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    #1

    Head 101 Needed (gasket)

    I have been losing about a cup of coolant every 1,000 miles or so. I'm going to have the coolant tested and redo a compression test becayse none of the teltale signs are present but my gut says its the H.G. Is there an FAQ or head gasket 101 that I can read up on before I do this? I have the basic questions like how long (i assume a LONG day or a weekend), are the head bolts reusable? do these heads crack? Do I need to know anything special or know any tricks? I was going to just buy a head, refresh it and swap the two but I now have documentation of some of the (what appears to be) extensive work that has been done to the motor.

    (I can do a 2002 clutch in a few hours... 2002 5spd conversion in a weekend, m10 head gasket or motor swap in a full day) Not saying this to brag - only to try and let uou guys know my mechanical competancy level... I would (humbly) rate myself as a pretty good mechanic.

    FredK I bet this is why my car cant tune for shit and I'd also bet that this is where my extra 10 horses are hiding!
    Tags: None
    #2
    The bently has a good write up on this. The heads can crack and they should be inspected and resurfaced. You say that your motor has had a lot of work done so the head gasket is probably not that old. The head might be bad in your case. Should take you a day or so to do. The headbolts are not reuseable and you should get the torx style bolts as they are much better.
    Originally posted by cabriodster87
    "Honey? What color is this wire? Is it the same as that one? Are you sure? I don't believe it. OK, it works. Thank you sweetie."
    Originally posted by Kershaw
    i've got a boner and a desire to speed.

    Comment

      #3
      good point!

      EDIT: Good point about the head gasket... BUT then again when I see some of the shotty work performed by the PPO it wouldnt suprise me to learn that he reused head bolts or something else remedial (I didn't know any better because m10 bolts can be reused)
      END EDIT

      It might not be the head (this is prepatory speculation) but I'm losing coolant. The PO changed the timing belt & h2o pump before we picked up the car so that means something could be loose, weeping, he could have underfilled the coolant from the beginning, there could have been an air bubble in the system, etc.

      The coolant light has come on twice and the first time I filled it HOT so I'm not shocked that the light came on again - could be nothing.... or it could explain my struggle with a rough idle, poor state of tune, white smoke (on startup only) and gut feeling...

      I'll have the coolant tested for hydrocarbons or whatever they do and redo the compression test.

      Do you guys run ARP (are they available even?) bolts or any other worthwhile little upgrades while I'm in there if it comes down to it?

      What about ceramic coating on the CC, valves & inlet ports? Is there anything that the Bentley covers that the Haynes & Chilton manuals dont?
      Last edited by winstontj; 05-11-2007, 06:46 PM. Reason: forgot to type something

      Comment

        #4
        I am running ARP studs on my M50.
        Care to shed any light on ceramic coating the cc? This is a new concept for me.......*intrigued*
        My 2.9L Build!

        Originally posted by Ernest Hemingway
        There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.

        Comment

          #5
          A lot of the S14 guys do it. They get their CC's, Valves, intake runners, piston tops & skirts coated with ceramic thermal whatever... I guess its like MM's swirl polished valves - you need to buy into the theory for it to work. Many turbo guys also use the ceramic coating.

          All it is is a coating that deflects heat or keeps the coated surfaces' temps lower. What it does in theory is keep the intake air & fuel cooler until ignition, rather than it heating up in the intake runner, heated by the valves, etc it keeps those surfaces cooler which allows you to run more compression, boost or both - in theory. There are numbers to back it up but not lots of them. I partially buy into it. I'd love to try it out - I think it cant make anything any worse, but then again I dont know if it will make the motor that much better.... Only one way to find out!

          Search on s14 dot net or on s14power dot com slash forum for more info... More popular on the higher CR, higher revving motors but it cant hurt on an M20 right?? I'm a little suprised that no one here does it with all the boosted guys around.

          Comment

            #6
            very interesting winston. i actually did a little research on it after i posted last night and found a company called swain tech. sent them a e-mail and am waiting to hear back from them on monday. i may just have to do this to the m50 i am building, for shits and giggles.....
            My 2.9L Build!

            Originally posted by Ernest Hemingway
            There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.

            Comment

              #7
              Yeah I think thats one of the more well known companies that do it. There are a few others too. I am going to do everything from the throttle plate back in a BBTB through an extrude-honed intake, intake ports, tops of the intake valves & stems up to the guides, guides (whats left of them after I shorten them), piston tops & skirts. Now I'm leaning in the ITB direction but who knows... ITB's are the same price as extrude honing an intake & making a BBTB....

              I was hoping that the coating would let me bump up the CR to ~10:1 and get away with running mid/premium gas. We'll see... Do it, document it & post your experience please!!!

              As for the head gasket I'm pretty sure thats what it is. How much are the ARP studs for an M20? should I get/do anything else while I'm doing the head gasket?

              Comment

                #8
                Originally posted by winstontj View Post
                Yeah I think thats one of the more well known companies that do it. There are a few others too. I am going to do everything from the throttle plate back in a BBTB through an extrude-honed intake, intake ports, tops of the intake valves & stems up to the guides, guides (whats left of them after I shorten them), piston tops & skirts. Now I'm leaning in the ITB direction but who knows... ITB's are the same price as extrude honing an intake & making a BBTB....

                I was hoping that the coating would let me bump up the CR to ~10:1 and get away with running mid/premium gas. We'll see... Do it, document it & post your experience please!!!

                As for the head gasket I'm pretty sure thats what it is. How much are the ARP studs for an M20? should I get/do anything else while I'm doing the head gasket?
                REplace all the seals on it from the heater core flange seal on the back and may as well do the injector seals too. Don't forget about the seals on the oil drain back tube and make sure you put the spring and tube on before you set the intake on, or it will never go on. On my i I did it like this but on my eta I had neglected to put the lower seal in and had started bolting the intake down, luckily my head bolts were only finger tight so I took them out and tilted it up enought to get the tube in and out.

                Here are some pics of my eta head job.

                pre machine shop

                Before cleaning

                Close up of water jacket after pull.
                Originally posted by 325Projectz
                don't listen to the diagram... listen to mr. swiss.
                :nice:

                Comment

                  #9
                  MMMM Jello, my second favorite :p

                  Keep a close eye on your oil for traces of coolant too.

                  It could be as simple as hoses etc. weeping or even just plain old evaporation, coolant is half water after all and does need to be topped off every now and again.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Winston, thanks for the heads up on the ceramic coating. I contacted Swain Tech and their prices for everything aren't bad. I was told for everything with the gold coating on the pistons instead of the normal TBC stuff everything would come out to 545. Not too bad. I'll let you know the results.
                    My 2.9L Build!

                    Originally posted by Ernest Hemingway
                    There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Now that the secret is out I hope everyone starts posting up an extra 10-20hp at the flywheel after their rebuilds. I wanted to have the edge over everyone....

                      I hope you post pics & numbers with your results. $545 isn't that bad

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Nah, it's not bad at all. Only problem is shipping though. I know with my work's shipping account it won't be as bad. If you were to get the normal TBC coating it would probably only be like 50 bucks cheaper.
                        My 2.9L Build!

                        Originally posted by Ernest Hemingway
                        There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.

                        Comment

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