blown headgasket....now what?

[mustangtraitor]

So I am positive i have a blown head gasket. I was data logging a freeway run and pulled off the freeway and the idle sounded funny so i rev'd it and it sounds like it was missing then came the big cloud of smoke. I drove it home right away and it never ran hotter than normal. Today i messed with it and now it over heats and goes thru coolant fast and spitting water out the exhaust along with lots of smoke. It runs ruff but runs still. I hear these cars are known for cracked heads and I don't want to tear it apart right now if that's what it is, I geuss it could be a intake coolant leak too, my tb is bypassed so its not coming from there.
I dont like tearing up a motor with out making it better than stock, i doubt milling the heads will net any gains and gasket matching them is probably a waste of time. I'm not really sure what to do with this pile...so far my tranny has whent out, opti, water pump, and fuel pump and now this:(
I kinda want to slap the motor in something that has enough room to work on it. head gaskets are gunna be a bitch and i dont want to pull my manifolds again, if i had long tubes to install it wouldnt be so bad but i cant find any Chinese ebay longtubes any more for 300

[Formula 350]

You can get a set of pacesetters through jc whitney for just under 300

[firebird_1995]

That sucks man. I had head gaskets fail on my first firebird at 90k miles. I knew they were bad when I took the radiator cap off and started it up. There was a ton of air bubbling out. I ended up going through and rebuilding the whole thing, had it bored, balanced, ported heads, cam, long tubes, etc. Weeks become months with a project like these and when you finally get it together there is something else lined up to fail. And for me back then, it was my dd. My budget was zero and expectations were sky high. I was always disappointed. Looking back on it I would have just changed the head gaskets and found a good core to start building up.

Since you caught it soon enough I would say you could get away with just changing the head gaskets and flushing the oil a few times. Just my $0.02

Btw, there are no coolant passages in the lt1 intake.

[chile]

You could do a light port job on the heads after you get them checked at the machine shop. Flush the motor and have fun. Save up some money for a good build up.

[Go On 3]

the only real way to fix it is to get AI 200cc heads cam package...ohh wait forgot im not on ls1tech......sorry had to!

[popo8]

the only real way to fix it is to get AI 200cc heads cam package...ohh wait forgot im not on ls1tech......sorry had to!

LOL, LSwho WHAT???

[BLK95-Z]

the only real way to fix it is to get AI 200cc heads cam package...ohh wait forgot im not on ls1tech......sorry had to!

lol

[LSWHO]

LSwho WHAT???

What?

[mustangtraitor]

theres nothing mixed in my oil...anyways anyone running those impala headgaskets? And whats the scoop on the head bolts? I was looking in alldata to see how many hours it calls for (14.9hours :o ) and it says torque to yield head bolts, torque all to 22ftlbs then use a torque angle meter which i dont have. Right now I'm just doing side jobs on cars so i have no extra money to throw at it. I hope to get this fixed before the 17th for my 35th b day lol otherwise my present this year was blown head gasket lol. So tomorrow after i put a cv axle in a camry I will try to tear it all the way apart. It should be pretty obvious where it blew from how bad it is. I have had the airbubbles in the radiator since last year lol, i chalked it up to reverse flow waterpump:)
for the intake, can you use "forms a gasket" or "the right stuff"? or is it touchy? And I dont know about milling the heads if they are true, then theres always valves to think about too.
Can i gasket match or port the heads myself or is it too risky? Wish i had money for some afr's about now. I might let the car sit so i can get those long tubes and do it all at once, decisions, decisions:hmm:

[mustangtraitor]

there seems to be a big debate on the head bolts and thread sealant, wtf.... so are they torque to yield on a 94? and can I re use them? and torque sequence shown doesnt jive with alldata. So i geuss you can torque em to 22ftlbs then 65ftlbs instead of torque angle meter???

http://www.camaroz28.com/forums/showthread.php?t=566126&highlight=head+bolt+torque



(http://www.camaroz28.com/forums/showthread.php?t=566126&highlight=head+bolt+torque)

[v7guy]

many years ago i gasket matched the intake and heads and smoothed out the ports and smoothed the valve stem area, apparently you want to leave the short side radius alone, it didn't seem to hurt anything.
the impy head gaskets just give you a bump in compression, the incorrect ones are frequently listed in part stores even of you ask for the impy gasket, i had to order by part number. one of the gm manuals i have gave a three step torque procedure, i can look it up if you need it.

[Go On 3]

its up to you which hg you choose, lot of people run the impala gasket, i chose the felpro 1074 and some arp head bolts, i gasket matched the heads/intake mani while i was in there and gained 3 mph in the quarter mile

[mustangtraitor]

i looked up the head bolts and they list the same as any sbc for the felpro or sealed power bolt sets on oriellys site, so are these just reg old head bolts they are selling? I have yet to verify if they are torque to yeild, if they arent I will reuse them do to my budget. I will go with victor reinz gaskets, impala gaskets from gm are $37 each not 17, felpro are 19 which i wont use. basically my cost so far is 2 head gaskets= $34 plus head bolts at about $17 a head= $68+ $25 intake mani gasket=$93 plus milling heads around $50 if ones not cracked so I'm looking at $143 plus tax and probably over 20 hours of labor and i have a $180 to my name no job and a $100 fone bill due today and a birthday on wed, sweet:( its not alot but I'm not working and barely paying bills doing side work. I'm tempted to cut my losses and sell it. I'm afraid to tear it apart because i wont be able to finish it right away if i do and the engine will be exposed.
Anyway if some one can verify the head bolt that would be great, and site your source. I'm not taking anyones word for it as i have read 93-94 may not be TTY and that gm just changes the tightening method to that of TTY head bolts that were supposedly used on the 95-97 lt1's

[firebird_1995]

Probably catch a lot of flack for saying this but, if you're in a pinch and need to get it back together, re-use the old head bolts. torque to yeild bolts didn't make it to our engines. And when you take the heads off be carefull with the gasket so you can find out where it blew. Look the block and head over in that area for steam erosion. If it looks good clean it up and put a straightedge across the chamber surface area and check for warpage with a feeler gauge. I believe anything less than .002" is acceptable. Use what you've got and get it back on the road. Head gasket change is a 10 hour job with a buddy. Don't sweat it.

I don't know if my pic turned out or not but its my 95 service manual stating head bolt torque is 3 stages ending at 65 ft lbs

[mustangtraitor]

is that a better gasket for spray? I error on the side of whats available locally which is the 9966pt felpro, the impala gasket isnt readily available and the victor reinz i have to order online and its not mls and I plan to spray the motor now n then in the future.the 1074 might be available locally, ill look
its up to you which hg you choose, lot of people run the impala gasket, i chose the felpro 1074 and some arp head bolts, i gasket matched the heads/intake mani while i was in there and gained 3 mph in the quarter mile

THANK YOU bro, very helpful I'm going to try to get a run at it from 8am to 9pm today:) so maybe I can get it done
Probably catch a lot of flack for saying this but, if you're in a pinch and need to get it back together, re-use the old head bolts. torque to yeild bolts didn't make it to our engines. And when you take the heads off be carefull with the gasket so you can find out where it blew. Look the block and head over in that area for steam erosion. If it looks good clean it up and put a straightedge across the chamber surface area and check for warpage with a feeler gauge. I believe anything less than .002" is acceptable. Use what you've got and get it back on the road. Head gasket change is a 10 hour job with a buddy. Don't sweat it.

I don't know if my pic turned out or not but its my 95 service manual stating head bolt torque is 3 stages ending at 65 ft lbs

[TCS_OFF]

When I did head gaskets on my 96 k1500, it had Torque to Yeild head bolts and after reading about them I said F*ck that noise and just went and bought some ARP's for a bit more cash and torqued them to the specs ARP called for. No problems since :metal:

[mustangtraitor]

I ordered a set of these mr. gasket which compress to .026 from a local place for $29 each its a few bucks more but no shipping and i like having a local place i can deal with if theres issues or it show up messed up at their store. they have it in one of their warehouses anyways so i can have them tomorrow by noon which is fine since i havent torn the car apart yet. heres the gasket http://www.jegs.com/i/Mr.+Gasket/720/5716G/10002/-1

its up to you which hg you choose, lot of people run the impala gasket, i chose the felpro 1074 and some arp head bolts, i gasket matched the heads/intake mani while i was in there and gained 3 mph in the quarter mile

[WarBird]

You don't have TTY bolts, some things you aren't thinking about.. You need to chase the threads in the block with a tap to clean them up, clean the bolts with a wire wheel, you must use thread sealant on the threads of the bolts going back into the block for the heads, you must use ultra grey rtv or equal for the front and rear intake to motor surfaces, be careful with those steam pipes and bolts! You will need new washers there, u need new plugs and oil, u need a machine shop to check the heads out , u will need exhaust manifold and Intake manifold gaskets , some of the best lt1 head porters say "don't gasket match" & "stay off the short side radius and floors" power is had in bringing the roof up cleaning up the surfaces and bowl work . If you do anything yourself just clean up the wall casting flash and tear drop the guides...And if you want gains in power from raising compression ,long tubes, port and polishing you will need a tune. It would also be a good time for a valve job and some better springs... Theses cars and projects don't turn out well with no reliable income.. I've sold two because of job losses btdt

[mustangtraitor]

yea i knew about most of what you mentioned.LSWHO does my tuning so im good there.... so i have 3 hours into it so far, pulled all the plugs and exhaust bolts theres water in my breather hose and my oil cap is creamy so i think i may have a cracked head because theres nothing in the oil so its in the valve cover.
how do i get the damn power steering pump and bracket off? I just stopped in to grab my laptop which has alldata since i am working on the car at a friends
You don't have TTY bolts, some things you aren't thinking about.. You need to chase the threads in the block with a tap to clean them up, clean the bolts with a wire wheel, you must use thread sealant on the threads of the bolts going back into the block for the heads, you must use ultra grey rtv or equal for the front and rear intake to motor surfaces, be careful with those steam pipes and bolts! You will need new washers there, u need new plugs and oil, u need a machine shop to check the heads out , u will need exhaust manifold and Intake manifold gaskets , some of the best lt1 head porters say "don't gasket match" & "stay off the short side radius and floors" power is had in bringing the roof up cleaning up the surfaces and bowl work . If you do anything yourself just clean up the wall casting flash and tear drop the guides...And if you want gains in power from raising compression ,long tubes, port and polishing you will need a tune. It would also be a good time for a valve job and some better springs... Theses cars and projects don't turn out well with no reliable income.. I've sold two because of job losses btdt

[WarBird]

U rotate the PS pump to where one of the holes in the face of the pulley lines up with a bolt behind the pulley, stick a socket in and loosen, there are two. Buy a repair manual from autozone,. And creamy caps are common, this doesn't mean it's cracked , cracked warped heads are usualy from severly overheated engines.. If it's hasnt been I would put money on it not being cracked.
Source info here too http://shbox.com/page/index.html

[mustangtraitor]

Thanks, yeah I've used shbox alot, and I have alldata which is a hell of alot better than any haynes or chiltons. For some reason it just didn't show how the pump was removed but showed the 2 bolts with no pulley. it also says you have to remove the a/c and tensioner. I just removed the bolt holding the bracket to the head and I'm geussing the rest of it is bolted to the block and figure the head will just come off. 5 hours so far.... I didnt make alot of progress and broke a collector bolt on the exhaust mani. I did get all the manifold bolts and intake and I need to look up the egr to see where the pipe goes before I pull the intake. These cars are like working on new audis or any german cars, no room! I need a garage and a lift. I work alot faster in a shop.
759976007601


U rotate the PS pump to where one of the holes in the face of the pulley lines up with a bolt behind the pulley, stick a socket in and loosen, there are two. Buy a repair manual from autozone,. And creamy caps are common, this doesn't mean it's cracked , cracked warped heads are usualy from severly overheated engines.. If it's hasnt been I would put money on it not being cracked.
Source info here too http://shbox.com/page/index.html

[mustangtraitor]

I tried to reply and post pics but it said admin something. Anyways I have alldata which is way better than any chiltons but can sometimes leave stuff out too. It says i have to remove the tensioner and a/c but it doesnt look like it to me as long as the bolt that goes to the head is removed I should be able to lift the head up and off. 5 hrs into it. The intake bolts all look to be out but the egr needs to be removed I would think.
I have used shbox ever since i first got this pos car. these things are worse to work on than any german car i have seen as technician. even on a lift these things suck. right motor wrong size engine bay:devil:

[mustangtraitor]

another 5 hours later lol. The drivers side was blown, epic failure.I found Felpro intake gaskets but looks like stock headgaskets.
pics
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0699.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0698.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0693.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0692.jpg

looks like gasket repair crap in the water jackets

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0689.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0690.jpg

[mustangtraitor]

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0694.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0682.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0678.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0677.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0675.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0676.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0681.jpg

[mustangtraitor]

googled that number on the headgasket and found that it compresses to .05 !!!
http://www.superchevyperformance.com/LT1_Small_Block_Head_Gasket_p/10168457.htm

(http://www.superchevyperformance.com/LT1_Small_Block_Head_Gasket_p/10168457.htm)http://www.summitracing.com/parts/NAL-10168457/

n (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/NAL-10168457/)ot sure if this is a stock gasket???
I didnt like how the mr gasket one looked so I didnt get it, it was very thin for sure though. I hate to say it but I just bought the felpro 9966PT and intake and exhaust gaskets. milling the head tomorrow, probably just take it to who ever can get it done right away because I have plans friday night for the car:)

[mustangtraitor]

Which home depot pipe sealant works for the head bolts? I looked and saw a lot but none said Teflon just ptfe or whatever. I looked in Oriellys and they had loctite thread seal but it didn't say it had Teflon in it and it was a very small tube. I have read about alot of stuff failing including arp stuff. i want it right the first time so what do I use????

[Go On 3]

i used arp sealant and it worked fine

[z28cam70]

ptfe is a teflon sealant and that would be fine but i personally use the loctite sealant or permatex also the head bolts are not torque to yield and can be reused per GM service manual

[mustangtraitor]

Got my heads milled today, went to GM to look at the sealant specified and it said pipe thread sealant with ptfe lol! so i went to lowes and bought basically the same thing for $5 not $25. You wouldnt believe how many threads and forums I searched to find people saying all kinds of crazy stuff. Alot were saying not to use teflon ptfe so I was confused till i saw what the dealer recommends lol. so the heads are on finally along with the pushrods just have to tighten the rockers are these torqued to 8.2ftlbs? My intake is a black greasy mess inside so I havent put it on yet, besides I need to make a egr block off plate. can I leave the egr on but block off the pipe or do both need to be blocked?
I'm considering letting the car sit with no exhaust manifolds installed till I can afford long tubes to save the hassle in the future, although that might be a while lol

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0725.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0726.jpg

WHATS THIS BLOCK NUMBER MEAN???

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0727.jpg


http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0733.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0734.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/xtattooboyx/IMAG0740.jpg

[mustangtraitor]

almost done just gotta get some collector bolts, change oil,hook up coolant hoses install coil and ignition module and put belt back on. I have never dealt with a car like this that has given me so much trouble. Its had a blown head gasket to some extent ever since i bought it last year so I cant wait to feel the differance. hell the car ran a 14.3 last month and i know it was blown then after realizing the symptoms and the condition of the gasket. I expect to dip into the high 13s now:)

[LSWHO]

Sounds good man, get that thing running and load that stock tune back up. All that crazy knock may have been from that too.

[mustangtraitor]

Sounds good man, get that thing running and load that stock tune back up. All that crazy knock may have been from that too.I am pretty sure it was. the thing smoked for quite a while today, enough to make me assume the worst but it cleared up. I couldnt get on it at all since it rained today after being dry for a while and just taking off slow i got loose a few times when theres no way I should have.&nbsp;<br>I dont get why it would take so long to clear all the crap out of the system? maybe i still have a leak. I drove 20 miles no issues then when i headed back home there was a small amount of steam, which could just be the weather, but it does worry me. I dont think I have the rockers quite where I want them which means pulling the alternator everytime right?<br>I wish I could have cleaned the intake better it was basically coated in black tar inside; a wire brush and carb cleaner didnt work too good because of how bad it was. damn pcv system.<br>well if all is well &nbsp;you might actually be able to tune this pile this time lol.&nbsp;<br>If i still have a issue its gotta be a bad head or block and in which case I will go with a&nbsp;different&nbsp;motor all together or car