Hi Guys,

Had recently rebuilt my motor and it was running fine for about 3000kms. About 2 months ago I replaced my head with a new head which was purchased and ported by Tom @Port Flow. I purchased a completely assembled head which was ported, new valves, springs , retainers etc. In only plopped a pair of Skunk2 cams that I had.

The stupid mechanic had installed the head gasket(Cometic custom thickness .075) wrongly. The car was fired up in my presence and immediately was leaking large amounts of oil. We panicked wondering if there was a problem with the head and opened it up. Thats the time we saw the mistake. Installed the same gasket right side up and the car was just fine.

Have done only about 1000kms since and observed that since the past 3-4 days the car was consuming water/coolant. Also found traces of coolant on the dipstick as well on the block behind the headers below dipstick. The mechanic said that we need to retorque the head which was done yesterday. This morning I observed that the bolt right behind the dipstick water was dripping and had to fill about 1.5 ltrs of water again.

Could the gasket have failed or the head warped. At no point of time has the car ever heated beyond 210*F. Lemme know if you need any pics or details

What could the problem be.

Helpppppppppp.

Jignesh

PS - The car is the same as in my signature.

 

there is a reason why headgaskets can be torque only once...andthey are not reuseable...change the headgasket before u overheat the engine and warp it or crack it...or worst spin a bearing from all the water getting mixed in your oil...

and use an oem headgasket...why would u want such a thick gasket on an NA engine...

 

While I slightly disagree with being able to reuse a headgasket, if you install it incorrectly it creases the gasket and it is worthless from there and must be thrown away.

Don't pay for this, the shop screwed it up, they need to fix it for free!

 

hi Guys,

@cibao2ner - I'm using CP SC 7123X pistons which are 13:1 compression. My engine compression went up to 320 which was not streetable on pump gas as the car was knocking like crazy. At present I am at 240 compression after the custom gasket which is what is just right for my use. Daily drive + drags (max 4 times a year). As of now there is no trace of oil in the water. The 1st thing I did was to drain the coolant and chk for oil traces. The car is not being used till a mech looks at it and opens the head.

95 Integra - Lucky for me I always order extra parts for emergencies like gaskets etc. I have another spare gasket .075mm with me. I'm worried about any other kind of damage. The garage has only offered to do the reapir work (labour) for free.

In any case all parts for this motor need to be imported as these cars/engines were never sold out here in India.

Will it be safe to drive the car to the repair shop approx 25 kms at slow speeds keeping an eye on the temp guage or should I have it towed.


Jignesh

 

You can run high compression with pump gas, you just need to pull a lot of timing

 

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I am aware of the above however request help on identifying the problem and solution.

Also is it advisable to drive to the workshop.

Jignesh

 

no dont drive...in your situation where u need to import parts and pay 2x what we pay here in the usa...just tow it...and are u tuning? if u were getting the car tune then 13:1 compression should be streetable...ask allmotor here in the forums...but never reuse a headgasket...its cheaper to buy another one...if i was you i would swap gasket tune it and later on get some flat top pistons, no more than 11:1...so u can run 93 octane all day and just use nitrous if u want power....

 

if you can identify the leak being around the seal of where the head meets the block, i would say the gasket is the issue, if your leaking from around a bolt..that would indicate a crack in the head, but that is extremely ODD and rare, and i would be more inclined to say the gasket is the issue. You didnt reuse the gasket after you torqued it down upside down did you? Head gaskets are one and done gaskets, you would have needed to buy a new cometic gasket for that to ever seal properly. Remember they are compression gaskets, multi layer steel compression gaskets to be exact. Once you compress them with the torque of the bolts, you imprint the shape of the head into the gasket and it seals, thats it.

 

Hi,

Will be towing the car to the workshop tomorrow and will have the head opened in my presence and click pics of the same. Will also insist on replacing head gasket. I 'm not tuning there is a tuner here who would do the same. Am not technically qualified to do the same.

Will update once done if any other issues crop up.


@ Spawne32 - Unfortunately I had to reuse the same gasket as I did not have a spare at that time. It was flipped back within an hour and the car was never fired up with the gasket wrongly fitted. Detected the problem whilst priming the oil system.

Jignesh

 

Update,

So I had the mechanic come over to my place and inspect the car. He was confident that it was safe to drive the car to the workshop and sat with me.

On reaching the place the 1st thing we did was take off the exhaust manifold. Sure enough the coolant/water was coming from there and not the head/block.

My question is is that normal. The mech proposes to put a stud in there with thread lock etc and plug the hole. Is that advisable or is that anything else I should be doing. Should I have the head opened up.

This is a new head completely prepped & Assembled by Port Flow.

Lemme know if you guys wanna see pics. The hole in question is the lower bolt exactly behind the dipstick.

Jignesh

 

Hi,

Here are the pics. Pls ignore the engine code on the block had to stamp the OE block number as engine swaps are illegal in India. Last pic shows the car with the install in question.

Jignesh

 

honestly, im stunned, that appears to be an internal crack in the head, not sure how or why but coolant should never come through any of the bolt holes. I would give port flow a call and find out what happened, ive never seen that happen before.

 

thinking about this, a quick fix you can try is getting a stud from honda for the exhaust side and install it using some sort of thread SEALER, not loctite, or if you can get it to install with teflon tape, maybe try that. Try to look in through the nearest coolant passage closest to that hole and see if you can see a visible crack.

 

Hi,

That's exactly what the mechanic suggested and what we are doing. He is not opening the head as he says there is no need for the same. Will keep you guys updated with results once I get the car back in the evening.

I am writing a email to Portflow alongwith the pics. Lets see what he has to say.

Jignesh

 

if the engine ever overheated it could have cracked it..ive seen it...most likely portflow isnt gonna warranty it since u ran it like that...

 

my biggest concern would be the fact that cracks usually spread

 

Hi,

Thats what I am worried as well. Warranty well too many complications involved. Cost of sending the head from India to the US(US500$ approx one way) Even if Port Flow pays for return shipping + I have to pay customs duty all over again on the head.

Not worth it have to rectify whatever locally itself. Will wait for what Tom has to say.

@cibao2ner - The car has never crossed 100*C for more than 5-10 secs at any point of time. I have a external Autometer water temp guage installed as a back up in my car as well. The car has driven a max of 500 kms since the head was installed and never dragged.

Jignesh

 

Try pressure testing the coolant system and see if coolant is pushed out of the hole...

It kinda appears theres a crack in the head...

If this is the case, I agree with spawne and trying some type of block sealer/jb weld/etc and putting a stud in there as a repair...

You also may be able to have a machine shop enlarge the hole, weld the very back/bottom of the hole and have a time sert installed, then use a stud...

Good luck...

 

IIRC the exhaust bolt holes have are right in front of some water/coolant passages. If someone bolted an exhaust bolt to far in the head you would break into a coolant passage. Prob why honda uses the studs they do so you cant bolt them through a passage.

 

 

Update,

1st option and suggestion failed. We are now opening up the head. The new stud with sealant plugged the leak from that place butttt there was water coming out of cylinder 3 wall which means that there is a obvious crack somewhere. They are opening up the head as I type and it should be pulled out of the car in approx 2 hours from now.

Am headed to the workshop and will take pics.

Luckily I have my OE type R head complete with upgraded valve train as spare which I plan to fit as don't want the car off the road till a concrete resolution to the issue is found with Port flow.

Have paid top dollar and expect a amicable resolution.

Jignesh

 

Update

The head was opened up and worst fears came true. The head is cracked. Am sending the same for a x-ray tomorrow to see how deep the crack is and till where it is going.

Will know if its salvageable after that else have to scrap the head.

Buttt someone up there likes me. Got a reply from Tom @ Port Flow last night saying that he is shocked at what he saw. Spoke to him over the phone and he promptly said that he would stand by me and replace the head for me in the event it is not repairable.

Three cheers to that. I'm glad I gave my business to them.

Have attached a pic of where the crack is evident.

Jignesh

 

That last pic should've been shown a long time ago.

An exhaust stud was deff over tightened if you ask me...

Is that super glue!?

 

Hi,

That last pic was clicked on Saturday evening so not possible to show before. That was Araldite applied after the head was opened which obviously did not work.

The exhaust stud was not over tightened. If that was the case it should have happened in all cylinder bolts as they were all fully tightened.

Jignesh

 

yeh thats not what was in there before, i told him to put the stud in there with some teflon tape or thread sealant to see if you could seal it off so it wouldnt come out of the coolant passage but that obviously didnt work judging by where the crack is on the head, honestly im stunned to see it crack like that.