VTgringo

I just built up a nice zc for a junk yard turbo project. Every part of the motor was taken apart and completely rebuilt. The only thing I tried to get away with was reusing the headgasket after spraying it with copper gasket. As soon as I started up the motor white smoke came pouring out of the exhaust and I had the famous bubbles in my radiator to indicate that the headgasket had blown. It wasn't just stuff burning off the new motor. I've rebuilt a few motors and I know what that looks like. Also, the plugs were covered in oil.
Heres where it gets tricky. I pulled the head off and the headgasket looks fine. For the amout of smoke coming out of the exhaust, I was expecting to see a major flaw in the gasket. I'm getting ready to check the head and block for warping. Its a fairly new engine that has never seen boost. Can someone give me some insight into what has happened??

Thanks guys.

Frustrated as always with the project crx,

Evan

beepy

You reused a head gasket and didn't seal it properly.

Get a new head gasket. Costs $60, problem solved.

VTgringo

yeah, I was trying to to a cheap rebuild......i know flame me. I'm cheap.

I was really hoping to see a big gap where the gasket blew out but the gasket looked fine. I really hope a new headgasket fixes things.

keep the imput coming guys

VTgringo

anyone else?

SOHC_MShue

you got arp headstuds? Might wanna try those. Even though I just blew my y8 headgasket yesterday with the studs in.

Sonny

I lost the #3 cylinder seal with my Cometic/ARP combo in my built A1/ZC engine. There was absolutely nothing visibly wrong with the gasket. In fact, I still had 180 psi on every cylinder. However, when I pressurized the cooling system and looked into the cylinders with a flashlight, I could see coolant filling up the #3 cylinder.

I yanked the Cometic out and tossed in a new OEM Honda gasket. Runs like a champ.

If that is a junkyard motor, you should definitely check the surfaces of the head and block. A lot of the engines that end up there die from overheating.

Sonny