I think it's got to be a headgasket, but it just doesn't make sense...


87 924S with 83 long block and 87 intake/fuelrail/etc. (original block spun #2)

83 engine came from a running donor that had passed emmissions with flying colors a few days before it was pulled. Engine sat for over a year in a garage before being installed. 87 Power steering pump and pulley installed. Car sat outside in the winter after engine installation due to PO not being able to get the car started.

This is how I received the car. PO couldn't get the car to fire the injectors. (It had a corroded connection at the junction for all the injectors in the harness. Wow did that suck to figure out.) Once that was fixed it ran just fine.

The problem now, is that it blows white smoke out the tail pipe after running for 7 or 8 minutes. No smoke at all until it warms up. It's only got water in it, so I can't go by the obvious coolant smell (plus my sniffer doesn't work so well any more), but it looks exactly like steam. I held a piece of paper to the tailpipe for 10 seconds, and absolutely no oily film, so I have to believe it's coolant/water. Also, no water in oil or vice versa. I'm pretty sure there is coolant loss, but I'm not absolutely positive.

At first I though maybe it was just burning off some crap from the installation, but it's been doing the smoking thing consistantly.

When it first starts cold, oil pressure is great starting around 5 bar then drops to 0 when it warms up. I haven't actually watched it drop, but I'm fairly sure it's not a malfunctioning gauge, although I can't completely rule it out. I hadn't ever noticed the pressure issue before as I didn't have it running long enough to really warm up, and it always showed good pressure cold. I haven't had a chance to try running it again since seeing the oil pressure issue, so I can't be sure it's a repeatable event. I will probably do so this weekend, but wanted some ideas in the interim.

I also did a compression test and got something like 150 152 155 140. Does that rule anything out/in?

So I guess the main question is, is there any way swapping an intake, and putting a power steering pully on would cause both these issues? I can believe the oil pressure being the crank bolt not being torqued properly, but I don't see how the headgasket can go bad from just sitting. Maybe just coincidence that two problems arose at the same time.

Thoughts?

TIA!

 

I'm going to guess Blown head gasket. (but i am by no means one of the experts here)

It takes a few minutes for your coolant system to pressurize from heat, then it makes its way into the cylinder

I'm guessing your loosing coolant.

Have you checked your coolant for contamination?

Have you checked your oil for "MILKSHAKE" to rule out a leak in the OIL COOLER.

I don't know why you are loosing oil pressure.

I just blew / fixed my HG & it was the #4 cylinder. (LR says that 90% of blown HG's are at the #4 cylinder)

This may be reflected in your compression numbers.

 

did you check the crank pulley bolt for the cause of the low oil pressure?

I'm also on the headgasket camp.

 

"Also, no water in oil or vice versa."

Negative.

I was wondering.. But I didn't know if that's enough of a difference to say definitively.

"I can believe the oil pressure being the crank bolt not being torqued properly, but I don't see how the headgasket can go bad from just sitting."

I haven't checked it yet, but hope to this weekend.

I guess what I was really hope to hear from someone is that yes it's possible for the headgasket to "go bad" from just sitting. Otherwise it really makes no sense at all.

What's the consensus on head bolts? Do I have to replace them? This is a budget project car, and it doesn't make sense to put a lot of money into it. Otherwise I'm thinking I might just part it. Hate to though. It's so close to having another chance at life...