What should I do?

[FazdaBoy4ever]

also out of curiosity, simply because of the large psi difference in cyl 2 dribble a little oil into the cylinders for a wet compression test and see what they do, it would be nice to see the 1,3,4 jump up closer to cyl2 then that would even the playing field due to piston rings.

EDIT: yeah time to pull the head...

[Ace]

like i said earlier, I don't even care about the rings ATM. I'd just like to keep coolant in the cooling system and oil in the crankcase. in other words a driveable car.. its run before so I know they aren't stopping it..

[SgtRauksauff]

putting oil in the cylinders will wet down the walls of the cylinders, helping the rings to seal properly. This isn't about the rings, it's about making sure that the lower-compression cylinder walls aren't just washed down, and not letting the rings seal, therefore not letting you read the proper compression. I usually use about 3-4 squirts from an oil-can-squirter, maybe about 1-2 tbsp.


Depending on your compression tester, you might be able to make it a leakdown tester with another 10 bucks worth of parts. My compression tester had a disconnect from the hose to the guage, that happened to be the same type of disconnect that goes on my air compressor. so, I just got a couple of fittings, a3-way air manifold, and a psi gauge, and made it work.

I turn the compressor regulator to 100psi, so there is 100psi being introduced to the system. then the compression tester hose goes into the head, and the air manifold w/gauge goes into that hose on one end, and the feed hose on the other. The gauge in the air manifold will read the pressure that you've got going into the cylinder. Since the feed line is at 100psi, it's an easy conversion to percentage being lost. You can hear where the air is coming out.. intake manifold/TB = intake valves. exhaust manifold/tailpipe = exhaust valves. PCV valve = rings. radiator cap = HG. Dipstick = rings. Adjacent cylinder to the one being tested = HG.


As far as re-using or not re-using the Head bolts go: I re-used the bolts on my GTX motor, with no problems. Brand new OEM EGT HG (available the fastest). the MOST critical part is to make sure that you torque them in the correct order, to the correct torque. These are torque-to-angle if I remember correctly. like to 135lb-ft, then 1/4 turn (as an example, I don't remember the actual number.) I'd also recommend doing the sequence at 1/2 the rated spec, then to 3/4 rated spec, then the final spec, then the angle turn.

Even with ARP studs, which I used on my 4AGE, the instructions are to torque them in the series and steps, THREE TIMES, to make sure that they're all stretched equally and will maintain proper pressure.

Try to keep things as clean as you can when taking the head off, so you can examine it, and the head, and the block, for evidence of WHERE the leak is, and HOW it's leaking. On the head, the burn ring will give you a pretty good idea.

What did you use to seal the gasket? Did you have the block and head Spotlesssly Clean? The ONLY aid to seal, IMO, would be some copper spray, which is kind of expensive. I've never used it myself, and have never had any problems.

good luck...

**EDIT** Actually, a leakdown test might be very handy.. could be not even the HG at all, but maybe a bolt going through a water jacket/oil gallery too deep, or one that's not going in far enough.. I can't think of any specifics right now, but hydrocodone will sort of mess up a guy's concentration...

--sarge

[FazdaBoy4ever]

like i said earlier, I don't even care about the rings ATM. I'd just like to keep coolant in the cooling system and oil in the crankcase. in other words a driveable car.. its run before so I know they aren't stopping it..

I didnt suggest a wet compression test to diagnose bad rings, let me clarify... I used it to make the compression readings you gave slightly more useful. 150-180 psi is a big difference, so by doing a wet compression test you can eliminate the rings from your compression problem meaning the leaking compression is comming from @ or around the combustion chamber.

reguardless, that coolant in the water like that you have something wrong in a big way to go running 10 minutes and make it look like that.

did you replace the oil cooler??? because if you reused a junkyard one that may have had nothing more than water sitting in it the last 10 years that may be where your oil coolant transfer is comming from.

[Ace]

ah. yeah I wasn't thinking. and I didn't mess with the cooler but that wouldnt cause that much exhaust smoke would it?

[FazdaBoy4ever]

you may have more than one concern...

I was thinking about it and probably the only way to verify the integrity (easily) of the oil cooler would be to disconnect the hoses, plug them and run the car with fresh oil in it. if coolant is being allowed into the crankcase you should also be getting oil in the coolant, I am not sure of the running oil pressure on these motors but I am sure it far exceeds the 13psi the cooling system runs at. reguardless, if you do that you should have oil at least dribbling out of the coolant inlet or outlet of the cooler.

and no it wouldnt cause the smoke, but its not uncommon for junkyard motors to smoke for awhile after startup, it takes awhile to get the rings re-sealing. you just need one set of rings letting a little oil past and viola, you have smoke. Yes it should be blue smoke in that case but I havent personally experienced a car burning oil that milky to deturmine if there is more white or blue.

furthermore its not uncommon for any motor to smoke for upwards of 30 minutes after a headgasket... a chevy board I irregularly visit (for my parents stupid van) just had a guy frusterated that he replaced the head gasket and it was smoking... but it eventually cleaned up.

the smoking stopped after about half hour of running.

-guy having the problem

you dont want to run with that much water in the oil for aforementioned reasons, but if you can stop the transfer just let it run.

[Ace]

Yeah, I figured Its just residue it'll burn off. well it didnt and I pulled the VC and confirmed that. and before I changed the HG i drove it about 20 miles and it wasn't smoking at all..
so your saying I should disconnect the oil cooler and then run the car? So this weekend I think Ill drain the oil, pour a couple quarts of cheap-o through to get the residue out as best i can, re-torque the head to 65lbs(maybe 70?) bypass the oil cooler, then put fresh oil in and see what happens?

[redheddude222]

Ace, did you pull the oil pan before putting the motor in the car? There may have been water trapped in the oil pan, which would be what's causing your milky oil.

[Ace]

yep, pulled it and replaced the gasket.

[FazdaBoy4ever]

if your oil cooler is where the contamination is coming from then you should not have to drive it... drain the oil, add new oil (would suggest a filter too just to absolutely minimize previous contamination, disconnect the cooler lines and plug them and start the car, if your cooler is failed you should have oil coming out of the inlet/outlet/both for the coolant on the cooler, start it up and run it till either A: you see oil come out, B: you mysteriously have milky oil again, C: you put a couple miles on it and inspect for oil leaks or milky oil.

Realistically if you have compressed air you can regulate and put like 20 psi into the inlet and plug the outlet if its not holding pressure its failed.

you may have a HG problem, I dont like how serious the problem is though... even with a ****ty gasket and clean surfaces with a proper torque you shouldnt have coolant dumping into the oil like that, maybe a dribble from a dirty surface, but that seems quite excessive to me.

Also good luck just going tighter on the head bolts, it takes more torque to start a bolt's motion than it does to continue its motion, so your 65-70lbs your thinking of going to may not even let the tq wrench start the turning process before it clicks on you (thats why torquing is done with one smooth constant pull, not that you dont know that, Im just saying).

when you get to draining your oil, I would suggest NOT running the car before, and if at all possible dont start it for a couple days prior, that looks like coolant-ed oil BUT the oil/coolant mixture should separate and you should see a stream of water/coolant come out before the oil.

[Ace]

Ok, Ill see what I can do. maybe ill try tomorrow since I don't have school and matt's payment came in.