I think she is finally toast

[primo513]

Well the motor has had a bunch of issues, last time the head gasket blew was because 3 of the head studs wouldn't hold their torque values. So i went and ordered new ARPs, got a new head gasket and replaced everything properly.

Finished it up, got it to where I could comfortably driver the car, wasn't over heating, wasnt eating coolant, ran like it was supposed to for a week or so. Got into boost several times at lower speeds (spools up very fast, its only a 16g) and didn't have any problems. Didn't have a change to tune much but I have maft on it and tuned a little bit. I was cruising on the way to work last week, about 70 mph in 5th, started getting into boost. It has some creep due to a large exhaust right off the o2 housing, 3" straight back. well crept up to about 20 lbs which is normal, but instead of hitting a peak, it jumped up to 27 psi, and was accelerating like shit. I continued to cruise. All of a sudden smoke was coming from the hood and water temp was in the red. F me right?

Well, i turned the car off, waited til the motor died, turned the power back on and let the fans run as I coasted to a stop. Popped the hood and steam was just shooting out of the overflow. I let it cool down completely, let it suck back in as much coolant as it would, then drove to the next exit and stopped for coolant. I had to keep stopping because it would overheat quick. As soon as it started to heat up after that I would turn the car off, pull over and let it cool some and add coolant when I was able to take the cap off. (had to do this A LOT)

My buddy told me there was definitely blow-by because the rings were bad. I figured since I wasn't making much power, maybe just under 300, it would be fine to drive around until I was ready to rebuild. Well guess the blow-by got me sooner than expected. I am assuming that the Head gasket is blown again? Anybody have any ideas to look at before I tear it apart again? Hoping its something stupid like a loost coolant line somewhere, just havent had the time to investigate yet. Anybody know if blow-by can end up causing the head gasket to blow?

Any ideas besides a new head gasket would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

[Jon91TSi]

Well the motor has had a bunch of issues, last time the head gasket blew was because 3 of the head studs wouldn't hold their torque values. So i went and ordered new ARPs, got a new head gasket and replaced everything properly.

Finished it up, got it to where I could comfortably driver the car, wasn't over heating, wasnt eating coolant, ran like it was supposed to for a week or so. Got into boost several times at lower speeds (spools up very fast, its only a 16g) and didn't have any problems. Didn't have a change to tune much but I have maft on it and tuned a little bit. I was cruising on the way to work last week, about 70 mph in 5th, started getting into boost. It has some creep due to a large exhaust right off the o2 housing, 3" straight back. well crept up to about 20 lbs which is normal, but instead of hitting a peak, it jumped up to 27 psi, and was accelerating like shit. I continued to cruise. All of a sudden smoke was coming from the hood and water temp was in the red. F me right?

Well, i turned the car off, waited til the motor died, turned the power back on and let the fans run as I coasted to a stop. Popped the hood and steam was just shooting out of the overflow. I let it cool down completely, let it suck back in as much coolant as it would, then drove to the next exit and stopped for coolant. I had to keep stopping because it would overheat quick. As soon as it started to heat up after that I would turn the car off, pull over and let it cool some and add coolant when I was able to take the cap off. (had to do this A LOT)

My buddy told me there was definitely blow-by because the rings were bad. I figured since I wasn't making much power, maybe just under 300, it would be fine to drive around until I was ready to rebuild. Well guess the blow-by got me sooner than expected. I am assuming that the Head gasket is blown again? Anybody have any ideas to look at before I tear it apart again? Hoping its something stupid like a loost coolant line somewhere, just havent had the time to investigate yet. Anybody know if blow-by can end up causing the head gasket to blow?

Any ideas besides a new head gasket would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

Were the head surface and block surface checked for flatness by a machine shop with a machinist straight edge? If either are warped they need to be milled, on a mill (not a belt sander), then your sealing problems should be put to bed. The new HG could have band-aided the problem until you really got in to boost and then popped it. I would have the head and block surfaces checked, I bet you'll find your problem there if you keep losing gaskets. My .02

 

[loco4G63]

Also do oil port mod for your head if you get it machined, worked great for me : )

 

[Build01Laser90]

Sounds like you did the head gasket yourself, did you clean up the block or the head when you had it off or just replace the gasket? and did you get the right torque specs for the arps?