Head gasket was replaced on my c5. After 55 miles of driving, traces of oil are found near the stamped side of the block. My coolant overflow bottle was low, large amounts of white smoke came out of the tail pipe, oil level is slightly low, basically everything pointing to a head gasket being the issue.

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

 

Did you re-use the head studs or buy new ones?
How many miles were on the engine when you replaced the head gasket?
And are you sure the oil isnt dripping down and pooling there, say from the cam seals, or maybe the vtec solenoid?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by andyt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How many miles were on the engine when you replaced the head gasket?
And are you sure the oil isnt dripping down and pooling there, say from the cam seals, or maybe the vtec solenoid?</TD></TR></TABLE>

x2.

Also, I have seen it where a head gasket has been put upside down. LOL

That was on an H motor, but still. Check the oil, is it a milky grey color? If so, it's definitely mixing somewhere but check the obvious first.

 

looks like this topic is covered.......agree with u<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

x2.

Also, I have seen it where a head gasket has been put upside down. LOL

That was on an H motor, but still. Check the oil, is it a milky grey color? If so, it's definitely mixing somewhere but check the obvious first. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by andyt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you re-use the head studs or buy new ones?
How many miles were on the engine when you replaced the head gasket?
And are you sure the oil isnt dripping down and pooling there, say from the cam seals, or maybe the vtec solenoid?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I re-used my head studs unfortunately. 93k on the motor when headgasket was replaced. I've checked all the usual spots for oil leaks before thinking it was from the head gasket. When the head gasket was replaced, so where all the gaskets associated with the head (Cam seal, Vtec solenoid, dizzy o ring, valve cover gasket, spark tube rings, o rings for oil pres. sensor, etc..)

The head was resurfaced and the block was straight edged to be sure mating surfaces were not warped. OEM headgasket was used.

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

x2.

Also, I have seen it where a head gasket has been put upside down. LOL

That was on an H motor, but still. Check the oil, is it a milky grey color? If so, it's definitely mixing somewhere but check the obvious first. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The oil is definitely not the clear light brown it usually is, but its not a thick milky grey color. The assembly lube I used was grey in color, and I believe it may still be mixed with my oil. The oil is still more like oil as opposed to milky and grey. As far as the placement of the head gasket, the word UP was facing me as I placed it on the block, and all the oil and coolant passages looked like they matched up, so I assume its on there correctly.

So in the event the oil and coolant are indeed mixing, or if its safe to conclude the head bolts are not tightened down correctly, can I simply re-torque the bolts down and expect things to be ok?

Or do I need to pull the head off again, clean up the passages where they mixed, and redo the headgasket?

 

 

By Milky Grey, I don't mean the thickness of the oil. It's just color.

Personally, given the mileage I would have put new/ARP head bolts in.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">By Milky Grey, I don't mean the thickness of the oil. It's just color.

Personally, given the mileage I would have put new/ARP head bolts in.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I couldn't agree with you more on the bolts.

Ok, Just for kicks, I decided to torque the bolts down to check if they were really tight. Turns out that the bolt in the corner where I noticed the oil leak was not torqued down completely. If I drain my oil, change that along with the filter, will I be ok to continue driving it as usual or had the gasket been contaminated and must be changed?

 

I would do a FEW oil changes and a FEW coolant flushes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by walker111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would do a FEW oil changes and a FEW coolant flushes.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So even if it seems that coolant and oil mixed, I can just tighten down the bolt that was not torqued down completely, flush the coolant and oil out a few times, and be ok? No need to pull the head to clean the head gasket or mating surfaces?

 

you MIGHT be able to get away with doing that but the CORRECT way would be to get new bolts and a new headgasket and just redo it....... bolts should be replaced when you do a headgasket anyways

 

To me it seems silly to do all the work of a head resurface, new head gasket, all those other gaskets, and finally end up to just re-use the old studs when you know they stretch.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cjames235 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you MIGHT be able to get away with doing that but the CORRECT way would be to get new bolts and a new headgasket and just redo it....... bolts should be replaced when you do a headgasket anyways</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MatrixShark &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">To me it seems silly to do all the work of a head resurface, new head gasket, all those other gaskets, and finally end up to just re-use the old studs when you know they stretch.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, you guys are right. I knew they stretched too, I just heard too many people say they've got by with re-using the bolts once. I was rushing the whole ordeal when I should've just waited an extra 2 or 3 days to get the bolts. Lesson learned. Thanks to those who posted.

 

take off your oil cap and turn it over. if you see white stuff in the cap your gasket is blown.

 

Did you check for warpage on the block and did you send out the head to get it check for warpage? They can also check for cracks in the head.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by building boost &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">take off your oil cap and turn it over. if you see white stuff in the cap your gasket is blown.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No white stuff in the oil cap. It was only ran for 55 miles and never once over heated.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pyitrboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you check for warpage on the block and did you send out the head to get it check for warpage? They can also check for cracks in the head.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I sent the head to be ported and have a valve job done. Along with that, the head was resurfaced and checked, valves replaced, and seals replaced. The block was straight edged and ruled out fine. The gasket was OEM and copper spray was used.