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Old 10-26-2013, 01:34 PM   #1
SDJason
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Default Ugh - blown headgasket

Long story short - about a week ago, took the car out for a spin and noticed that the motometer got way up into the red after maybe three miles - pulled into a local grocery store and checked the radiator - definitely low, so bought a gallon of distilled water and filled it back up, went about my business and drove home.

This week - thinking I should check things BEFORE taking a ride, noticed that the radiator was little lower than normal, but not terribly so, but the oil level was higher than I'd ever seen it before - at least an inch or more above the "F".

uh-oh - remembering that oil floats on water, I thought I should remove the oil drain plug and see what comes out - yup, a bunch of water

decided to drain the radiator too - the last little bit had a few drops of oil in it as well.

I assume this means the head gasket needs to be replaced? Not too happy about that - there's barely over 1000 miles on this engine since it's been rebuilt...ah well, I suppose there's worse things in life, but I was hoping to get in a few more drives before the weather turns cold...also trying to decide if I should try to do this myself, or let someone with more experience tackle the job...
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Old 10-26-2013, 02:07 PM   #2
H. L. Chauvin
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

Hi Sd,

Some heads & blocks are not flat thus causing head gaskets to fail.

Good idea to check flatness of head & block with a very precise steel straight edge prior to installing a new head gasket.
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Old 10-26-2013, 02:22 PM   #3
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

Have you tried to re-torque the head yet?
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Old 10-26-2013, 03:34 PM   #4
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

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Have you tried to re-torque the head yet?
Oh - no, haven't tried that yet.
I guess I'll try that first - cheaper & easier than replacing the gasket...
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Old 10-26-2013, 03:38 PM   #5
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

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Oh - no, haven't tried that yet.
I guess I'll try that first - cheaper & easier than replacing the gasket...
good idea and you should have been re torquing them as you broke in your motor
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Old 10-26-2013, 04:57 PM   #6
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good idea and you should have been re torquing them as you broke in your motor
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Originally Posted by 1930 coupe View Post
The torque on head nuts on a new gasket needs to be checked before or after every outing until the nuts do not move any more. Check them hot and cold. Failure to do this can result in a blown head gasket.
ughh - that's what I get for being a newbie - hopefully the thing's salvageable...
Just re-torqued and filled the radiator - I'll check it in a bit and see if the water level has changed, and if there's any in the oil pan
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Old 10-26-2013, 06:09 PM   #7
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

the dipper tray and other crevices will retain some of the contaminated oil so after running it change the oil again. then run it some more and change again and maybe one more time until your sure its out. oil is cheaper than an engine
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Old 10-26-2013, 07:02 PM   #8
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

You might get lucky and re-torque is all that is needed.

On the off chance that you didn't get lucky, do as stated above (after installing new head gasket) and re-torque after every drive until they don't move any more.

Out of curiosity, when you performed the re-torque this time, how much did each one move? (torque wise)
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Old 10-26-2013, 07:20 PM   #9
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

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the dipper tray and other crevices will retain some of the contaminated oil so after running it change the oil again. then run it some more and change again and maybe one more time until your sure its out. oil is cheaper than an engine
Thanks for the tip!
Hopefully, I'll just be out some distilled water & oil.


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You might get lucky and re-torque is all that is needed.

On the off chance that you didn't get lucky, do as stated above (after installing new head gasket) and re-torque after every drive until they don't move any more.

Out of curiosity, when you performed the re-torque this time, how much did each one move? (torque wise)
Honestly couldn't say - I backed off each nut before re-tightening, so have no idea how close they were to 55 lbs beforehand.

Been a few hours, and the water level in the radiator hasn't budged - I hope that's a good sign, but I think I'll let it sit overnight before deciding to add oil and firing her up...
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Old 10-26-2013, 07:36 PM   #10
Chuck Sea/Tac
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

you most likely will have to run the engine(drive) to get it to leak. I hope you don't have auntie freeze in the cooling system, because that can destroy babbit!
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Old 10-26-2013, 07:39 PM   #11
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you most likely will have to run the engine(drive) to get it to leak. I hope you don't have auntie freeze in the cooling system, because that can destroy babbit!

Nope - just water. I have a feeling I'll be taking a (short) drive tomorrow and breaking out the torque wrench again shortly afterwards...
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Old 10-26-2013, 10:16 PM   #12
George Miller
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

Did they re torque the head gaskets when the cars were new from the factory?
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Old 10-26-2013, 10:30 PM   #13
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

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Did they re torque the head gaskets when the cars were new from the factory?
Interesting question - my guess is yes (or no?) after they did the run in to a given resistance value when bucked by an electric motor on a test stand.

No is is also possible since all the parts were new and to a given tolerance so that the initial torque was high enough to provide an engineered safety margin or seat of the pants guess so that re-torquing was not necessary.

I recall reading that GM put a stop-leak (a Bars-leak plant derived type substance) in every new engine on the assembly line just in case the engineered safety margins were inadequate - tacit admission that they in fact were - inadequate.
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Old 10-26-2013, 11:52 PM   #14
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

SDJ: Make sure you torque them in the proper sequence.
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Old 10-27-2013, 12:12 AM   #15
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

SDJason,

Thankfully you didn't have Anti-Freeze in your radiator when the Head Gasket decided to let go, I had it happen with a 'B engine several years and it ate up the rod bearing babbitt and I had to replace them.

How long did you run it with water in the oil? And what does the oil look like?

Sometimes, especially if anti-freeze is involved, the valve chamber will fill with a frothy milky sludge, mine looked like warm churned butter.

I wound up having to do a lot of cleaning in order to get it all removed, even running some thin motor oil/diesel combination for a short time to flush the system out and changing the oil several times to assure that everything was free and clear.

Darryl in Fairbanks
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Old 10-27-2013, 07:03 AM   #16
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

Jason, did you do a compression check before re-tightening the nuts? This could have told you if the gasket was leaking or blown or neither. As my friend Chris in NC can tell you, a leaky head gasket is not always a leaky head gasket. He had a motor that had a leak that the head gasket was changed 3 or 4 times but still got water in the oil. After some conversation with me, I suggested he use a mirror and inspect the roof of the valve chamber for cracks. Well, it was cracked where you would have never seen it with out looking specifically in that area for cracks. Just looking, you would not have noticed it but, it was there.

Water in the oil will always make a light brown milkshake, antifreeze or not if the engine is run with water in the oil.
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Old 10-27-2013, 07:08 AM   #17
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

Out of curiosity, what kind of head gasket did your engine builder use?
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Old 10-27-2013, 11:24 AM   #18
SDJason
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

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SDJason,
How long did you run it with water in the oil? And what does the oil look like?

Sometimes, especially if anti-freeze is involved, the valve chamber will fill with a frothy milky sludge, mine looked like warm churned butter
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Jason, did you do a compression check before re-tightening the nuts? This could have told you if the gasket was leaking or blown or neither...Water in the oil will always make a light brown milkshake, antifreeze or not if the engine is run with water in the oil.
Drove maybe 8-10 miles on that trip. When drained, the water & oil were definitely completely separated - after undoing the drain plug, the water came gushing out first (with the rust inhibitor, it looks like skim milk), followed by the oil. Of course, it's been sitting for a week, so maybe it had time to separate? I hope that's a good sign, though, that they weren't all mixed together.

Time to get a compression gauge - didn't have one before...


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SDJ: Make sure you torque them in the proper sequence.
Followed Les Andrews' instructions & order


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Out of curiosity, what kind of head gasket did your engine builder use?
No idea offhand - the previous owner had it rebuilt (by Bill Hansen - the San Diego folks all know who he is)
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Old 10-27-2013, 11:40 AM   #19
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Default Re: Ugh - blown headgasket

A leak down tester would tell you more than a compression test.
I would just monitor the situation after the retorque and not worry to much about over analyzing it. Run it and keep retorquing periodically i think your going to be ok.
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