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Blew head gasket. Hows it look?

12K views 161 replies 36 participants last post by  Flip 
#1 · (Edited)
Did a 550hp pull yesterday and blew the hg. What do you guys think? I was planning on just getting a y8 head gasket and going back to the dyno.

This first cylinder pic is with no oil in it, I wiped it clean. The second cylinder pic is after I wiped them down with oil.









 
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#4 ·
I don't think its pitting, I cannot feel it at all with my fingernail.

Looks just fine to me. The only thing is I don't see a breach in the head gasket. You can see combustion bypass though. This suggests the head or block might be warped or head lift.
John at jk tuning thinks it was the felpro hg. I torqued it to 62 ft/lb. Resurfaced head and block. New ARP's. He told me to get an oem hg and retorque to 80 ft/lb on headstuds and try again. What do you guys think?
 
#14 ·
After mine blew on the dyno like yours, I went with a new OEM HG and NEW ARPs. Instead of the recommended 62/64 ft lbs, I went with 70ft lbs after three heat cycles. Never had issues thereafter. Of course, I didn't really see full boost on the high boost setting but a few times at the track though. I didn't check my head or deck for flatness because I knew it was the tune; too much advance timing causing ONLY the intake side to unseal on all 4 cylinders on e85.

I can tell you this, do it right or end up doing it over and over again. So do everything you can with the motor apart to get it right this time. Though some say the Fel-Pro worked for them on their builds, might not work well on yours.

What size bores? 76mm?

Keep us updated!
 
#15 ·
i just changed my headgasket yesterday, idk what caused it because im only making around 160hp. when i pulled the head bolts they felt like they were on way tighter than the 49 ft lbs vs when i put the new arp studs in and torqued to 60 ft lbs, also i was reading you dont want to over torque the arp studs because your not gaining any more clamping force and also your just putting more stress on the studs
 
#18 ·
I torque mine to 65lbs.
 
#22 ·
This.

over torquing them too far will just weaken them. i say 65lbs.. no more.

Mine are torqued at 60ft lbs with no issues.. i highly doubt the arp's where the problem but im not going to sit here and guess what could have been the problem

GL with the next dyno run
 
#24 ·
meh, it's not that big of a deal, it's just a head gasket. You're making 550 hp with only 1.6l of displacement. It's better to sacrifice a head gasket on the dyno rather than the bottom end on the track.

Look at your plugs. Do they have discoloration on only 1 side? Like BLK92_D16's problem (and mine currently) it may show on the plugs.

It doesn't look like the head gasket "blew". Replace it, pull a little timing, listen to ARP (they know a thing or 2 about their fasteners), and then make jam. :punk:
 
#21 ·
Oem + 70 lbs is what I would do. Mine ' down as well at the moment so don't feel to bad.
 
#23 ·
Make sure the studs are going into clean holes. Any kind of debris in there can make the stud ease out. The first time I tightened my studs down I had to stop for the day and go to work. The next day the studs were loose in the block. It's very important to clean the holes in the block out. I had to scrape some gunk out from the bottom of the holes I remember.

My bad luck with my build was rod knock half hour after getting the motor up and running. The oil pan I got with turbo drain was bottomed out and oil starved the motor. It cost me a crank.
 
#25 ·
I retaped my block quite a few times and made sure the studs were all snug before I installed the head. No issues so far
 
#28 · (Edited)
I've seen your build. I've had the same shitty luck as you just not with a sleeved block. Let me give you cliff notes

-bought cheap cncwerx block off here

-needed it decked and bored. Machine shop fuck that up

-bought new block sent it to cncwerx,got it back, after i had it decked, I notice gaps between the CSS and block. Cncwerx fucked it up

-bought another block, cncwerx did all the machining and it was perfect.

Pretty similar story as your sleeve fiasco and buying parts and getting sent the wrong parts and that's only a little bit of my experience on my current build. The only reason I'm okay with all this is because when I decided I wanted a higher hp car , especially a street car, I was willing to accept the fact that I will have parts fail, even if I buy the best of everything. Look at all the higher hp builds on here. Look how many of them have had failures or issues or problems they need to fix. Shit happens. The more ambitious the build the more problems come up.

Kudos to you for fighting through all the bull
 
#29 · (Edited)
You got this man slap a gasket in there and go at it again. I understand exactly how you feel, I almost parted mine last week.
 
#30 · (Edited)
If you want to know how to properly torque your head studs, read the instructions that came with the box that say to torque them to 65ftlbs with ARP moly lube. You MUST use their lube!


You should really consider to ask yourself who exactly is giving you advice on how to torque the head studs. I have a strange feeling John Kerr builds more B series than D series with the suggested torque... That is what a B series is torqued to. Which also has a larger stud, which requires more torque to stretch and hold the head down properly.

A stud or bolts maximum strength happens at a VERY fine point where the fastener has stretched, but hasnt permanently deformed. You can NOT go past that point, or they fastener is garbage. ARP knows what they are doing.


On my engine they were torqued down to 65ftlbs. If you still have HG issues after using an OEM HG with the proper torque spec, I would look into checking the block and head with a straight edge or finding another tuner. 99% of the time the HG will only blow if detonation is present. .5% of the time from a sunk sleeve, and the other .5% from a compromised gasket.








Edit; Can you take closer pictures of cyl #3 piston quench pads exhaust and intake side and also the quench pads in the cylinder head? I'd like to take a closer look.

Are those weird black dots on your cylinder wall, in cylinder 3?
 
#35 ·
i just bought arp head studs and installed them the other day, the instructions say hand tight for the studs and use the lube on the top of the stud and washers, torque to 60 ft lbs
 
#37 ·
^Sorta brings up a good point; are you aiming for 600whp just to say you have it, or are you aiming for a particular 1/4 mile time/mph? You've got to keep in mind you're in nearly uncharted territories with the "D" there. I mean, how many 550+ hp "D" builds have came to light since who knows when? NOT MANY.
 
#39 · (Edited)
I have to wait 3 more weeks for John to get back. Its going to be the middle of Sept. ...then after that cold weather and salt on the roads. I guess I will have a month or so to run it if everything goes okay.

^Sorta brings up a good point; are you aiming for 600whp just to say you have it, or are you aiming for a particular 1/4 mile time/mph? You've got to keep in mind you're in nearly uncharted territories with the "D" there. I mean, how many 550+ hp "D" builds have came to light since who knows when? NOT MANY.
I've never been on a strip, so no, not really aiming for a time / mph. Just want a nasty sohc I guess.... I just know I love this car. I like being in uncharted territories lol. I'm not here to bitch, sorry.

turn down the boost and be happy lol.

I really dont know hopefully you get it figure out.
I would check everything for flatness. get an oem gasket and new bolts. You might have stretch yours out.
I dont like the block guard. It seems like it wouldn't flow good and make a hot spot right around where the head and block meets.

just my .02c
That is not a block guard, that is the MID sleeve. I'm getting everything checked for flatness.

Flip, don't give up. I commented in your thread to check check the timing. I'm 99% positive it lifted from too much timing. Remember you are decently high comp for a big turbo build. Put a new head gasket on, tq it to spec, pull 4 degrees and go at it again.
That's what I'm thinking, like danz said, he is used to tuning b series. I'm going to tell him to take it easy on the timing next time I go down.

Edit; Can you take closer pictures of cyl #3 piston quench pads exhaust and intake side and also the quench pads in the cylinder head? I'd like to take a closer look.

Are those weird black dots on your cylinder wall, in cylinder 3?






 
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