About a month ago I replaced the head gasket on my 94 ls. I bought the gaskets off of eBay. Was about half the price as the gasket from auto zone.

Now head gasket is leaking again. blowing white smoke, loss of power on low idle, basically all the symptoms it was having before i replaced the head gasket. When i replaced it , i put a machinist straight edge across the head and block to see if there were any high or low spots. I didn't notice any from my naked eye. Of course that doesn't mean the head was true. After driving on it for 300 miles, i took the cams out and checked the torque on the head bolts just to make sure they stayed tight after running the engine . Engine drove great for 1500 more miles, no coolant loss, not loss of power, no smoke. then today started acting up pretty bad.

Are the eBay gaskets junk or do i need to get the head machined? The eBay gasket was Stainless steal, the one I took off was not. Does the SS gasket need to be torqued more maybe? I'm thinking maybe pulling the cams again and putting 10 - 20 more pounds per head bolt. Would that do any harm?

Any input from some experience would be great.

Thanks

 

You should pull it off again and check the block surface with a feeler gauge under the straight edge. Dont buy ebay junk! i mean maybe some ****in floor mats or something but not a head gasket! unless of course its from someone noticable such as JHPUSA.com or something.( I think they have a ebay store) and when you take the head off just bring it to your local machine shop. they'll probably charge you lik 30 bucks to check it out and clean it. Totally worth the money if you ask me. Then i guess put it back on and try again. Good Luck, let me know how it turns out.

 

Thanks! Thats what was in the back of my mind.

 

DONT USE EBAY HEAD GASKETS!!!!! I bought a head set off of ebay cause i needed extra gaskets and it seemed like a good deal so i used the head gasket against my better judgement and thankfully my valves were leaking because when i pulled the head again it was leaking between the 2nd and 3rd cylinder. it may be a good deal at the time but in the long run just spend the extra funds and get a good one, youll thank yourself..

 

Yeah I was just trying to save a few bucks when i bought them, I had a feeling from the start that it was a mistake...

Going to take the head off tomorrow and drop it off at a machine shop wednesday, hopefully ill have it back by friday.

Going to go ahead and buy the Felpro head gasket (Part Number: 9698PT) from autozone, unless anyone knows of a better gasket to get. Should I get a tube of the gasket sealer **** they sell and apply it to the new gasket? Should I buy new head bolts? Not looking for performance, just reliability. just want to make sure that the problem is fixed this time, don't want to keep having problems with the car, this is my daily driver.

 

Stock HG is about $60-70 bucks. Are you really saving that much money? 70 bucks is nothing.

 

Felpro just as bad as ebay hg imo I use oem honda hg all the time. I have tried a few including felpro and failed.
I have tried a Mr. gasket hg looked just like the oem (ls motor) but have not installed motor yet and ran but oem honda is the way to go.

 

^^ OEM all the way

 

Saving on the gasket? I bet you re-used your old head studs...

 

The felpro mls gasket from auto zone is fine and is about $60. I run it on my boosted ls @ 14psi and don't have any issues at all for over a year now beating on it everyday. NO, DON'T USE ANY TYPE OF SEALER ON THE HG! Get your head checked out and make sure it's not warped. I also see you never mentioned new head bolts. Honda factory head bolts are 'tty" torque to yield. Not meant to be reused after installed. They stretch out over time. Drop $130 on some arp head studs and don't look back. Do it right the first time and you won't waste money having to redo it a second time.

 

^^if they're stock, they're not studs. they're bolts. and unless damaged, they are re-usable.
just get an oem gasket. i'd run a compression test first though. a cracked cylinder may be what's giving you grief. and when using a straight edge to check warpage, take 6 different measurements. 2 diagonal. 2 lengthwise. and 2 widthwise. shine a flashlight through the backside of the edge. make sure no light gets through.
when you pulled the head the first time, did you see where it breached?

 

Please learn basic reading comprehension before trying to point out a mistake that's not even there.
For your reading pleasure I highlighted the area in question. Have a nice day.

Op don't reuse your factory HEAD BOLTS! Buy ARP HEAD STUDS!

 

I will get new head bolts. I Will for sure look into the ARP head studs. Worked late today so didn't get a chance to finish taking the head off. Tomorrow ill get it off the block and to the machine shop no later then Thursday morning.


between #2 and #3 cylinders.

 

i was actually referring to the post above yours. you must have typed yours as i was typing mine.

but you are incorrect in stating that honda head bolts are tty. they are not. they are torque to spec and if combustion force hasn't stretched them, they can be reused.

 

ARP head studs are a little less than 2x the cost of new OEM head bolts, so if you ever take it off again for any reason you will save money.

I've never understood why people reuse TTY headbolts. Chances of failure are significant. (edit: not that it matters in this case)

 

True. I still replace them anyways, just don't trust them for whatever reason.

 

Its weird but iv done a few head gaskets at my job(about 25) on different dohc honda motors. and iv never had a problem but some people say that they will push up the pistons and replace the rings. Has anyone ever heard of this befor? and btw they dont even change the bearings! idk, i mean do people do this?

 

^^you don't have to replace the bearings, as long as there is no damage evident and the bearings and caps are kept in exact order.
because the head is already off, it's not too much work to go ahead and re-ring the pistons.

op, make sure you run a bottoming tap through those holes, as debris will effect torque values

 

a bottoming tap through what holes? also should i change out the rod bolts? maybe some ARP's considering they'r only a few bucks and im going to be takin them off anyways? thanks for your help.

 

^^the head bolt holes in the block. if the threads aren't clean, torque values will be off.
if it's for a stock application, i wouldn't bother pressing the old rod bolts out. unless there was indication of damage

 

hmm... do you think the torque values would be off if the bearing are the same? because im just going to unbolt the bottom half of the rods then push them up to change the rings and then push them back in. also what kinda rings do you sugest? i would get oem but really JE or wisco, ect. are the same amount of money most the time.

 

^^i was speaking of the head to the block. not the caps and rod bolts.
but to answer your question, your main concern in replacing just the rings and not the bearings is making sure the caps and bearings go on exactly as they came off. that means same cylinders and also same direction. although i'm pretty sure honda marks the caps from the factory for you.
as long as there isn't significant damage to the bearings, they can go back into service. just make sure that the rod journals are completely clean before snapping the bearings back in them. even a piece of lint between the rod journal and backing of the bearing can lead to premature failure.
also, use clean engine oil to lubricate the crank pins before pushing the pistons in and dunk the pistons in engine oil first as well. use 5/16" rubber hose on the ends of the rod bolts to keep from scratching the crank pin when installing.
make sure the compression rings are in the correct placement and turned 180 degrees apart from eachother before pushing it down.
as for the rings, weisco are pretty renowned. i'd go with them

 

no doubt. you rule man. Ill order u[ the rings next week and im waiting on my back ordered OEM head gasket. but when i do ill post a pic and let ya know how it all went. thx. PS. that rubber hose idea is sick! would have never thought of that