Water in cylinders before and after head rebuild
 

Hey. Sorry for this only being my second post and all, but...My turbo miata was getting water inside the cylinders, billowing white smoke and barely idling. I changed the head gasket(all the gaskets), inspected the head, resurfaced it, inspected the block, put everything back together and still getting pools of water in all the cylinders. It only takes a few seconds for it to billow out smoke and stumble on idle. Car barely idles due to the water.

When it first happened, I wasn't even boosting. Pulled up to the gas station, and when I left, it started smoking and I barely got it home. There were no signs of it smoking previously. No signs of water in the oil or oil in the water. Running perfectly prior to this. It has had heating issues in the past but has never boiled over or anything. The temps at the time were at normal operating temp. I'm in the UK and I've posted it here but nobody wants to answer, so I'm hoping someone in these forums can at least throw some ideas. I'm really losing my shit over this as I've spent so much time tearing the engine apart. My car is a 92 megasquirt t3 turbo miata. Running perfect as it was for a couple years at 8psi. Thanks.

What kind of head gasket did you use? A US 1.6 (dunno about UK ones) has a composite gasket from the factory, with MLS available aftermarket. The MLS are better, but require a different head prep.

If it's still leaking, then either the head wasn't installed properly (did you check block for warpage and/or resurface it? Perhaps torque isn't correct on head bolts?) or the head/block is cracked. I can't think of any other options unless there's some other wacky failure that's leaking coolant into the intake manifold and it's coming in through the intake valves.

--Ian

Thanks for the reply. The head gasket is a victor reinz(composite). The head was well within spec for warpage but I had it resurfaced anyway. Block was well within spec. I used the stock specs for head bolt torque and used ARP head studs. I thought maybe that might've been the previous issue because I thought the bolts felt too easy unbolting when taking the head off. First time I pulled the intake manifold, the intake runners were dry so that ruled that out.

I'm pretty sure the head gasket went on correctly. I triple checked it. Isn't there only one way it can go on anyway?

The 1.8 head gaskets can be flipped, but they won't leak coolant if you do that (it just blocks the oil to the head). I dunno about the 1.6, I've never owned one.

Did the shop check the head for cracks? I think magnafluxing is the test for this?

Proper torque with ARP head studs is not entirely clear, apparently there have been a few published numbers over the years, and people have reported cracking the head with the higher numbers. I don't know if that's likely to explain a coolant leak tho.

--Ian

Did the shop pressure test the head, if not, you should have. What did you torque the studs too? If you used the old ARP number of 85 ft lbs the head is probably cracked.

Current ARP kits are fine at 85ftlbs. The washer was updated.

right, but he probablyhas old ones. When did ARP update the washers, like, last week? Could take months for vendors to get into that stock.I think ARP updated the torque value to 65 IIRC.

Like... a year or more ago. My updated set specifies 85ftlbs.

Just trying to do my due diligence to help save the populace from Nihilst Miata Life.

Could those water hoses that flow through your throttle body be supplying it, like a throttle body crack?

If not, cracked block, head, or hg.

Hmmm, I just got a set. Old small washers. Blaming it on new old stock.

You could try disconnecting each plug in turn, to see if just 1 cylinder is causing the smoke.
If all cylinders are smoking, it's probably a coolant leak from turbo (does that happen?)
or throttle body.
If it's one cylinder your looking at internal engine problems. A leak down test may show something too.

These ARP studs came with the updated washers but they had specific instructions to only torque to 60lbs/ft, which is what Mazda says. The water hoses that go into the throttle body have been blocked off, so no water through there. All four cylinders have water inside, it's quite evident as when I pull the plugs and shine a light down, there is a pool of water sitting on top of all four pistons.

The shop did not pressure test the head, but wouldn't a crack that would cause that much water to fill up inside all four cylinders be obvious? At this point I'm just hoping there is another explanation other than a cracked head or block.

I've never looked at a cracked head myself, but I've read it can be difficult to spot. It does seem unlikely that it would leak into all four cylinders, I agree, unless it's getting blown out one cylinder and then coming back in the exhaust valve of a different one when it's at idle.

--Ian

With the throttle body coolant lines bypassed the only way coolant can get into the cylinders is a cracked head, cracked block, or a head gasket sealing issue. My money is on head gasket.

I think a leakdown test could do a decent job of confirming this. At TDC with the valves closed there aren't many places the head or block could crack and allow leaking into the coolant system.

Due diligence.

Well, thanks for the advice. Guess I have no choice but to find a shop to do a leakdown test for me. I can't see the head gasket being the issue just because it's the same problem with the old and new gasket. Need some cool down time first.

just buy a leakdown gauge. I remember seeing a cheapo one for like 40 bucks 40 bucks. Or make one, its just two gauges, a regulator and the hose from a compression test gauge.

The head gasket could have been installed improperly or the block could be warped.

Shops are full of morons. and do it yourself.

Cool. Thanks for the link. If only I had a compressor and a place to put it. Living in a small studio flat with a parking spot 30 meters away is really shit when working on a car.

So many fucking excuses man! go get a cheap little compressor! or keep shelling out a few hundred every time you need simple diagnostic work.