Head gasket????

Cammaxon · 03-04-2009

This is off of my DBP invoice

"Car has a lot of oil smoke under boost/decel.
Car is overly prone to knock. Could be from old gas, too high of
compression, too much oil getting into combustion chamber, turbo
design, or something else. Turbo wants to boost creep. Might be
pushing coolant during boost from head lifting or partially
blownheadgasket. We swapped on a different radiator cap and
topped off coolant system."

Whats it take to replace the head gasket?

If DB reads this? Is the car in good daily driving condition or should i look into replacing the head gasket? turbo?

**scheides** · 03-04-2009

If its pushing coolant, its probably the headgasket. What mods do you have and what maintenance has been done to ensure this car is in tip top shape?

I'd advise doing the HG; it's kinda expensive but if you don't address it, you'll blow the whole motor.

TkrPerformance · 03-04-2009

it is the car jarried just picked up for him in duluth that has a lot done to it and link was not even tuned

**4seasons69** · 03-04-2009

If it's pushing coolant I would say it is not in good daily driving condition. I would definately take care of that head gasket issue before driving it too much. actually doing the hg is quite a bit of work but overall it's not too bad

Swifty1638 · 03-04-2009

doing a HG sin't that expensive. just the cost of a headgasket and an intake mani/exhaust mani gasket, and machining the head if you want it decked. timing belt can be reused (depending on how old it is/condition)

sounds like you have more issues then just a headgasket though.

-A. Swift

Cammaxon · 03-04-2009

yeah its the car jerrid just picked up for me... and this may be a stupid question...

Block bored 0.020" over
New Eagle rods
New JE 0.020" pistons/rings

i cant use an oem head gasket can i ? ? ? ? what do i need to get? I have a friend that is a mechanic and will do the work for me (he fixes all of our hmmwvs in Iraq ) but what do i need to buy for gaskets? and from where?

**Shane@DBPerformance** · 03-04-2009

I would try driving it some first and see if coolant is disappearing. After we swapped the radiator cap and filled the coolant system, I did a couple pulls with the car fully warmed up and someone else watching the coolant overflow and on those runs they didn't see anything come out. The car didn't seem to be suffering from any overheating issues either.

Pushing coolant under boost is a fairly common problem on DSMs caused by non flat head/deck surfaces, bad install, knock, too much power/head lifting. They can drive normally and not lose any coolant or act like a blown HG, until you boost them and the coolant gets pushed to the overflow, but not sucked back in.

I wasn't sure on your car yet though, it wasn't just spraying out like crazy under boost, like a lot of cars that I have on the dyno.

It does smoke burnt oil way too much though. Could just be that old Mutt turbo. Hopefully not rings. The dipstick on your car was not secured in any special way and it didn't blow out during any pulls, so that is a good sign toward it hopefully not being rings causing the smoke.

**Shane@DBPerformance** · 03-04-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cammaxon

Block bored 0.020" over
New Eagle rods
New JE 0.020" pistons/rings

I saw 1G big rods mentioned on one of the invoices, was it rebuilt twice? I didn't see what compression the pistons were on the invoices, just 0.020" over.

**scheides** · 03-04-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cammaxon

yeah its the car jerrid just picked up for me... and this may be a stupid question...

Block bored 0.020" over
New Eagle rods
New JE 0.020" pistons/rings

i cant use an oem head gasket can i ? ? ? ? what do i need to get? I have a friend that is a mechanic and will do the work for me (he fixes all of our hmmwvs in Iraq ) but what do i need to buy for gaskets? and from where?

IMHO don't screw around, just have DB do all the work (if you're not doing it yourself) and don't skimp on any details. Use the parts they recommend, and get it done right. Not that your buddy doesn't know what he's doing, but perhaps having DB do the work will uncover and solve any other mysteries that are hiding in there.

Also, if there's an old mutt turbo on there, chances are its shot. They were prone to dying an early death, and those haven't been produced in a *long* time!

Cammaxon · 03-04-2009

I'm not really sure..

wish i was home. 88 days left in Iraq. but i really thought last night was my last ....

read the google news mosul iraq it was fucking crazy. i guess ill start saving up for a turbo, mark says he has one for me.. and i guess well see on the hg too.

**scheides** · 03-04-2009

Just get an evo3 16g for $500 and have shane tune it on E85.

Cammaxon · 03-04-2009

I'm not really looking for high horse. I'm completely happy where its at i just want it to be reliable. i spent a lot of money buying random parts, so im going to put that stuff on when i get home...(non performance parts) drive the car how it is and if it needs a new hg or turbo ill go from there.

niterydr · 03-04-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swifty1638

doing a HG sin't that expensive. just the cost of a headgasket and an intake mani/exhaust mani gasket, and machining the head if you want it decked. timing belt can be reused (depending on how old it is/condition)

sounds like you have more issues then just a headgasket though.

-A. Swift

If you want it to seal you probably need to atleast have the head shaved. Most of the time they are warped just a little bit. Atleast check for flatness when it is off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cammaxon

I'm not really looking for high horse. I'm completely happy where its at i just want it to be reliable. i spent a lot of money buying random parts, so im going to put that stuff on when i get home...(non performance parts) drive the car how it is and if it needs a new hg or turbo ill go from there.

Pending what stage mutt turbo you have an evo16g would be a very comparable choice. It will provide good power and great driveability.

**4seasons69** · 03-04-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cammaxon

I'm not really looking for high horse. I'm completely happy where its at i just want it to be reliable.

dude it's a dsm it will never be reliable

1QUICK4 · 03-04-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4seasons69

dude it's a dsm it will never be reliable

Speak for yourself

Cammaxon · 03-04-2009

i like this 1quick4 guys thinking

CarRacer · 03-04-2009

DSM's tend to not be reliable when you half ass the repairs and parts. I plan on DDing my car without any issues.

Good luck on the car and I recommend Mitsu OEM for headgaskets, be it composite or mls. As previously mentioned, do it right the first time and you'll be much happier.

**4seasons69** · 03-04-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1QUICK4

Speak for yourself

I wasn't really refering to my car. I bought it as a project that needed a lot of work and still needs more that's why it's called a project.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarRacer

DSM's tend to not be reliable when you half ass the repairs and parts. I plan on DDing my car without any issues.

Good luck on the car and I recommend Mitsu OEM for headgaskets, be it composite or mls. As previously mentioned, do it right the first time and you'll be much happier.

dsm's have a very good reputation of being unreliable and for a reason. any car is unreliable when you half ass repairs. I definately don't half ass my repairs. I'm just saying I haven't met anyone who hasn't had issues with their dsm. they all do sooner or later as with every car

iceminion · 03-05-2009

I purchased a 97 civic because I didnt feel comfortable DDing my DSM.

The honda broke, I drive my DSM every day.

DSM's are extremely reliable, any information to the contrary is said by in-experinced mechanics or people who do cannot understand that high performance vehicles need parts replaced every decade or so. (transmissions, turbos, seals)

as for the engine, the 4g63 is extremely high quality, I fear the day that I am no longer working on such a relaible platform.

**goodhart** · 03-05-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarRacer

I plan on DDing my car without any issues.

Don't we all!!

I tried to DD mine, but anything with decent HP thats going to be getting stomped on constantly is going to have issues at some point in time. I think it all depends on how hard you are on your car.