namasgt

my head gasket is blown. the car is leaking coolant from the exhaust. and lots of white smoke.
these are the things I did to the car before I took it apart. (it took me 3 months)
complete intake R&R with the all the valve cover seals changed.
the reason I did this was because I found one of the oil breather lines broken it half. (this is the front one. wander for how long it was like that)
i sent out the injectors for cleaning,
did the water bridge,
I changed the timing belt along with water pump, rebuilt tensioner with new pulleys.
I changed the fuel filter (I opened the old one and it was clean) with the fuel lines (kit from Roger).
now last night i put 4 gallons of coolant in the radiator, I tried to start the car and after the 7th attempt it came back to life but in just 4 seconds a thick white cloud was coming from the exhaust. I did clean and brush the intake ports with B-12, 2 weeks ago.
I also did turn the engine backwards 90 degrees.
anyways I can not see how possibly the head gasket could have blown ?
the car ran very well before I start taking it apart and I never saw the temperature gage going more that the middle.
any Ideas ?
now that I remember I did take the car to car wash and wash the engine before taking apart. (could this act warp the heads? )
so i thought maybe its because of the B-12, I checked the oil everything fine.
this morning John came to take a look at it and this time coolant actually came out of the exhaust. the car has under 120,000 miles.

AO

Make sure you pull the plugs before trying to turn it over again. Coolant does not compress!

I't's probaly just coincidence, rather than anything you did. My guess is your tune up probably gave the car a little extra HP and pushed an already weakened HG over the edge.

I guess you get to pull the motor. Ahhh.... it seems like is was just last year... Oh yeah... it was.

namasgt

you are right that does make sense. I turned the engine without taking the plugs out, but I did drain the engine and the radiator before I started. so your saying that maybe some coolant was still in there and it blew the gasket.
are the 928 gaskets known to be weak?
if they are whats the solution to it, and why would a head gasket go bad other than normal engine heat?
maybe the previous owners overheated the engine and took the gasket close to its end.
I only drove the car for 5 to 600 miles since i bought it before I took it apart.

Mrmerlin

I would pull the plugs and see if they are wet or if they look very clean (that indicated coolant) or the tips are rusty.
If you dont see any of the above then my guess is that you have gotten some of the cleaning materials into the cats and they are now burning up the deposits. if this is so then you might be good to go just drive the car but look at the cats see if they are glowing if they are then you have to figure out why, shut off the engine so the car wont catch fire

namasgt

Mr Merlin
the plugs are new, it actually had old French made ones I dont think they were rusted but they were worn out.
coolant actually came out of the exhaust tip, now there is about a quarter of coolant on the ground.
how many gallons does the S4 exactly take because I put 4 gallons and the coolant light came on.
plus I did check the oil last night everything was fine but when I did it several times this morning it started getting a milky white color then I stopped the engine, but then again the engine cam covers were off along with the oil filler neck and the intake for 3 months and the car stays outside, water could have got in the engine because of the weather we had here.
but how did this happen this is my first 928. I did had a 90 Ford tarus and the head gasket blew along with warped heads but that was because of the engine overheating to the red line, coolant was coming from exhaust.
Im so confused here. I drove this thing all the way from Louisiana to Texas straight non stop (only for gas), and it was a great car.

ROG100

Was it actual coolant that came out the exhaust? Green or orange depending what you have in there or was it just water. Your car is outside so it could have collected a lot of condensation in the exhaust system.
I'm with Mr Merlin check the plugs and report back on the condition.
My gut tells me you maybe OK.

ROG100

16 Litres or more tham 4 US gallons

SharkSkin

Is it possible that you hooked a coolant line to the intake?

namasgt

Hello Roger
it was green liquid on the ground, John was confused like me also.

namasgt

I was thinking that too but how ? I have no idea its my first time working on a car or specifically on this kind of car this much.
I guess the only way to know if coolant is getting in the intake is to take one of the side covers off and see if there is coolant in there ?

Tampa 928s

What year is this?
If I had to guess a vacuum or oil line line is hooked to the coolant line, could happen on a 16v near the coolant bridge.

ROG100

That does not sound good 8>(

SharkSkin

It's probably easier to do on a 16v, where there are small water lines. Not sure about an S4, but thought I'd ask.

namasgt

its a 88 S4. Im pretty sure the head gasket is gone but how ? I either have to find a place to work on it or sell it.
I replaced the timing belt so the valves wont bend but now if Im going to fix it I still have to take the heads off plus I have to pray that the heads are not warped. I think Ive been cursed or something should have stick with the original plan, buy an old 911 turbo.

the flyin' scotsman

Why did you do that?

If you can pressurize the coolant system and pull the spark plugs you should be able to hear the leak.

Heed Andrews advice...........if the engine hydro locks it'll bend rods.