Guys...I just finished an LS/Vtec build up for my friend and we drove around fine for about an hour or two...we got stuck in heavy traffic and it was stop and go....all of a sudden we started smelling anti freeze and popped the hood..the reservoir was bubbling so we shut off the car and let it cool down...as it was cooling down we heard some snapping/popping noises....???? But the car started up fine and nothign was wrong...so we are driving again and all of a sudden the temp gauge shoots up and the hood fills with white smoke. In the middle of the Tri Boro bridge. What happened...has anyone ever experienced this before...we used a cometic gasket if that helps. Now when we crank the motor..the coolant spits out the front of the engine right behind the header...from between the head and block union. Is the motor a gonner? ANy thoughts would be appreciated. Head was torqued down to 22ft- lbs and then to 63ft-lbs as the final sequence...Helms manual instructions were followed throughout.

 

sounds like a blown headgasket brought on by overheating. make sure fan and water pump are in working order

 

Yeah, since it was spraying out behind the header, it's probably the head gasket that is failing now.

You sure you got the head on correctly?

 

how is there a wrong way of putting on the head? We did the dowel pins and milled the head slightly to make sure it was an even surface??? Torqued it down in the order stated by HELMS..and I mean thats about it...no blockgaurd or anythign that might of caused it so what can it be?

 

You should probably over torque a little since you cant be too sure that you milled
evenly across the head. Plus these types of swaps always have issues with the head gasket dying after a few miles..

Do a search..

 

I had more night mare than that...maybe if it not the blown head gasket it can also be a cracked head. The only way to tell is have a compression and vaccum test. Or you can take the head back off.

When I had my ls vtec I blow my radiator less than a mile. The headgasket cracked after about 1000 miles, vtec wasn't engaging, vss wasn't working (it was beforew the swap), and need a vavle adjustment. I have everthing fixed now no more blown headgasket and the pressure in the coolant is back to normal. It took me about three months to fine fix all the bugs out be driven problem free for three months .

 

The headgasket is useless, might as well pull the head off, the head bolts may have backd out if you used stock head bolts. Get the head's clearances checked.

Dowel pins should be on the intake side of the deck if I'm not mistaken.

 

hey dont listen to that guy you dont need to add any more torque when using and extension on a torque wrench thats totally untrue and it sounds like a head gasket or a warped head to me

 

What year chassis and what year engine block did you use? Chances are that if the car was an older one, and the block was a newer one, that you did not have the rad fan switch connected anywhere, and thats why it overheated in traffic. The cooling fan (rad fan) did not turn on.

Now you are faced with a blown head gasket for sure, and maybe a warped head. Make sure the rad fan switch is properly connected, or else this will happen again once the motor is put back together.

 

Check this.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=293735

 

it's most likely head gasket, i've gone through 2 in the last 8 months but that's what you have to deal with i guess.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA that my friend is bullshit. You DO need to add more torque when using an extension.

If the head was milled, was it rechecked to make sure it was even?

 

Take your own advice man. You do need to recalc your torque settings when you start adding extensions to your tools.