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    Bad head gasket?

    Cliff notes at bottom

    So about 3k miles ago I had the timing belt/wp changed by a friend (who works at a shop). Not long after, I started to hear a whining noise. Thinking it was the belt, I changed that - still whiney. My friend (unbeknownst to me) had tightened the piss out of the alternator/wp belt. I think his overtightening put a beat down on the bearing in the alt, and that is what I'm hearing.

    When I was switching the belts, I noticed one of the coolant hoses was slightly cocked at the outlet of the thermostat housing, and decided to re-seat and tighten. I spilled a little coolant, and when the check panel asked me for more it made sense. However, it keeps draining the reservoir. Three times in the last 300 miles I have had to top it off, and I see no leaks. The oil looks ok, but when pulling the cap after running it I see vapor, which leads me to believe coolant is getting in there. I have noticed an oil leak for quite some time from what looks like the head/block joint. So, the HG could certainly be going. Motor has about 100k on a rebuild. What I am wondering: could the bearing in the wp be messed up too, causing it to internally leak and mix with oil? Maybe that makes no sense but I figured I'd ask someone who is a little more familiar with the m20 than I am. I could actually hear the bearing in the old wp before we swapped it; it was noisy but in a clunky way. I just don't want to face the fact that it may well need to be torn down again. Any opinions or advice will be considered. Thanks for reading.

    Cliff notes: Losing coolant, steam in crankcase when hot, could water pump leak coolant into engine somehow?
    Last edited by wagonizzle; 05-15-2009, 09:05 AM.
    Originally posted by chileelky
    amaze about the enthusiasm e30 generate

    #2
    The water pump itself cannot leak into any of the oil passages. It is merely bolted to an open section of the coolant passage and coolant hoses are then attached to it.

    But if your old pump was weak and there was a soft spot in your HG, the new pump can push right through that spot and dump/trickle coolant into your oil and or combustion chamber. Any white smoke out the tail pipe? Did you go through coolant before you re-sat that coolant hose? If not, recheck there, you might just have a small leak from a hose connection.
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      #3
      Nah, no smoke. This just started a few days ago. It is disappearing at a very small rate, but I just have a bad feeling... by seeing steam vapor in the crankcase, that has to mean coolant in oil, yes? I think me messing with the hose and it starting to lose it may be a coincidence. I have looked in that area about six times hoping I would see a trickle but nothing.
      Originally posted by chileelky
      amaze about the enthusiasm e30 generate

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        #4
        So what is the best way to diagnose a blown HG? Compression test?
        Originally posted by chileelky
        amaze about the enthusiasm e30 generate

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