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Valve seals ?

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kodaGSX

Probationary Member
19
0
Jun 2, 2019
Butler, Pennsylvania
I recently got a 1995 GSX and and it was running great and really clean. I was getting onto the highway one day and was in third gear and lost all power(not even in the boost) I found out that I blew a coolant hose so I didn’t drive it home I had it towed cause it wouldn’t start. Once it got home I replaced the hose and it starts but now it’s having a rough time staying running and it’s smoking from the exhaust, I took the exhaust manifold off and there was oil leaking from cylinder 4 (closest to the passenger side) into the exhaust manifold and I have a turbo back exhaust so I feel that it is one of the valve seals is leaking and burning up in the header and going straight out the exhaust. Haven’t ran it since.
 
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You probably have bad valve seals also. Unless it's dumping a ton of oil into that cylinder, that's not the cause of the rough idle. FYI "headers" on a turbo car is referred to as exhaust manifold. Headers are for NA cars.
 
It has overheated before(nothing big, easy fix) but oil was coming directly from the exhaust port into the exhaust manifold, could that still be the head gasket? I thought it would seep out from the side of the head if it was from the gasket ? And I checked the dipstick and it was the same color and it didn’t look too much lower than before. And it didn’t look like a ton of oil just the port had a light coat of oil inside
 
That's definitely sounds like the indicator for bad or begging-to-go seal(s).
It wouldn't be causing your running problem though. I'd begin looking at validating timing and compression next.

Depending on how a gasket popped, usually it's from combustion chamber outward to either oil or coolant. Sometimes, it's from oil to coolant, where you get that really nasty mix.

Also, a header can be for a forced induction vehicle as well and they exist in abundance. It's not just "headerS" with an S because we only have one bank of exhaust ports. A header is a complete unit, not an individual pipe. Maybe that's why people say headers with I4 and I6 engines still... misconception of body vs component.

A header just consists of individualized pipes tied to a collector whereas a manifold are more often cast iron and will include more than 1 port in any combined body while still separating tracts, also tieing into a collector. However, that is not always the case and some manifolds actually look a lot like headers with individualized long pipes.

I'm much more tolerant of people mixing up manifold and header than I am about saying headers on an inline 4 or 6 where the exists only one unit.
Unless you're doing I6 with two headers and two collectors (2x3).
 
I was guessing by the symptoms, blown hose, rough idle and smoking, but I could be wrong. Like I said, unless there's a lot of oil leaking past the valve seals, leaking valve seals won't cause a rough idle. Post a picture of the exhaust runner.

Head gasket seals both coolant and oil passages between the head and block.
 
That's definitely sounds like the indicator for bad or begging-to-go seal(s).
It wouldn't be causing your running problem though. I'd begin looking at validating timing and compression next.

Depending on how a gasket popped, usually it's from combustion chamber outward to either oil or coolant. Sometimes, it's from oil to coolant, where you get that really nasty mix.

Also, a header can be for a forced induction vehicle as well and they exist in abundance. It's not just "headerS" with an S because we only have one bank of exhaust ports. A header is a complete unit, not an individual pipe. Maybe that's why people say headers with I4 and I6 engines still... misconception of body vs component.

A header just consists of individualized pipes tied to a collector whereas a manifold are more often cast iron and will include more than 1 port in any combined body while still separating tracts, also tieing into a collector. However, that is not always the case and some manifolds actually look a lot like headers with individualized long pipes.

I'm much more tolerant of people mixing up manifold and header than I am about saying headers on an inline 4 or 6 where the exists only one unit.
Unless you're doing I6 with two headers and two collectors (2x3).

What a breakdown!! :applause::thumb:
 
Leak down test before you go any further, if you cant leak down test it for some reason then at the very least, a compression test immediately.
 
Update: I took the turbo out and the turbo looks brand new(no shaft play) but in the back of the compressor, the oil return line was leaking which was also causing some of the smoke and I’m unable to do the compression test because I have the valve cover off but I’m replacing valve seals and valve cover gasket and then I’ll do the compression test after it’s back together just to make sure before I run it.
 
There was a little oil on the tip of the spark plug on cylinder #4 ... I’m still hoping it’s just valve seals and not piston rings ....it was very little oil but still concerns me
 
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