My Extremely Blown Head Gasket!

[gtsfirefighter]

I know not everyone reads my build so I thought I'd post this here too.

Today I seperated the head and block and the gasket just fell apart. I do not know how this car ran...and ran so damn good. Only symptom was slowly building pressure in the coolant system causing a slow overflow of the reservior. This is the original (supposed to be anyway) gasket. All but one of the head bolts were very easy to break loose. Some offered no resistance at all.
133k miles on the engine.

No milky oil or swirls either.

 

[Dr Chill]

Thats 1 of the most beat to death headgaskets I've ever seen ...I dont see how it was even running ..lol

 

[roadboy]

lol i agree ^

 

[YotaRob]

I have one hanging on my wall with three cylinders that are blown that doesn't look as bad as that thing.

 

[gtsfirefighter]

The only bolts that made me have to exert any kind of effort to break were the bolts around the two middle cylinders.

I think I'm going to frame this one. It's a keeper.

 

[Poodles]

Yep, that's pretty damn bad LOL

But it supports my point that if the stock style headgasket starts to leak, a retorque isn't going to help as the sealing rings have alreayd shifted.

Looks like the oil passages stayed sealed, so you should be safe! I'd still flush the system like jdub said to make sure the oil is clean...

 

[tbcmorris]

Gotta start a wall of shame with that!

 

[j3pz]

Gotta start a wall of shame with that!

wall of shame? try trohpy wall.

so are all six cylinders blown? or is my monitor distorting them a little

 

[suprahero]

This is going to be one of a kind so he can't start a wall of shame. I doubt Ken ever has another bhg with this car...........:x:

 

[Poodles]

No, he'll just sell it and buy another BHG car...

 

[gtsfirefighter]

Looks like the oil passages stayed sealed, so you should be safe! I'd still flush the system like jdub said to make sure the oil is clean...

What's the best way to flush it?

wall of shame? try trohpy wall.

so are all six cylinders blown? or is my monitor distorting them a little

Yep, this is a trophy! Not all six were blown. The middle two cylinders stayed together.

This is going to be one of a kind so he can't start a wall of shame. I doubt Ken ever has another bhg with this car...........:x:

I sure as hell hope not.

No, he'll just sell it and buy another BHG car...

I actually laughed out loud at this! Having never met me, you sure know me.:biglaugh: The only way I'd sell this one for another bhg car is if I found a black 92 with shadow grey/ black leather interior. Other than that, I really don't want to have to do this again.

 

[suprahero]

Did you not meet Poodles at the Texas meet?

 

[gtsfirefighter]

Did you not meet Poodles at the Texas meet?

Nope.

 

[bhmsupra]

133k is still pretty damn good in the stocker. I dont know what the hell I am worried about blowing mine for. Maybe I read too much on this forum.

Good luck with the re-build Ken. I am sure your car will thank you later.
I assume the head and block will have to be re-surfaced???

You doing any other head work while you are in there?

 

[gtsfirefighter]

133k is still pretty damn good in the stocker. I dont know what the hell I am worried about blowing mine for. Maybe I read too much on this forum.

Good luck with the re-build Ken. I am sure your car will thank you later.
I assume the head and block will have to be re-surfaced???

You doing any other head work while you are in there?

Your car has low enough mileage that you could probably do a retorque to 72 lbs and be ok for another 150k miles. If you haven't done it already, start thinking about it. Mine wasn't an all of a sudden blow, it worked up to it over a period of time. The headbolts were very loose and as you can see, all the damage is on the exhaust side.

Just getting head resurfaced. No money or time for a rebuild. The bottom end is good. What money I did have went towards the OEM gasket set, turbo gaskets, seals, and all the damn hoses that are petrified. Hoses are not cheap people.

 

[Zumtizzle]

133k is still pretty damn good in the stocker. I dont know what the hell I am worried about blowing mine for. Maybe I read too much on this forum.

Good luck with the re-build Ken. I am sure your car will thank you later.
I assume the head and block will have to be re-surfaced???

You doing any other head work while you are in there?

Mine had 220k and the stock HG. (Retorque when the timing belt was done at like 150k miles.)

6000 and 8psi rpm daily too.

 

[Halsupramk3]

My no. 6 was egg shaped bad but the composite part was not that bad.

I bet you have to shave a lot off the head and probly a bit off the block for a mhg. My head had a lotmore cut than i would have liked.

New oil pump would be a very good idea for your rebuild too.

 

[da89soup]

Thats funny stuff Ken!! I would frame it and mount it on the wall in the garage.

 

[grimreaper]

What's the best way to flush it?

What you could do is get some kerosene and use it to flush the engine...turn it over for a 3-5 minutes with the EFI fuse pulled and the spark plugs removed. Drain the crap and refill with a 5W-20 SuperTech (WalMart) oil and a SuperTech filter. Do the same thing...turn it over for a 3-5 minutes with the EFI fuse pulled and the spark plugs removed. (Make sure you have a well charged battery for all this)

Drain again and change to a SuperTech 5W-30...run this oil a 100 miles or so.

Change the oil again with something a higher quality and a Wix filter. You probably want to use something in the 40W multigrade class...Pennzoil Platinum 5W-40 Euro would be a good choice.
__________________

 

[jdub]

^^^ The only thing I'll add is that post was for a guy that had a very high probability of bearing damage...hence the 5W-40 Euro oil recommendation. In this case where the bearings are likely OK, I would stick with a 0W or 5W-30 oil for the final fill. As usual, German Castrol would be my choice.