To make a long story shot I replaced my head gasket on my turbo d16z6 and the new one seems to be sealing worse than the old one. Used oem metal gasket, torqued to spec with copper spray and resurfaced the head. Still getting lots bubbles in overflow. Sleeves seem fine so I cannot understand why the new head gasket did not seal or at least seems like it did not seal.

Here a more detailed desciption of the problem I posted in the tech forum
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=484380

I hope someone can point me in the right direction because this car is really stressing me out.

 

The block surface might be warped if the head is not warped.

 

yea thats a concern, how common is that in hondas though? The machine shop said the head was in great shape so I would not imagine the block should have issues. Thanks for the reply!

 

Is it possible to use too much copper seal? I used 4 or 5, decent coats as someone stated to use in an old post on copper seal. I started the engine maybe after an hour and a half of spraying it, someone also said it does not need to dry but I am wondering if maybe the pressure was able to push through the copper seal through. I dont think it matters but I did see a slight run on one of the corners but I did not think it would matter because it would spread evenly when torqued down. Anyone had copper seal let them down?

 

Copper seal just helps seal slight imperfections on the deck surfaces. Your sealing problems are probably not due to the copper spray. *4-5 coats is fine anyways*

I'd pull the cyl head and check the cyl block deck for straitness.
Get a leakdown test done to help direct you....

 

Reusing old headbolts, im real tight on cash and from what ive seen on here most people seem to have success with reusing em. I have checked the torque 3 times now and everytime the wrench instantly clicked on every single bolt so I do not believe they are stretching. I believe the block could be the culprit but since I did not have this much trouble before I changed it its makin me think its sumthing that I did, unless the block and the head were evenly warped together?

 

No leaks just a lot of bubbles out of the coolant.

 

it's not that big of a deal to pull the SOHC head (I know you know that). so I say pull that **** and check the deck. that's thing to check really. Unless there are tiny fissures in the head or sleeves.

 

Anyone know where I can get a cheap straight edge and what they go for? Looks like the head is coming off tonight. Also if the headgasket was/is leaking should it be visible where it leaked at so I can confirm the problem? The old gasket looked decent from what i could tell but I was thinking maybe the copper seal would show where the leak was at a little better from being washed or burned away.

 

Yeah pulling the head is deffinately not a big deal, but buying headgaskets over and over is for me. If it is not obviously damaged what are the risks of running this gasket again since its got maybe 25 miles on it ? I know its not good but some have claimed success re-using em with copper seal. If I have to buy another gasket wait another week for it to come in and bolt it up and have the same problem I fear the car may end up in the nearest ditch lol.

 

In my other post JimBlake said that the first symptons sounded like a clogged radiator which kind of makes some sense even though I just swaped the radiator, at first there were not really little bubbles (and perfect compression test) or anything just splashing when I reved it which I assume were big bubbles or air pockets. This may be a long shot but what I was thinkin was maybe possibly the water is not circulating and maybe the air pocket are staying trapped and water and air are being forced through out via the radiator cap and overflow? Im wondering if I should maybe I should compression test and maybe try flusing it real quick before pulling the head all over again. I really wish I could do a leak down test after hearing this but I dont have a compressor. If I cranked it with the spark plug wires off does anybody know If should still see bubbles if the headgasket is bad, i still dont really see bubbles at idle, should I if is bad?

 

Okay I pulled head and number 4 piston was a lot cleaner that the others and it was not the last time it was all apart so it definately was leaking coolant into it. I thoroughly checked every sleeve and the head for cracks so it looks like it had to be the headgasket. The new head gasket came in today so its time to put it back together. I also checked the deck and head for straightness with a straight edge and feeler gauges and they seem fine...

So heres my question, Are they any tips to help guarantee that the head gasket will seal this time? Has anyone had bad luck with copper seal? Is there any way you can screw up copper seal? Like maybe moving the head around too much while trying to line it up? TIA!!!

 

[QUOTE=omahaturbocivic]Used oem metal gasket, torqued to spec with copper spray and resurfaced the head.
QUOTE]

If the head was milled/resurfaced and you have dowel pins ( not sure if D-series have them) couldnt they be too long and cause your headgasket not to seal?

 

I thought of that too, They were not ground down before but last night I ground them down a little bit so that should be out of the way. Thanks for the reply!

 

Im not sure if you did this but, you usually need to torque the head gasket to a certain spec to set it, and then loosen it and torque it again to spec, i dont know but check it out.