I'd like to know too, but if no one knows yet we'll find out pretty soon. A friend of mine is ordering one tomorrow. He's not going for performance or a lot of boost. He bought a Talon TSI cheap that needed a new head and he's about to put it back together. I guess we'll find how well it holds up to stock boost levels at least.

OEM is a graphite composite gasket. People have used them in various HP level builds.

Ok, to start i searched first and there are a fair number of threads about this, but i had some specific questions that weren't answered so here goes

My car is mostly stock, '90 tsi awd, 3"exhaust, evo3 exhaust mani + 02 housing, K&N, ACT street clutch kit, etc.

The car has been running excellent and idled smooth, but a couple days ago i was going for a drive (not too hard, i take it up to 5500 at WOT on occasion, but i am trying not to put too much unnecessary wear on it) it started to misfire slightly and stumble a bit at idle and anytime it was at constant rpm, and the temp gauge rose to point to the right side of the "E" in "TEMP" (it usually points at to left of the "E"). I had been having issues with a plug wire coming loose and making it miss, so i pulled them, cleaned and reinstalled, then i went out again and filled up with gas. no more miss, still rough idle, still tiny increase in temp. I got home and noticed a decent amount of whitish smoke or steam coming from under the front of the hood, but couldn't see where it originated before it stopped. It seems that this matches the descriptions i have read here of bad HGs, so i looked at my oil and it is brown, very translucent, not yellow or "milky" like pics i've seen of coolant in oil. Also i am not steaming out of the tailpipe at all.
My PS leaks where the top hose with the metal fitting goes into the reservoir, could ps fluid on the exhaust mani make white smoke? it seems to come from the front of the engine, none comes out the rear of the hood. Are there any other things i should check before i tow it and get a comp test? what water lines would likely drip on something hot? I also wanted to know if it would be safe to drive up to a mech shop a few blocks away or if i should tow. sorry for the long post, i wanted to make sure all the info was here. Any help would be appreciated.

First do your own compression test.

If you blew a headgasket, you should be ok to drive the car for a few blocks.

Compression test it definitely. Also power steering fluid will make white smoke if it hits exhaust parts.

Thanks guys im just gonna go have the shop do a comp test. They said it would be 1800$ to do it ### they wanna change my timing belt and water pump etc but the timing belt only has 15k miles on it, is this necessary? i am planning on doing a rebuild anyway in a few months when i graduate, so i figure i could just toss in a gasket and copper spray it. then just drive gingerly till i rebuild, right?

Jalopy said:

Thanks guys im just gonna go have the shop do a comp test. They said it would be 1800$ to do it ### they wanna change my timing belt and water pump etc but the timing belt only has 15k miles on it, is this necessary? i am planning on doing a rebuild anyway in a few months when i graduate, so i figure i could just toss in a gasket and copper spray it. then just drive gingerly till i rebuild, right?

Click to expand...

RUN FROM THAT SHOP AS FAST AS YOU CAN!! . Just go and rent a compression tester from a parts store and do it yourself, it's very simple.

will a compression tester tell me for sure if the headgasket is bad, or just if i am leaking cylinder pressure? what other tests might be necessary to test the HG?

Jalopy said:

will a compression tester tell me for sure if the headgasket is bad, or just if i am leaking cylinder pressure? what other tests might be necessary to test the HG?

Click to expand...

Yeah, if you see any cylinders that are reading low and the car is puffin white smoke (burning coolant) then it is a headgasket for sure. Just make sure you do the compression test properly.

Get the car to operating temp

Pull the MPI fuse

Pull one plug and one wire at a time

Screw the compression tester into the spark plug hole

Turn the car over while holding the throttle wide open until the gauge stablilizes

Record the numbers on that cylinder and go to the next one

thanks for the info. now i just have to find a shop that wont rob e blind. i dont have a garage or even a carport or id do it myself. anyone had a shop do this for a good price? what would be reasonable for just the HG?

Jalopy said:

thanks for the info. now i just have to find a shop that wont rob e blind. i dont have a garage or even a carport or id do it myself. anyone had a shop do this for a good price? what would be reasonable for just the HG?

Click to expand...

A headgasket replacement job is probably going to be pricey for our cars, because of the timing belt. Might as well go ahead and replace the belt while your in there

Are you pushing coolant? Check the level of coolant in your overflow bottle, also for signs of oil residue inside.

Still need some help on this.

I need something for .040" over. The head and block have been surfaced for an MLS, if I choose to go that route. I really wanted Mitsu, but I can only find OEM in standard bore sizes.

And I do need 86mm...correct?

I'm also wondering about thickness. The machine shop said there wasn't enough material removed to worry about it, but I dunno...

Any other ideas/opinions?

This should do it for you:
EXTREME PSI : Your #1 Source for In Stock Performance Parts - Cometic Head Gasket : Mitsubishi Eclipse 90-99
I think you're going to need 87mm - someone mentioned up above having .40 bore and having .5mm of wiggle room. Math isn't my strong suit, so I'll leave that up to someone else to verify You're going to be fine on thickness with that HG.

I did a compression test here are the numbers.
Is this good or bad?
#1. 145
#2. 145
#3. 135
#4. 135

EDM95 said:

I did a compression test here are the numbers.
Is this good or bad?
#1. 145
#2. 145
#3. 135
#4. 135

Click to expand...

Well it's certainly a bit tired, but still above the 100psi service limit I believe.

So what is my problem then?

Looks like I have a vac leak.
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Do a wet compression test, or a leakdown test to better pinpoint why your compression is low.
Get an actual vacuum gauge and get some readings.

Ok, so i ended up going to the mechanic's and he was looking at everything, my overflow is empty and no coolant missing. He tested the alternator on a whim and it was bad, my batt was almost totally dead. so i got a new alternator and fixed the power steering leak i suspect killed it, and it starts right up. the weird thing is, now when i first start it when its cold it misfires really bad until it gets near operating temps. once its warm it runs like usual. the mech said my hg is not bad, no fouled plugs, new wires. it also hasnt puffed smoke again.
any ideas?

Have you checked for vaccuum leaks?

yeah, kind of i visually inspected them and they all appear fine. how does one do a better job of checking? I noticed the (stock) vac gauge bounces up about 1/8th" above the 7, when warm it stays below the bottom line and is steadier. probably vac leak? i looked around and i saw some stuff about the coolant temp sensor causing this because it controls enrichment at idle. my temp sensor runs a little high when im warmed up still, so i will check that too.

There are so many things wrong with this thread, I don't know where to start

First of all, read this: Do you have a blown head gasket?

magna said:

If you blew a headgasket, you should be ok to drive the car for a few blocks.

Click to expand...

Depends on how it failed and how bad it is. It may be fine for a few miles, or it may completely ruin his motor.

Jalopy said:

my overflow is empty and no coolant missing.

Click to expand...

If your overflow is empty, you ARE missing coolant.

ba109296 said:

Also power steering fluid will make white smoke if it hits exhaust parts.

Click to expand...

But it won't cause "it started to misfire slightly and stumble a bit at idle and anytime it was at constant rpm, and the temp gauge rose to point to the right side of the 'E' in 'TEMP'"

Jalopy said:

Thanks guys im just gonna go have the shop do a comp test. They said it would be 1800$ to do it ### they wanna change my timing belt and water pump etc but the timing belt only has 15k miles on it, is this necessary?

Click to expand...

First of all, it only takes a $10 tester (available from Walmart), a spark plug socket, and 15 minutes to do a compression test. You can do it in a parking lot.

Second, any shop that tries to charge you $1800 before they even know for sure what the problem is should be avoided like the plague, if not shut down.

Jalopy said:

will a compression tester tell me for sure if the headgasket is bad, or just if i am leaking cylinder pressure? what other tests might be necessary to test the HG?

Click to expand...

Neither. It will tell you how well your cylinders can create pressure...not if they can hold it. To really understand what is happening, you need to do a leak-down test, or find someone with a leak-down tester that can do it for you.

Jalopy said:

yeah, kind of i visually inspected them and they all appear fine. how does one do a better job of checking?

Click to expand...

A visual inspection may find badly torn or disconnected lines, but won't tell you if they are leaking under vacuum or pressure. You need to do a boost leak test.

do you still think the HG might be the issue? I had PS fluid coming out of the pressure hose and my Alt was soaked in it. the mech said the smoke was probably the alternator, and when we replaced it (autozone tested it and it was bad) the problem mostly got better. the overflow was empty before as well, but i never had an issue. sorry, im a noob, i appreciate the help.