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Why is my car making chocolate milk?

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BringinDaBEEF

BringinDaBEEF

Probationary Member
19
1
Nov 28, 2013
Corning, New_York
Ok, so this is my first post on here. This is my first "Dsm" but I have had an evo before hand. Any how...

I had just purchased this beautiful Northstar white 98 GSX. Mint. No rust anywhere! Couldn't pass it up. Moving on, I was driving the car a week ago and I stopped by my paint guy (getting a new bumper and a few dings fixed, I'm OCD and like things PERFECT.) and once I had shut the car off I looked back at it before walking into his shop and noticed a puddle on the ground that looked like chocolate milk. So I popped the hood and noticed that my coolant over flow top was popped and the THICK coolant was running out. The car hadn't over heated at that point. I finished up with getting my paint estimated and I noticed my coolant temp was getting hotter. Hit the highway and it cooled right down. I'm about 30 minutes from home might I add... Got on the road that is a straight shot home but is still about 5-7minutes away from my house and the car got HOT. I'm talking like 260 deg hot... Shot up my drive way and shut the car down. At that point it was bubbling and I couldn't do anything but pop the hood and let it cool. I suspected a head gasket with the mixture of oil and coolant but I talked to the PO and he said it has a NEW head gasket and ARP studs. I'm still leaning towards a head gasket but what do you guys think? I'm new to older 4g63's.

-Why would the coolant come out of the overflow?
-Are head gaskets common to pop like that?
-why isn't the car blowing any white smoke out of the exhaust?
-And do you think with it getting so hot that I could have done internal damage?

Things to note:
-this is NOT the 98 7 bolt. It was swapped with a 96 7 bolt (had a built motor and was taken out and the 96 7 bolt was put in its place and ran GREAT with zero issues till now)
-Head has new seals and head gasket with ARP studs
-turbo is tuned low at 14psi (AGP L1R Turbo (Garrett GT30 variant [3072]) w/ EVO III ported manifold, O2 housing, 34mm internal wastegate) on DSMLINK v3
-was NOT beating on it on the 30 minute trip to the shop.

I planned on running this 7 bolt for next spring and doing a light build on a 6 bolt over winter and swapping once the 7 bolt decided to quit.

Any help would be appreciated! :cool:
 
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Coolant and oil is mixing. Period. The previous owner must have thrown on a metal headgasket without getting the head and block surfaces properly machined. Do a leakdown or compression test and I bet you find your problem.
 
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Check oil filter housing. If the turbo is water cooled check to make shure it isn't mixing there. It could also be a cracked head. So there are other things it could be rather than a headgasket.
 
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Do the comp and then leak down test. if that passes, coolant pressure test. At 260*+ for 5-7 minute and blowing all your coolant, I would bet that head is warped now.
I had the same thing happen to my car last summer. good luck.
 
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Thanks guys for the responses. I haven't had a whole lot of time to dig into it yet with work and the holidays (hope everyone is having a great thanksgiving!) but first off what is OFH? Oil filter housing haha. Noob here. And I agree. The head might be warped and to be honest this is more or less a "throw away motor" to me. I would rather just start over with a 6 bolt and know for a fact what has been done to the engine. I also remember checking my dip stick recently, and I see NO sign of coolant in there. Could the thermostat be sticking shut?
 
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Ok so I see the PO used an oem COMPOSITE head gasket. I'm guessing that's why it went. I looked into an oem MLS and they are $150.00. I see Cometic sells MLS head gaskets for around $80. Anyone try them with any luck?
 
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Felpro is at advance auto right? Thanks for the in put guys. I'm not pushing a lot of power I just want a reliable set up. I go to many car shows most many hours away and I don't want to get stranded on the highway.
 
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BringinDaBEEF said:
Felpro is at advance auto right? Thanks for the in put guys. I'm not pushing a lot of power I just want a reliable set up. I go to many car shows most many hours away and I don't want to get stranded on the highway.
Click to expand...
Were you able to perform a compresion or leakdown test? Or you pulled the head already?
 
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Like everyone else said sounds like a blown headgasket. Compression and leakdown test are in order
 
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To be honest I haven't pulled the head or done a compression test yet. Work has been killing me but I often think of this haha. Just small convos with the previous owner. I did order a felpro head gasket from the local Advance Auto just In case. Hopefully when I respond next ill atleast have some compression numbers for you guys!! Thanks for the input.
 
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Back from the dead! I did a compression test and it went as follows

Cyl#1-175
Cyl#2-165
Cyl#3-170
Cyl#4-170

With those numbers I didn't feel the need to leak down test. The Felpro gasket I ordered ended up being a composite gasket and I'm just more comfortable with MLS so I sent it back.

But I recently purchased a 6 bolt NA 4g63 long block and I know it's up for debate about the oil squirters and the pros and cons but I see many shops running the non turbo blocks with great success. So ill most likely start a new thread on new questions partaining to the 6 bolt build!
 
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BringinDaBEEF said:
With those numbers I didn't feel the need to leak down test. The Felpro gasket I ordered ended up being a composite gasket and I'm just more comfortable with MLS so I sent it back.
Click to expand...

With an MLS gasket, you'll need to have the block and head resurfaced specifically for it.

And like already mentioned, unless your looking to make well over 500hp there's nothing wrong with a good composite gasket along with some head studs.
 
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^ +1. People way under estimate the stock engine and in this case, the headgasket.

Drove my car at 500hp using a HX35 peaking at 32psi and drove it hard almost every day. All I had was an OEM composite gasket and L19 headstuds.

Did you check your OFH? If the previous owner tightened the oil filter too tight, they could have cracked the thing and oil/coolant can mix there.
 
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I've had nothing but the OEM head gaskets on all the engines I've built for myself. I have nothing against the MLSs, but OEM are just easier to obtain locally. I've had all sorts of issues that pointed to a HG problem, including other people insisting the HG went bad. But never had oil and coolant mix with the OEM one, and never had one fail on me. They're pretty strong as everyone has stated. I even went as far as reusing one although temporarily, and it too held strong.
 
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I'm looking for about 450whp daily. And I've talked to STM and eviltsi was running his stock composite and hitting tens. Sounds like a solid gasket and I don't plan to hit even hit tens. But me being me I like to "over do" it a little bit. The block and head will most likely be sent to a local machine shop who has had some experience with 4g63's to be ported and assembled so having them machine the block and head for a MLS gasket is not a huge deal.

But let me ask you guys this... For those with a mild build. What do you feel is a reliable/semi dail drivable set up on regards to pistons and rods and a built head. I like to build conservatively yet have room to grow if I want more power. Again, using a non turbo 6 bolt long block.
 
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Save your money!

Dont build a block for just 450whp. You don't need to. At very least wait until you blow the stock one and build a new one on the side.

Composite is not a solid gasket. Composite=composite. MLS= solid.
 
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BringinDaBEEF said:
I'm looking for about 450whp daily. And I've talked to STM and eviltsi was running his stock composite and hitting tens. Sounds like a solid gasket and I don't plan to hit even hit tens. But me being me I like to "over do" it a little bit. The block and head will most likely be sent to a local machine shop who has had some experience with 4g63's to be ported and assembled so having them machine the block and head for a MLS gasket is not a huge deal.

But let me ask you guys this... For those with a mild build. What do you feel is a reliable/semi dail drivable set up on regards to pistons and rods and a built head. I like to build conservatively yet have room to grow if I want more power. Again, using a non turbo 6 bolt long block.
Click to expand...

If your building your 6 bolt (with a lot of room to improve) then get 280's or 272 cams(and everything else in the head) then get forged H beam rods and some performance pistons. Check the supporting vendors for the best price on the rods/pistions you decide on, and then make sure you get the 4 spider upgraded transmission soon because you will blow that thing up if you decide to turn up the boost.(assuming its stock.)
 
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