I am not sure if this is a head gasket problem so hopefully some one can help me out. First off i go through oil more than i should possibly a quart every 1000 miles. I do have 145,000 miles on it. And if i go out and start my car and come back after 20 minutes later there is more than usual smoke coming out of the exhaust that has kind of a burning smell to it. How would i be able to tell if it is NOT the piston rings and how big of a job is it. Also what would be some good engine mods i should do while i have the head off but not too expensive. Thanks
#69840, "RE: Head gasket???" In response to Reply # 0 Mar-03-04 03:16 AM by DR1665
I felt generous this morning...
Originally posted by willy First off i go through oil more than i should possibly a quart every 1000 miles.
Good sign of headgasket trouble. Either way it's a nasty leak somewhere. Try the back of the block on the driver's side. That's where they tend to blow. Also check the coolant in your overflow bottle. If the gasket goes big time (like mine did) you will get really greasy coolant in there from the oil mixing with it.
Originally posted by willy I do have 145,000 miles on it.
Mine was almost completely shot at 142k.
Originally posted by willy And if i go out and start my car and come back after 20 minutes later there is more than usual smoke coming out of the exhaust that has kind of a burning smell to it.
Usually there should be no smoke coming out the tailpipe man. What color is it? White = water/coolant (sign of HG going), Blue = oil (another sign), Black = fuel (running too rich). If it will mostly smoke after it's sat for a while, it could be valve related. Perhaps when the engine is off, the valves don't seal perfectly and oil that had been circulating while running now seeps past the valves into the combustion chamber, making for smoking that goes away after a bit of running.
Originally posted by willy How would i be able to tell if it is NOT the piston rings and how big of a job is it.
You're going to want to do a compression test. I'll let you prove your worth by using the search (try the advanced one and make it search perf/engine) to find out how to do the wet and dry versions of this test. This will tell you if your rings are bad or if the problem is head related.
Originally posted by willy Also what would be some good engine mods i should do while i have the head off but not too expensive. Thanks
You might consider basic tune up mods. Timing belt #2 should have been changed about 25k ago based on your mileage (as in your second timing belt). If you dont know when it was changed last or it has never been changed, you must do this or you will be parting her out later. If you take the head off to do the HG change, you would want to look into getting it cleaned up. You could get a 3 angle valve job done for a decent price I'm sure. If you're curious about porting, you could use the search on that too. Been discussed a million times here. The one mod that people say makes the biggest difference (besides turbo) is the UDP. Brand new, the AFX is about $140 from Howell Automotive. You can sometimes pick them up used for much less, but it really adds some zip to the drive.
Originally posted by willy Thanks
You're welcome. You mention a lot of things in this post that could be found by using the search. Not to just be an ass and say "use teh search no0b" as we usually do, but I really suggest playing around with it a bit to see how well it works. The advanced search (link in my sig above the picture) can help you narrow things down by author, forum, etc. It is very useful when you need an answer now.
Welcome to teh board and we'll see what we can do to get you tuned up and ready to go.
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