Actually i did read the entire thread thanks for asking. A block and heads mating surface should be perfectly flat and smooth. No knicks or burrs. Headbolts have nothing to do with your headgasket leaking at 10 lbs of boost. I do this for a living. Master tech 12 yrs at honda. Ive done more headgaskets then most people on this board. A leak down tesr needs to be done to see if a headgasket is a problem. If it is then both the head and block need to be checked. Simple as that.

The only areas those chips are on cylinder firing ring 4 and 1. If I leak down test and it doesn't bubble my cooling system when pressurized for both those cylinders I will be at a complete lost.

It may leak compression at odd times like higher boost or different temperatures, but regardless that block is toast. Those nicks need to be ground down and it'd take a shit ton of cbn cutting to do that from just eyeballing it. You can continue to ignore it/band-aid it but you need a new block

When you perform the leak down make sure the engine is hot and use one of those coolant funnel for bleeding air out of the system. Fill it half way and make a note(or mark) where it was. During the leakdown test any bubbles or rise in coolant level means trouble.

Really disappointed. Don't have the funds to just buy a new car. This is my DD. Well thanks for all the help guys with the issue.

haha.

Guess I might be getting ready to do this!

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/wayback/engineremovala.html

Oil leaking from
Rear HG area. Not great about to replace.

Sorry I just saw this thread...

The videos you posted of the car running with the radiator cap off; those look completely normal. As the T-stat opens and closes, you'll get bubbles/foam and such from coolant being circulated through the system by the water pump. Again, completely normal in my experience.

In contrast, combustion gasses leaking into the system cause violent pressure spikes into the cooling system, which in turn will have shit shooting out everywhere. It hard to mistake a blown head gasket when is leaking into the cooling system...The videos you posted are certainly not that.

The photos of your block/bores being all knicked up are less than promising, but most of the damage appears to be inside of where the HG fire ring would seal. Again, based on your videos of the cooling system open, I'd say you got lucky here.

The pictures you posted of oil leaking from the head gasket are hard to read. The crap below the knock sensor looks to be old goo from a previously failed knock sensor. The area where the head and block meet appears to be wet in your pics, but does not appear to be pissing oil everywhere. The HG failures I've see were much more extreme, and tend to leak a noticeable amount of oil. If I were you, I'd spray that area clean using solvent or brake cleaner, and monitor it for further leakage. Worse case scenario, you loose a tiny bit of oil where it returns from the head to the crankcase. It's not a pressurized passage. Keep an eye on the oil level at all times, and monitor the car for leaks in the interim. From the pic posted, this isn't an issue that's going to leave you stranded anywhere...If it's even a real HG issue at all.

Now, on to your overheating issue.

First, you can't really go off the stock gauge. It's horrible inaccurate. Second, you said you radiator was crappy? Since the radiator is the primary component used to provide cooling, I'd say you should probably address this, no?

Did you ever pressure check the system as the other members have suggested?

Have you tried to activate the A/C fan when the car gets hot and see if it pulls the temp back down?

What temp T-stat did you install?

IMO, you should be troubleshooting the cooling system itself. I believe that's where you problem probably lies.

Thanks for your extended reply




I have replaced the radiator with a new one. Water pump is recent. I have unfortunately been running straight water as of now. The thermo sensor for the fan is good. Turns on and off as it should. I also am going to get a logger soon so I can see Ecu temp.

Still have not leak down tested.

I'm swapping very soon fel pro 9627pt head gasket and arp studs.

I just spent some part of the day removing the fmic, crush bar all
My factory a/c stuff. Compressor lines and a/c cooler that goes beind the radiator? Yeah I removed that completely and all a/c stuff, hoping to get a little more air flow to the radiator. I'll clean the block because you're right that is old goo from a blown knock sensor that I recently(3months) replaced. I reused head bolts from a badly blown HG

The t stat is a 192 I think?
Or a 190 I can't remember it's new just got it with new radiator cap.




Seems to be running a little cooler with the a/c condenser gone. Tapped the gauge just to make sure it wasn't stuck. I was doing a moderate drive with no higher than 5k Rpms between shifts here and there. Didn't lean at all towards the hot side, also when I engaged the cooling fan full time it pulled my gauge closer to the colder side just while cruising at 55mph

Sorry to keep bugging everyone with this. Just posting a update, temps in my area have been dipping out of summer. Seeing more 50-65 degree days and the car isn't overheating. I've actually been trying to make it overheat or produce the same symptoms that it was doing.


So what I've replaced/fixed as of now:
T stat 190?
Rad. Cap
New stock radiator (all straight fins)
Removed a/c condenser from in front of the radiator
Running 10/90% water
Replaced CTS
Replaced dash temp gauge sensor


Will update if it overheats again. As of now, I appreciate all the responses about my situation. I will be soon installing a actual water temp gauge and a palm logger