[Tazjig]

Well i just swapped in a Z6 for my old B7 and it has been nothing but headaches, anyway. The motor runs awesome if i run it nice and easy, like shifting under 3500 but as soon as i really push it, like getting into vtec range the car sputters and instantly heats up, and as soon as i let off the throttle it starts to cool down again. So today i went to change the thermostat and noticed that the overflow water was very dark, so i poored it into a water bottle and there seems to be a grey sludge in it, is this stuff oil?

Also the uppper and lower rad hoses seem to have alot of pressure in them after driving like it is getting compression blown into it???

I think this is my head gasket but i really wanna be sure be4 i tear into it, what do you guys think?

 

[Boosted-EH-804]

what does your oil look like and check your headstuds. Are you getting any white smoke. A leakdown test is gonna let ya know

 

[Tazjig]

What do you mean check my headstuds??? just check if they are torqued? and no i am not getting any white smoke or any smoke at all but i am slowly losing oil.

 

[Tibby]

the over heating could be from running lean if it is not a blown head gasket are you? is it making weird noises? was there water in the oil?
a head gasket is like 30 bucks if you can do it yourself and have another car it would make sense to me to do it.

 

[Tazjig]

Ya i have no problems doing the head gasket, and i dont see how i could be running lean??? and it doesnt make any weird noises, even when it sputters the engine still sounds ok, i dont know this is weird, and there isnt any coolant in the oil but it looks as if there is oil in the coolant.

 

[Boosted-EH-804]

are you losing any coolant and yey are your head studs torqued down. Is the car hard to start now than before. Oh and try to clean out your reservoir it might just have some nasty shit in there. Because I dont think it would go one way and not the other.

 

[areskzc]

have headgasket leak test

Go to a radiator shop and ask for it. they will put like a tube with coolant where the rad cap sits. Turn the car and make some throttle openings. If the test tube goes sparkling u have gasket leak. If the tube goes sauna your gasket is no more.

I don;t know if your boosted, but if u have to change the HG I will strong reccomend you to invest 100$ in arp studs

 

[Tazjig]

I'd kinda like to figure this out myself,and the car starts and runs fine other than the sputtering at high rpms. i'll check the head studs but can they really just loosen off like that?

 

[Boosted-EH-804]

Mine did and I thought I blew a head gasket what head studs are you using oe or arp

 

[Tazjig]

They are just oem, i just bought the motor and swapped it in a week ago

 

[Boosted-EH-804]

well you need to get arp's if your boosted this will prevent head lift

 

[RandysSOHC]

mines oem headstuds...(re-used) re-tourq'd <-~ @ like 110 .lbs ..haha over board
but people talking about headstuds coming loose...I've never heard that before..

it makes me wanna go out & check'em...

 

[Boosted-EH-804]

mines oem headstuds...(re-used) re-tourq'd <-~ @ like 110 .lbs ..haha over board
but people talking about headstuds coming loose...I've never heard that before..

it makes me wanna go out & check'em...

Trust me you would know and they weren't even that loose. I must have failed to re torque them little bastards back down after the first 500 miles I think thats what it is.

 

[Tazjig]

Well i check out my head studs and they were fine. On this motor i wont be boosting it because it is my daily driver and i already have a boosted z6 in my other EG.

I think i figured out the problem, i have changed every part that has to do with cooling and it is till overheating. Today i changed the water pump and refilled the coolant and bled it, after i bleed it and drive the car under light conditions it wont overheat at all. As soon as i push the motor hard it pushes compression into the cooling system and causes air and the car just constantly overheats after that because the air is trapped in the system. A

Another reason i think this is happening is because the rad hoses have ALOT of pressure in them. Sound like that could happen?

 

[shoyuburner]

Like others said before go do a leak down test. If you want to find out on your own go buy a tester it aint that much. Good luck with it dude. Let us know what you find. cool

 

[IanB]

Well i check out my head studs and they were fine. On this motor i wont be boosting it because it is my daily driver and i already have a boosted z6 in my other EG.

I think i figured out the problem, i have changed every part that has to do with cooling and it is till overheating. Today i changed the water pump and refilled the coolant and bled it, after i bleed it and drive the car under light conditions it wont overheat at all. As soon as i push the motor hard it pushes compression into the cooling system and causes air and the car just constantly overheats after that because the air is trapped in the system. A

Another reason i think this is happening is because the rad hoses have ALOT of pressure in them. Sound like that could happen?

If you are pushing air into the coolant system, then you have a blown headgasket or a cracked head.

 

[Tazjig]

Ya that was my conclusion from today, i just hope that its a blown head gasket and not a cracked head.

 

[Tazjig]

And about the leakdown test, i do have a tester its just i never have good luck doing them, i find that my valves or something never hold pressure and it just leaks out somewhere else but the motor still runs fine, this is just from experience of doing other honda motors.

 

[FarmerD]

why dont u take off the rad cap, start the motor, and look for bubbles in the coolant. thats the best way to check for a bad HG (other than a leak down which u are going to do apparently )

 

[Tazjig]

When i take off the rad cap i dont see anything but i thing it only happens at high rpm's, when u really run the car hard.