We just finished my swap this weekend and had started the car 4 times and let it run at most 5 minutes each time. The 5th time it was started, it started to smoke pretty bad under the hood and the exhaust became pure white, just a big ass smoke cloud. Pulled the plugs and every cylinder was filled with coolant and a couple minutes later there was oil in every cylinder. We used ARP head studs and torqued them to the specs provided so we don’t think that was the culprit. We pulled the head and there’s no evidence of a cracked block/cylinder. Does anybody have any ideas?
OMG jason… i don’t know the answer, but that sucks bro.
did anything get damaged?
Did you run an OEM Honda gasket with one layer removed? What did the gasket look like when you pulled the head off? Sorry to hear that Jason.
sorry bout your luck man, that sucks real bad
but,
i just got my b20 running really well, but there is some white smoke coming up from the engine bay… now my exhaust manifold is only together with 2 bolts and one isnt even that tight (im fixing it soon, one of the bolts snapped), and i was leaking coolant ALL over the engine. now what color does coolant burn?? and im sure some of it is coming from the leaky exhaust manifold. you just scared me after you said that. it was still running real smooth, if the headgasket went it would start to run rough right???
Originally posted by Ive
Did you run an OEM Honda gasket with one layer removed? What did the gasket look like when you pulled the head off? Sorry to hear that Jason.
Stock Honda 3-layer headgasket. The gasket was wet w/ coolant on both sides when the head came off, wasn’t dry like it should have been.
Originally posted by chipper
now what color does coolant burn?? you just scared me after you said that. it was still running real smooth, if the headgasket went it would start to run rough right???
Coolant burns white. Mine was running extremely rough, about the equivalent of what running on 3 cylinders would be like. Just before shutting it off it started to make a horrid rod-knocking sound as well, but a little louder than any I’ve heard before. Just one nightmare after another.:bored:
wow man, ive been there… sorry to hear it…
but it looks like mine was just burning off what was leftover when it was leaking
Originally posted by LeftCorner
Mine was running extremely rough, about the equivalent of what running on 3 cylinders would be like. Just before shutting it off it started to make a horrid rod-knocking sound as well, but a little louder than any I’ve heard before. Just one nightmare after another.:bored:
I had an 85 Nissan truck that did the same thing (except for the smoke) all of a sudden. one minute it was fine and then it was running on 2 cyls and making a brutal knocking sound. I took it to one shop and they said it was rod knock, needs a new engine. I then took it a different mechanic and found out a piece of head gasket had blown out between two cylinders and there was no compression on those two because of it and was causing the knocking and the misfiring. I don’t know if that helps?
I just finished rebuilding my motor and the guys at the machine shop said to use a composite gasket rather than the Honda metal gasket just in case there were any small nicks or scraps on the block or head where there could be a leak. The composite gasket will mold to both surfaces and give a good seal. I was also told the same thing by a few guys who rebuild motors at Pann Auto in San Diego.
I’ve seen this happen before. Did you make sure to put the head gasket right side up? If it’s upside down it won’t seal jack diddly squat. There is an etched stecil looking “UP” word through the top layer of the head gasket. Other than that, did you make sure to torque the head to the ARP Stud specs (different than stock) and did you use the lubricant they give you? Both very important.
that sucks bud, sorry to here that only thing i could think would be upside down gasket. happened to me once on my old 200sx.
Originally posted by G2guru
Did you make sure to put the head gasket right side up? There is an etched stecil looking “UP” word through the top layer of the head gasket. Other than that, did you make sure to torque the head to the ARP Stud specs (different than stock) and did you use the lubricant they give you? Both very important.
Yup, headgasket was right side up, we even laughed at that when we put it on. We used the ARP ass’y lubricant and torqued them to the specs provided. We’re guessing that the ARP studs are too long and even though they were torqued they didn’t put enough press. on the head. That guess is mostly based on recent info from MR2 guys using the ARP studs and having trouble with blown gaskets after about 50 miles. We’re gonna try a new gasket and Honda head bolts tomorrow and see if anything changes. Thanks guys.