bad head gasket

[Freddyk79]

Newb question here. Pretty sure I know the answer already but here goes.

Do u have to undo the timing belt+assembly to replace a head gasket?

 

[BogusSVO]

yes

 

[Jdevil187]

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/timingbelt-2G.html

 

[96BoostedGSX]

Yes you do. Why do you think you have a bad head gasket? Are you over heating at all or have a little white smoke out of the exhaust?

 

[mtf-DSM]

To add to 96BoostedGSX statement; or do you have the weirdest symptom which in my opinion is when the gasket tears just right enough to cause the compression from your cylinders to push coolant back into your reserve coolant tank!!?? I'm in the middle of fixing mine because of it. I was hoping it was something else like the rad cap, punctured return hose, etc., but in the end, it was that @#%$!*& head gasket! Good luck with your fix

 

[Freddyk79]

The car is pissing coolant+oil all over the place. There's a significant pool of.fluid all over the tran

 

[mtf-DSM]

Damn... It would have to be one hell of a crack/hole in the head to "piss coolant and oil all over the place" I'm wondering if your block still OK? While you're in the act of replacing your head, it may be wise to inspect that bottom end.

If I may ask, what led up to this condition? Like what were you doing right before you discovered this (like racing--heavy boosting, tuning, or just normal driving)? Was there any crazy noises coming from under the hood when this happened like metal slapping metal?

 

[96BoostedGSX]

Damn man sound's like you blew the gasket pretty bad. Hope it didn't warp the head.

 

[Freddyk79]

Bought the car non running due to an ecu issue. Stating It has a " new head last year " and a " cosmetic head gasket " so it's been taken apart already at least once. Either done poorly or there is a bottom end / block issue as you've stated.


Only driven the car maybe 75-100 miles.So any issues I'm discovering are a mystery to me at this point. The initial test drive I found the radiator fans were unplugged, engine did feel warm. So I corrected that, seemed to definitely help.

The oil is coming from the timing belt side. And its definitely not the valve cover gasket. Its twords the bottom side for sure.

I will report back. This car had SO much potential as its super low miles and ZERO rust. But if the block is.cracked the may she RIP I think.

 

[BogusSVO]

So many things could be off.

Go to the basics and check them first.

Confirm all timing marks line up

Do a compression test

Do a leakdown test

Do a coolant system pressure test

 

[Freddyk79]

Not even sure what a " cosmetic head gasket " even is.

I will report back once i have a chance to climb under neither the car and inspect further.

 

[96BoostedGSX]

Not even sure what a " cosmetic head gasket " even is.

I will report back once i have a chance to climb under neither the car and inspect further.

Yeah it's not cosmetic it's called cometic head gasket. Basically it's a multi layered steel gasket and if someone didn't deck the head or block right last time and used this gasket I can see it blowing it. But yeah go through what bogussvo said and see what issues you find.

 

[mtf-DSM]

It's a "Cometic" head gasket. It's another aftermarket company that sells (or ALLEGEDLY sells) high performance head gaskets... There's a mixed feeling in the race world about Cometic though (I hear a lot of catastrophic failure stories about their head gaskets)... In my opinion, a Felpro MLS (multi layer steel) Perma-Torque gasket is hard to beat, but it's just my humble opinion.

 

[Freddyk79]

Ooooh! Makes much more sense now! The PO also installed a findanza ( something like that ) flywheel. The one that makes it stall all the time. So clear evidence of a poor choice there.

Thanks for the input! I will continue to work on it.

 

[BogusSVO]

If you have a stock rod engine or below 500 hp, just run a composite HG, OE or Felpro 9627

No need for a MLS head gasket below 500hp, nor go to the expense of a MLS

The Fidanza flywheel is a lightweight flywheel, it should not cause a stall issue

 

[Kod]

If balance shafts were removed and oil is leaking in the timing I want to bet that a soft plug I think is what I used for the one hole because I have seen them leak because of that either not being put in or falling out then can be messy and keep an engine from rusting. Not fun to work with though

With that head gasket that was put on your car from my memory everything has to be perfect on head and block for seating or it will blow out very easily.

 

[Liz93EclipseT]

i blew out a headgasket once where it was actually spraying coolant out from the left side of the motor, not sure how it'd be shooting oil out too though

 

[Freddyk79]

Coolant from the left side being the timing side or the battery side?