Blown Headgasket

[BigKat773]

here is what has been happening. my car started missing just a little about 2 days ago, a really mild miss nothing that would stop me from driving it. well i work in the oilfield so i didn't get around to checking on it till it was to late. got home took the car for a drive, pulled onto the interstate and the rest is history. around 7000 rpms in 3rd gear i lost almost all power, i look back and i have the famous smoke screen behind. i pull over and there is oil everywhere. i limp back home and clean the engine bay and the oil is pouring from from my valve cover directly in the front, and i have a mess of oil inside my turbo inlet and compressor housing inlet. have yet to drain the oil but pulled my plugs and saw that the #3 hole had steam coming from it. it was the only one like that and the plug also had a hint of milky white water beads on the threads and tip. so i think it's my headgasket, what about you guys?

 

[chrisfullwood]

check the oil fill plug, classic sign of a headgasket is milky oil on th cap....also check the compression. that'll tell you right there.

good luck, ive been there, its not much fun.

 

[oneyedfatguy]

My son just bought a 1997 Talon 2.0 naturally aspirated with I am guessing a blown head gasket. 160 psi on cyls 1&4, 20psi in# 2 and 30 in #3. The car also has no third gear. He bought the car right and should be rocking a cool car in a week or two. Is the third gear being out going to cause further problems in the trans or can he just skip third gear for a while? This is our first foray into DSM cars. We also need to get another bolt or replacement tensioner for the PS belt. The bolt is busted to about 1.5" long. I appreciate any help I can get.

 

[chrisfullwood]

as above...check the oil fill plug. look for a milky substance. also check the oil on the dipstick, and again look for a milky substance...that will show you if it is the headgasket.

as for the transmission, if the teeth are striped off the gears, then you have metal just flying around inside the transmission, metal chunks just floating around, getting stuck into other teeth is never good. i would get it fixed asap.
i have the same thing. except its second. so im going to be doing the same.
let me know what you find. and ill do the same.

good luck.

 

[oneyedfatguy]

When we picked up the car the rocker box cover was off of it and the oil was already drained. Everything the kid took off was cleaned to the point of spotless. He told my son third gear was out. He will have to drive the car easy til we get his Iroc on the road and can tear the Talon down to possibly rebuild the engine and definitely get the trans to my buddy's shop. Is there a thread to post intro's?

 

[chrisfullwood]

I dont know if there is a post for intros...im sure there is somewhere.
you might check the coolant and see if it has oil in it.
the best way to tell is pretty much cooland in the oil, seeing as there is no oil, i would be suspicious, and work on the assumption of the gasket being blown. basically the seller got rid of the best evidence of a head gasket gone.
i would rip the head off and replace it anyway...if its got high mileage it might be worth it anyway. would give you a change to check out the block and look for scoring or any possible sign of piston damage.

 

[oneyedfatguy]

105,000 miles on the car. The last 30,000 were by the kid he bought it from. His girlfriend's big brother. We were going to tear into it last night but he had plans with her. Once it is running then we willstart on the body work. Are Blitz kits just junk or just cheap? The kit he is getting is coming from a buddy who bought it for his daughter's car and I am doing a little paint work for it and a Ford 9" rearend for my next hot rod. The radiator is in the hatchback. No oil residue in it.

 

[chrisfullwood]

the other thing you can try, im a little wary of this. but if you put a little oil in the cylinders that are low and test the compression. if it changes more than 30PSI, then you might need new piston rings.
that might be where the problem is...
the other thing is have you rotated the engine and checked that the timing is all right, and that all the cams and stuff are lined up correctly.
i had my 4G63 a tooth or two off and it gave me horrible compression readings. so i would check that.
i dont know about blitz kits, i have a galant, and theres not much in the way of body kits.
its all a matter of if you like it enough to buy it, cheap or not.

 

[90mitsu]

if you had your radiator still in the car you could presser test it to see were the antifreeze was going


and for the transmission you will most likely find a bad synchronizer or bad fork or the detence ball is stuck not letting it stay in gear.Very unlikely the gear is stripped there's not much room in the case and you would probably have a hole in the bottom of the case

 

[chrisfullwood]

good point on the tranny. ive got a similar problem, i lost 2nd gear...this morning.
it wont go into it, it basically has a dead hole where it should go into gear. theres no resistance until you pull the shifter down when trying to put it into gear (if you try to force it) then it grinds. but wont go into it.

also...good idea on the radiator.

 

[oneyedfatguy]

I never thought about pressurizing the system. I can take an inner tube from a bicycle and hose clamp it on the radiator and water neck and apply pressure through the schrader valve on the tube. Thanks, Chip.

 

[90mitsu]

good point on the tranny. ive got a similar problem, i lost 2nd gear...this morning.
it wont go into it, it basically has a dead hole where it should go into gear. theres no resistance until you pull the shifter down when trying to put it into gear (if you try to force it) then it grinds. but wont go into it.

also...good idea on the radiator.

can you start your car with it in 2 gear without it kicking out while letting of the clutch?if it kicks back out its probably the syncronizers and they are not fun to change. Iwould pull the trans out and take it to a transmission shop. I work in one and it not as easy as the books make it look ill just say that it requiers the pressing of bearings off and back on. i had my awd apart today and it was nasty to put back together and i have the tools to do it and i have some good pics to. Let me know if i can help

 

[chrisfullwood]

thanks for the offer, ill take all the help i can get. i really cant afford to take it to a shop, so ill probably have to be doing this myself.
i think it is the syncroniser, it will go into gear when shifting from 1st, while the car is moving only, and if you rev the engine above 3k, when downshifting from 3rd. but will not go into gear at idle, or with the car not moving.

ill probably get the rebuild kit, and or another tranny so i can take my time and do it.

 

[90mitsu]

that transmission should be the same as mine before you take it apart look for three bolt s in a line on the front of the case remove them each on has a spring and a detenece ball behind it after that remove the first of the 2 covers there you will find the vicious coupler and 2 outer gear sets the upper set will have a synchronizer and a flat spring that just sit there. remove both nuts and the snap ring on the coupler. the coupler will come off hard use 2 pry bars down inside the shaft you will see the transfer shaft note the two balls holding the shaft . you will then need to remove the roll pin in the shift fork remove all the gears and then you can pull the other little cover before removing the big cover look for a bolt on the back of the trans remove that it is what holds the reverse gear then your inside time to have fun. take detailed pics of each step to make assembly easier

 

[90mitsu]

if you want some pics i can email them to you don't forget to get aluminum silicon you can find it a car-quest