d1ck

First the motor:
B18A bored and sleeved to 84mm
11:1 CR forged pistons
Forged Rods
IM/H/E
B16A head
Stock Dizzy w/ External MSD Blaster Coil
Ostrich w/ ectune

I bought the car from the guys who built it about Jan 2012. The car has always used a bit of coolant, and seemed to be mainly on overrun. (High RPM decel w/ throttle plate closed) After talking to the builder he said that he has changed the head gasket multiple times and can't seem to fix the problem. He claims both the head and block were looked at by a local shop and no problems could be found. I believe the head may have been shaved at least once.

So yesterday I did a comp / leakdown test and the numbers were as follows:

Dry Comp
1 - 210
2 - 215
3 - 230
4 - 235

Wet Comp (Dropped a small amount of oil in)
1 - 220
2 - 225
3 - 240
4 - 245

Leakdown
1 - 22%
2 - 20%
3 - 18%
4 - 25%

However, I took the rad cap off for the leakdown test and it started overflowing as soon as I connected the air hose to any of the four cylinders. I don't think this is normal, and sounds like a bad headgasket to me. The part that confuses me is that all four cylinders have good numbers and all overflow the rad the same.

DDTECH

Those leak down numbers aren't good.. lol

You have a HG leak, around the water jacket area, as air is pushing through.

Runnerdown

There has to be some major sealing issues to cause that much pressure in the cooling system. MLS gaskets do not easily leak with flat surfaces so I'd be really curious as to how everything in there checks out. Sounds like you bought someone else's headache.

d1ck

I'm thinking maybe the sleeves aren't put in properly or something.

whitesihatch

was the block step decked?

d1ck

I don't know, and TBH I've never heard of that before. Should it have been done or not?

Gunmetal_B20_Hatch

iTrader: (9)

If ANY air is getting into the cooling system from the combustion chamber, then thats a no-no.

d1ck

So I've removed the head and found that the head gasket seems to be leaking between all four cylinders. This seems rather strange to me, but explains the leakdown into the cooling system on all four cylinders. I've attached pics of the head gasket so you can see. I'm having the head checked at a machine shop ASAP to see if it has warped at all.

Also, I found out that there is a block guard installed, which I'm not really pleased about. I feel like they would reduce the cooling systems ability to cool the cylinder wall sufficiently. The guard looks just like this one: http://www.ipixelspot.com/files/6/sleeves.JPG

I think that's a D-Motor but it's the only image on google which looks like mine.

Based on my "fingernail test" the sleeves don't seem to be dropped. I know this isn't accurate and will need to be checked with a proper straight edge but it's something.

Runnerdown

The pic you posted a link to are golden eagle sleeves, not a block guard. Post a picture of your block. Everything should be checked carefully. If this head gasket issue has been happening in the past with no other changes made then it likely to keep happening.

d1ck

The block was sleeved by Golden Eagle so that would make sense.

d1ck

The pics of the block can be seen here:

http://imgur.com/a/2ZyS7

I've had the head checked and although there was some scratches, there was no warpage (sp?) or signs of overheating.

I put a straight edge across all the cylinders and the difference in heights does not exceed 0.0016 inches (.04mm). Worth noting is that the cylinder sleeves seem to be about 1 to 2 thou above the rest of the block. I've heard this is standard practice with golden eagle sleeves.

My question now is:

Why did my head gasket leak between all four cylinders? Should I just replace the HG and call it a day?

Runnerdown

I'm not sure which kind of gasket that is, or what was previously used. My advice would be to get an oem Honda one in 84mm bore from golden eagle. Step decking of a few thou is common practice.

d1ck

I've got a OEM B20 gasket ready for when I do assemble it, I think I've read this is the correct one to use.