The DIY SC needs a headgasket?!?!
06-26-2006, 03:26 PM
#1
Captain Obvious
Super User
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Thread Starter
The DIY SC needs a headgasket?!?!
Saturday morning I was getting the car ('85 32 V, SC'd, 5-speed) ready to take to the the local drag strip for to see what improvement the H-pipe will give to last years 12.8sc. 3 weeks ago I had a problem with a failed injector on the left bank. I've replaced it and the car has been running fine ever since. Then Saturday morning I've pulled the plugs to have a look before hitting the track and noticed the the second last plug tip on the driver's side bank looked brank new. I mean, no deposit of any kind, just as if it was just pulled out of a box. This slightly alarmed me, but since the car was running just fine and didn't think too much about it. Then I went to the car wash to spray the dust of before hitting the track. This is when I noticed that at idle the exhaust was pushing a huge amount of steam out. I haven't seen the car do this before. Unfortunately the fumes had the familiar sweet antifreez smell. I've decided to go home and one the way (4 blocks from home) the temp gage started to creep towards the red. I've turned the heat on but there was only cold air coming out of the wents. From past experience I knew the head gasket was blown and the cooling system was probably getting pressurized by combustion gases. It's interesting that the car still runs as if nothing happened to it, perhaps I caught the problem just in time.
I have a theory that just before that one injector failed it perhaps made that cylinder run lean and under boost it resulted in a blown head gasket. I'm just about to tear into the car and pull the left cylinder head. I've pulled both heads 5 years ago so at least it will be somewhat of a familiar procedure.
The sympthoms are the following:
- after fully warmed, white atifreez smelling steam pours out of the tail pipes
- half the coolant is gone and the system was pressurized.
- crank vent tube (clear tube) at the top of the oil cap has a chocolate milkshake deposit. BUT the engine oil still looks normal.
- at least one spark plug looks steam cleaned.
Is there a possibility that this is something else and not a blown headgasket?
I have a theory that just before that one injector failed it perhaps made that cylinder run lean and under boost it resulted in a blown head gasket. I'm just about to tear into the car and pull the left cylinder head. I've pulled both heads 5 years ago so at least it will be somewhat of a familiar procedure.
The sympthoms are the following:
- after fully warmed, white atifreez smelling steam pours out of the tail pipes
- half the coolant is gone and the system was pressurized.
- crank vent tube (clear tube) at the top of the oil cap has a chocolate milkshake deposit. BUT the engine oil still looks normal.
- at least one spark plug looks steam cleaned.
Is there a possibility that this is something else and not a blown headgasket?
06-26-2006, 03:45 PM
#3
Race Car
Originally Posted by Imo000
The sympthoms are the following:
- after fully warmed, white atifreez smelling steam pours out of the tail pipes
- half the coolant is gone and the system was pressurized.
- crank vent tube (clear tube) at the top of the oil cap has a chocolate milkshake deposit. BUT the engine oil still looks normal.
- at least one spark plug looks steam cleaned.
Is there a possibility that this is something else and not a blown headgasket?
- after fully warmed, white atifreez smelling steam pours out of the tail pipes
- half the coolant is gone and the system was pressurized.
- crank vent tube (clear tube) at the top of the oil cap has a chocolate milkshake deposit. BUT the engine oil still looks normal.
- at least one spark plug looks steam cleaned.
Is there a possibility that this is something else and not a blown headgasket?
On the other hand, it could be a cracked head.
06-26-2006, 03:57 PM
#4
Administrator - "Tyson"
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Ouch, that blows.
How did you find the bad injector? Did your mixture suddenly lean out?
How did you find the bad injector? Did your mixture suddenly lean out?
06-26-2006, 04:18 PM
#6
Captain Obvious
Super User
Super User
Thread Starter
About 3 weeks ago the engine started to run a little rough, as if it was running on 7 cylinders. It was also a bit Tool me half a day to run a munch of test before I narrowed it down. The injector in question worked fine on the bench but it didn't under pressure.
The coolant light has been acting up and would come on every now and them, but for the last 3 weeks it was on constantly. I thought the coolant level switch finally failed so I didn't think too much aout it. When in fact it was registering a low coolant.
Pulling the head will be more time consuming that anything else. I have a spare head but with bent vavles. Also have a set of valve cover gaskets. The only thing missing is a head gasket. The rest of the seals have less than 5K on them so I'm keepeing them place.
The coolant light has been acting up and would come on every now and them, but for the last 3 weeks it was on constantly. I thought the coolant level switch finally failed so I didn't think too much aout it. When in fact it was registering a low coolant.
Pulling the head will be more time consuming that anything else. I have a spare head but with bent vavles. Also have a set of valve cover gaskets. The only thing missing is a head gasket. The rest of the seals have less than 5K on them so I'm keepeing them place.