Head gasket problems. (I think, help?)

[nickskater09]

So my B25 is burning a shit ton of oil, running like crap a lot of the time, and dripping oil down the sides of the block from what appears to be the head gasket. Is it possible for a bad head gasket to only cause oil consumption? I've checked coolant/oil cap/dipstick to find no milkshake and it doesn't seem to be burning any coolant off or having cooling problems. And obviously it likes to blow blue-white smoke at most times. I'm hoping its the head gasket and not piston rings to save me a full rebuild.

Engine was apparently fine before I did a top end refresh a few months ago. It hasn't been running right since then.

I'm planning on buying a top end gasket kit from Pelican Parts, so in your opinion which is better; Elring or Reinz? Also going to do a timing belt and water pump while I'm in just to be safe.

[ak-]

Do a leakdown test to determine if it's rings.
Don't ever buy anything Reinz; it's well known they suck. Valve cover and oil pan is the only satisfactory thing from them.

[Kozworth]

OP,

I had an elring hg and popped it almost immediately on an oringed block. I just did a VR headgasket and it seems to be sitting properly. Its really the prep, a lot of guys here bitch about VR then you will be finding some people who have not had issues. To be safest, goetze is the best.

As for your issue, I would not say a headgasket is leading to your oil loss. If you see oil on the pass side to the right of the 1st cylinder exhaust port, then odds are its a cam seal/half moon seal on the head. Pull the dizzy, remove cam gear, and inspect. Much easier then a headgasket and still having the oil leak.

Best thing to do would be a compression test. Try to isolate which cylinder(s) are good or bad. From there, isolate whethor its a valve, ring, or a headgasket issue with a leakdown.

[nickskater09]

OP,

I had an elring hg and popped it almost immediately on an oringed block. I just did a VR headgasket and it seems to be sitting properly. Its really the prep, a lot of guys here bitch about VR then you will be finding some people who have not had issues. To be safest, goetze is the best.

As for your issue, I would not say a headgasket is leading to your oil loss. If you see oil on the pass side to the right of the 1st cylinder exhaust port, then odds are its a cam seal/half moon seal on the head. Pull the dizzy, remove cam gear, and inspect. Much easier then a headgasket and still having the oil leak.

Best thing to do would be a compression test. Try to isolate which cylinder(s) are good or bad. From there, isolate whethor its a valve, ring, or a headgasket issue with a leakdown.

I'm leaning away from the cam seals because its leaking all across the block and the oil consumption seems pretty even across all cylinders, maybe a little worse on the 5th cylinder. I'm going ahead and ordering the Elring head gasket set. So I'll have to see how it goes.