i would say so far its been a 4. A decent amount of room to mess with stuff on the driver side. I'm thinking the passenger side will be an 8, it looks like there is no room on that side. We'll find out more in a few days once i get time tear back into it.
I also think, my heads weren't torqued down to 90-95ft lbs like ARP recommends. I was able to break them loose quite easily with a 2ft breaker bar. I'm going to get a 2" 1/2' drive extension for my torque wrench and set it to 90ft lbs to see if they are actually torqued to the correct specs. Yes i know you can't "verify" torque, but if i can turn it lets me know it's torqued to less than 90ft lbs.
Deck looks good on drivers side. What does the head Gasket look like?
It's Does NOT look like any Rupture of the seal, as you would clearly see it.
What about the Passenger side?
Who said you had a blow Head Gasket?
Best that you are doing the work yourself anyway, that way you know!!!
Originally Posted by Conway_160
Over due update sorry.
Start tearing the car a part sunday.
First step is to clean the garage so you have a place to put all your parts once you're done.
End of day one, didn't get a a whole lot accomplished.
Almost have the driver side head ready to be pulled. Cams are removed just put the valve cover on for the night to keep it clean.
Finally got back around to tearing into it tonight.
I cleaned up all the coolant inside the cylinders, and everything looks good to me and my novice eyes. I don;t see anything odd on the heads either indicating a leaking headgasket but i'm not exactly sure what i'm looking for either.
This is all i have left, thankfully it's not like anything important is in the way.....FMLd
A few notes:
One scale of 0-10 i would say so far its been a 4. A decent amount of room to mess with stuff on the driver side. I'm thinking the passenger side will be an 8, it looks like there is no room on that side. We'll find out more in a few days once i get time tear back into it.
I also think, my heads weren't torqued down to 90-95ft lbs like ARP recommends. I was able to break them loose quite easily with a 2ft breaker bar. I'm going to get a 2" 1/2' drive extension for my torque wrench and set it to 90ft lbs to see if they are actually torqued to the correct specs. Yes i know you can't "verify" torque, but if i can turn it lets me know it's torqued to less than 90ft lbs.
I'll post a picture of the head gasket tonight, but nothing looks odd to me. Its slightly deformed and doesn't set flat anymore.
The heads have very clean head gasket mating circles. It doesn't appear to have been leaking on the driver side.
I haven't pulled passenger side, i'm only capable of working on it here and there for a few hours. Hoping to have that head off friday.
I think i blew the head gasket because after i did the 4th gear pull the car started putting out very very white smoke. I also noticed that the radiator was basically dry when i got home. I had the green ooey gooey stuff under my oil cap as well so i have coolant and oil mixing.
I'd much rather pay to get the car fixed but i'm trying to be a baller on a budget :-)
Originally Posted by OldManZ350
Deck looks good on drivers side. What does the head Gasket look like?
It's Does NOT look like any Rupture of the seal, as you would clearly see it.
What about the Passenger side?
Who said you had a blow Head Gasket?
Best that you are doing the work yourself anyway, that way you know!!!
I think reinstalling the heads is a step in the right direction even if the symptoms didn’t necessarily 100% pinpoint a failed gasket...you could chase this issue until you’re blue in the face.
If it was me, Conway, I’d have the block inspected for flat-ness (even if you have an experienced engine builder inspect it(not sure how to accomplish this with the engine still in the car?) and I’d have the heads machined...you just never know and you’re this far into the engine.
I can only assume you're putting new head gaskets in it?
the HPA guys say don’t use copper gasket spray as it can create inconsistencies that could effect sealing. I'll probably do a light coating my next go-round. We'll see...
I almost think, knowing what you've presented thus far (head studs not quite to 95ft-lbs, white smoke under load) that you have a failed joint based on clamp. Meaning on vac and low load the headstuds were holding fine but as soon as you put some load on the engine and you had higher cylinder combustion pressures the force wasnt in the headstuds to completely seal the heads & block.
