S14 Sr20det Blown Head Gasket??

[importsolutions.net]

HEy guys, well let me explain what has been done to my engine..we just finished porting and polishing, valve job, toda 264 cams, and valvesprings, hks metal head gasket 1.2mm ..just got the car back from our mechanic..

when i first got it back, it would idle all messed up..tried to tune the idle with afc and the idle adjustment valve thingy... did all that..

now after i did that, it would run ok for a while..still seems kinda sluggish..but it'll do until i get it tuned...right?

well i was driving on the freeway...then a shit load of white smoke starts comming out of the exhaust...and it wouldnt go away..

so i pull of the freeway, car overheats..i put more water in it...drive to my GF's house...check the oil...and ITS MILKY..

So, i changed the oil, added more water...try to get it back to my shop, overheat again, let it cool down, then get to my shop..


Whats going on with my SR?? Ive been doing searches and it seems to be the headgasket for sure..but, what would cause this??? and how bad can this be??

now when i had the head resurfaced, my mechanic told me the machine shop didnt resurface it right...he said i might not be able to use the metal head gasket for some reason..but i did anyways...so im thinking, maybe i should have used the stock gasket since the head wasnt resurfaced in a circular motion?? it was resurfaced on a surfacing belt it seems like...

Anyways, ive spent thousands of $$ on this damn head. Any suggestions before i start freaking out??? Thanks guys.

[kuramaya]

Well all the indications are the HG, which you seem to know is the case. Milky Oil and Sweet smelling white exhaust will tell you that the Coolant is getting where it shouldnt. Have you pulled the plugs? Are they wet and or rusted? Is it possible to have your head re decked and then try again with the 1.2? Are you sure that everything was torques down to sepcs...head Bolts were all installed as per FSM? Really the best I can think of now...needs to be broken down and put back together again after being redecked

[ai_jo]

I had a cracked head that did the same exact things; milky oil, overheating, white smoke.

**nevermind, I think it was probably inspected for cracks**

[Pudula]

If you are using stock head studs, make sure they are not stretched beyond the acceptable limit according to the fsm. Its also possible that the head gasket didn't seat right for some reason, which happened to me. I unfortunately overheated it bad enough for a mysterious chunk of metal to appear in the oil pan. I just replaced the long block and started over at that point. G'luck, dawg.

[importsolutions.net]

Well all the indications are the HG, which you seem to know is the case. Milky Oil and Sweet smelling white exhaust will tell you that the Coolant is getting where it shouldnt. Have you pulled the plugs? Are they wet and or rusted? Is it possible to have your head re decked and then try again with the 1.2? Are you sure that everything was torques down to sepcs...head Bolts were all installed as per FSM? Really the best I can think of now...needs to be broken down and put back together again after being redecked
i pulled the plugs, nothings wrong there.
id had to pull the head off, and check the gasket...im pretty sure i'll be able to use it, seems like as soon as we put the head on the compression was low and the gasket was failing..but i wasnt sure..but i guess it was a matter of time...i never revved it past 4-5k..

im not sure if anything was installed per FSM, i had a mechanic do all the work..i just made sure all the part in the head were properly fitted and put together..

[kuramaya]

i pulled the plugs, nothings wrong there.
id had to pull the head off, and check the gasket...im pretty sure i'll be able to use it, seems like as soon as we put the head on the compression was low and the gasket was failing..but i wasnt sure..but i guess it was a matter of time...i never revved it past 4-5k..

im not sure if anything was installed per FSM, i had a mechanic do all the work..i just made sure all the part in the head were properly fitted and put together..



Yeah well, the head prolly needs to be redecked. As mentioned above which I forget, are your head studs all good to go...and one thing we both forgot...when reinstalling the head, the head shood be torqued down to specs, then pressure backed off again, then retorqued down...but everything muste be don correctly

[TheWolf]

Ok here's the deal. Metal headgaskets require a RA finish less than 50. RA= roughness average. Basically how smooth it is. It has nothing to do with circular motion vs side etc etc. To do this you need a CBN surfacer. A PCD bit will work to but CBN is what we use in my machine shop. K what you had your head surfaced on was a kwik way product designed for cast iron heads. It's a gigantic belt sander. It's not accurate and the bottom rung of shop equipment. Using this on aluminum heads is a no no. It eats aluminum. You can take 15-20 thousandths off in a very short time. I would never return to that machine shop. Find a machine shop and ask if they have a CBN cutter surfacer. A segmented stone or a solid stone will not work for MLS gaskets either but it's better than the belt sander. Also pick up some of this stuff. permatex spray #80065 99MA It helps seal MLS gaskets for high HP applications. Your block could be uneven as well causing the leak. More likely the head though.

[importsolutions.net]

ok, what i will do is take everything apart again, i dont need to take off the valves and stuff to do the resurface job do i? also, where do i get that permatex spray? thanks for the help guys..

Im going to take pics and such and hopefully make the thread a sticky..

[TheWolf]

You will need to remove the cams before surfacing.

I found the spray at a place in WA. It's an industrial coating for boilers. Holds like 5000PSI resists gasoline, benzine and one other... and is good from -40F to like 450F. Way better specs than coppercoat. Totally non descript container probably available at napa.

http://www.americangranby.com/%5CART240%5C80065.JPG

[importsolutions.net]

You will need to remove the cams before surfacing.

I found the spray at a place in WA. It's an industrial coating for boilers. Holds like 5000PSI resists gasoline, benzine and one other... and is good from -40F to like 450F. Way better specs than coppercoat. Totally non descript container probably available at napa.

http://www.americangranby.com/%5CART240%5C80065.JPG
ok thanks, i'll be sure to get some of that...anything else extra besides spray??

Is there a certain way i should go about flushing the engine since it has coolant mixed with oil, should i flush radiator too? i heard that coolant can mess stuff up in your cylinders..

[TheWolf]

yes your gonna have to change the oil and hose the milky shit out or wipe it out with paper towels.. there's no easy way to do it. There should be no water in the cylinders. If there is get it out imediatly.

[fliprayzin240sx]

i pulled the plugs, nothings wrong there.
id had to pull the head off, and check the gasket...im pretty sure i'll be able to use it, seems like as soon as we put the head on the compression was low and the gasket was failing..but i wasnt sure..but i guess it was a matter of time...i never revved it past 4-5k..

im not sure if anything was installed per FSM, i had a mechanic do all the work..i just made sure all the part in the head were properly fitted and put together..

Id look into that as far as torquing the head down. SRs are a lil tricky cuz you its a 3 step way of doing it. Torque the headbolts down to the first spec tq *iirc ~60 lbs* then loosen it all out. re-torque it down *iirc ~30-35 lbs* after you have all torqued down, torque bar and turn each bolt 90 degrees then 90 degrees again after you did all of them the first time. Make sure you follow the torquing pattern and use that spray that gasket spray *me personally, i use the cooper spray on PE and apex'i headgaskets that ive installed*


As far as your idle, im not sure how bouncy it is but more than likely its the TODA cams...iirc i think theyre 11.5 lift so dont expect a smooth idle plus i dont know wut other mod you got done as far as tuning and injector size.