EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

Head gasket was replaced, after 55 miles of driving, oil is found near the stamped side of the block. Coolant is low, white smoke out of the tail pipe, oil level is slightly low, basically everything pointing to a head gasket being the issue.

Its possible the head bolts were not torqued completely, or not in sequence. Can you just re-torque them down or is it necessary to remove the head and clean the surfaces due to the oil and coolant mixing?

crispy93

youre going to need to remove the head and most likely clean it up a bit if its leaking oil and what not

Dartanian

If the bolts weren't torqued correctly and in the proper sequence, it could have warped the head causing the leaks you are describing. There is also the possibility that the mating surfaces weren't flat when the gasket was replaced. Was the deck and head surface straight-edged to make sure they were perfectly flat?

Was it an OEM gasket? Did you reuse the head bolts?

Chances are, everything will need to be pulled apart again and the surfaces resurfaced.

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dartanian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the bolts weren't torqued correctly and in the proper sequence, it could have warped the head causing the leaks you are describing. There is also the possibility that the mating surfaces weren't flat when the gasket was replaced. Was the deck and head surface straight-edged to make sure they were perfectly flat?

Was it an OEM gasket? Did you reuse the head bolts?

Chances are, everything will need to be pulled apart again and the surfaces resurfaced.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The leak is only at the very corner closest to the block stamping. The mating surfaces were straight edged, the head was resurfaced, the block was just cleaned.

An OEM head gasket was used, head bolts were reused for the very first time. I know head bolts should not be reused, but I took the advice of people around me who said I didn't need to spend 130 bucks on a set of head bolts.

I cant see why I would need to resurface the head again, considering it has, at most, 55 miles clocked on since being bolted down. The car never overheated, never leaked at idle, and sounded healthy. Is it really that possible that the head warped in that period of time?

Dartanian

I was just throwing all that out there since it wasn't mentioned in your first post and is probably critical information in diagnosing the problem. Now we can rule that out and move on.

Oil leaking from the gasket near the block stamp is very common. My head was recently resurfaced to try and fix this problem but it didn't help. So far it hasn't caused any problems, I have stopped worrying about it.

How were the head bolts torqued? Are you sure it is leaking coolant and not oil?

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

Well, its leaking oil but upon removing the valve cover, I could faintly smell the odor of coolant. I assume that the coolant is mixing with the oil due to that area of the head not being sealed completely. My overflow bottle was nearly empty and the radiator was not filled to capacity. I blew a lot of white smoke when I pushed the car a little hard. Upon checking my oil dipstick, the amount of oil significantly dropped. I lost about 1/4 of a quart of oil in this 55 mile period.

So there's no way I can just re-torque the bolts and get away without having to seperate the head and what not?

00gs-r

I have the same oil leak problem and have lost a significant amount of oil. I am going to take it back to the shop and have them retourqed. I will let you know if it helps the problem.

the only difference in my problem is a significant amount of white smoke right at start-up.

Dartanian

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EnjoyTheRideDC2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So there's no way I can just re-torque the bolts and get away without having to seperate the head and what not? </TD></TR></TABLE>

You could try, but it won't do anything.

It is hard to tell you exactly what it is since you have covered everything. If worse comes to worse, you will have to pull the head off and replace the gasket again. There is a possibility that it didn't seal correctly for some reason.

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dartanian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You could try, but it won't do anything.

It is hard to tell you exactly what it is since you have covered everything. If worse comes to worse, you will have to pull the head off and replace the gasket again. There is a possibility that it didn't seal correctly for some reason.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just curious - Why will re-torquing the bolts down not possibly solve my leak? Is it because of the contamination in between the mating surfaces?

Dartanian

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EnjoyTheRideDC2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Just curious - Why will re-torquing the bolts down not possibly solve my leak? Is it because of the contamination in between the mating surfaces? </TD></TR></TABLE>

1) The seal has already been created. Increasing the torque isn't going to improve the seal.
2) Head bolts will not lose their torque. They are designed and torqued to ensure that their torque numbers don't vary.

The next step I would recommend is to perform a compression test.

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dartanian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

1) The seal has already been created. Increasing the torque isn't going to improve the seal.
2) Head bolts will not lose their torque. They are designed and torqued to ensure that their torque numbers don't vary.

The next step I would recommend is to perform a compression test.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Compression test performed already. Did that once I noticed the leak, which further led me to believe the headgasket is not seated completely. The numbers are not consistent: 200-205-215-220 (Starting at cylinder 4)

The reason I ask about hitting the bolts with a torque wrench is because one of them may not be completely torqued down or loosened somehow. The leak was not apparent until the end of the third time starting the engine.

Dartanian

The numbers are pretty close. I wouldn't be concerned with numbers like that.

I am pretty stumped at this point. Everything points to the head gasket but why it would be doing this after 50 miles on a new gasket is beyond me.

To be honest, I would bite the bullet and pull the head again. Get yourself a set of head studs (I got my GE ones off ebay for $110 shipped) and a can of copper gasket spray. Coat the gasket with the copper spray so you can reuse it and possible create a better seal and then torque the head studs down exactly as the manufacturer instructs.

Hopefully somebody can come in and shed some light on the situation.

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

Dartanian , Thanks for your help so far. Honestly, I'm beginning to think I just needed new head studs, my torque wrench may have been miscalibrated from someone dropping it, or that I didn't do the second re-torquing after I started up the motor. The gasket had been sprayed with copper spray prior to installation as insurance but I guess that didn't get me too far.

Anyone else with any thoughts? All is appreciated, thanks!

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

EnjoyTheRideDC2

iTrader: (1)

Ok, looks like I found my problem. The head bolt where the oil leak had been discovered was not torqued down all the way. I managed to get it down torqued to spec. Now my question is, can I get away with just tightening down the bolt and doing a few coolant and oil flushes? Or do I really need to pull the head and clean the gasket and mating surfaces&gt;

slowferio714

wondering the same thing, how is your car running now with torqued down bolts? did you ever take off the head?