Toddcod

iTrader: (8)

It would be nice to check. I doubt it is off if it is running. But I guess the exaust could be a tooth off.

Anyway, that lifter knock is normal for first start up after a long waiting period. They are hydrolic. Run some slick 50 if the knock doesn't go away. It will lube them up.

But it is not uncommon for the lifters to tap everytime you start it, the oil has to pump up into them. My tap first thing in the mornings alot. But it stops. A friends car taps at idle, he has been driving it for months.


Take it easy on it for a little while and let the rings re-set in. That is if it sat for a good while.

Good Luck. Sounds Great!

Erotomania

It was 2 teeth off on the crankgear. Now knowing their is a mark that I can see without pulling the accessory pulleys off, I have it all lined up and good, also put new radiator upper and lower hoses on, and new heater hoses, new radiator cap, changed the oil again, then the super cool part. I changed the thermostat..And this happened by some mystery dumb luck.



It threaded fine, got tight halfway down, half a turn later pop goes the housing! I just quit at that point after testing to see how bad it leaked(bad). Can that even be replaced? I mean, It looks like its attached to the head itself? which would be dumb but to my quick uneducated glance thats how it looks? Help?

That said, the motor ran much better, still a little shaky, but all that valve noise went away, sounded pretty good. Drove it around the parking lot again, and it felt much much better. Its still putting out a lot of smoke, if it wasnt for the coolant leaking from the housing I would have filled it up with gas and drove it around and home to see if any of that smoke would burn off. I'm still not 100 sure the headgasket its holding, I guess I could do a compression test to find out. The exhaust smoke is very white and still smells a lot like gas, it doesnt have that coolant smell to it so I guess thats a good sign.

I'm more concerned about that thermostat housing right now. Any Ideas?

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

that piece that broke is the thermostat housing neck. It presses into the cylinder head. You should be able to replace it without pulling the head. Perfect time to do a coolant reroute if I might suggest.

Erotomania

Well I did a ghetto fix on the thermostat housing, I just used a long bolt with a thick washer on the neck side and just clamped the **** out of that side. It drips a little but holds okay. I let the car idle away for a while and it wouldnt over heat, but also wouldnt stop smoking. So I'm pretty sure the headgasket didnt hold. Before I go as far as pulling the head again I'll do a compression test but I'm pretty sure thats still the problem, this time I'll get it machined and use a metal gasket.

The smoke is white and smells like gas, the oil and coolant dont seem to be mixing but they both smell like gas which is weird?

Gasket failure symptoms? I don't know

Toddcod

iTrader: (8)

My last car I pulled out of someones driveway. I emptied out the old gas, and filled it with fresh. It smoked for over 20 minutes. You need to get that gas out of there. It sounds like it is varnished. I realize it could be the gasket too. But I know my last car smoked like a chimmney for a while.
I wouldn't hotrod it yet, Just incase the rings are reseating.

Unhook the fuel return and run that hose over the fenderwell and into a gas can. Start the car and let the overflow gas go into that can. Then fill it with fresh gas and it will still smoke for a long while getting the old gas coating off the inside of the lines.

Or atleast that has been my experiance with vehicles that have been setting up a long time.

Hope this helps. If the car is running, and you don't want to get the old gas out( which I would definately do). Don't put anyfresh gas in there, drive it almost empty, and then fill it. Or else just put a gallon or 2 in it.
And either way put a full bottle of GUMOUT in it. That stuff works wounders.
I always put it in the motorcycles that I buy that have gummed up carbs. I clean the carbs and get them running, and then add some of that stuff. It works wounders!
I use it over any of the other stuff. Some people scream seafoam, but two guys on here said they had a fire with it.LOL

And gum out is like $3.

Good Luck! hope the gasket isn't leaking.

curly

iTrader: (25)

white is coolant, blue is oil, what color is gas again? could you post a video or even picture of the exhaust smoke you're describing? Check for oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, that would indicate a head gasket failure. if you're getting oil or coolant in the combustion chamber (causing the smoke) it would be very significant. Like plumbs of smoke and your thread title would have more "!!!!!!!!!111OMG!!!!!!!!!111" in it.

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

\

Diagnose a problem before trying to "fix it". Cause if the HG isn't the problem, changing it probably won't fix it.

Erotomania

The coolant and oil seem to not be mixing. The coolant and oil smell like gas.
The exhaust smells like gas, I can get a video of the exhaust smoke up a little later. It doesnt smoke too bad at idle, but it really smokes under throttle. I put new gas in the car, but pulling out of the shop to go to the gas station 2 seconds down the road the car ran itself out of gas pulling into the gas station. It started back, but there is so little gas in the tank, turning was enough to kill the car. So I'm pretty sure I've got rid of that old gas. I added some STP fuel system cleaner I had sitting around for kicks. No clue how well it works or at all. I talked to my machine shop guy and he said the headgasket could be leaking combustion into the cars fluid but not quite leaking enough to show much oil and coolant mixing. I havn't hot rodded it at all, just idled and blipped the throttle a couple times and ran it back and forth from the gas station. It stumbles at idle but runs pretty well, has plenty of get up and go.

I may just go ahead and pull the head and let it get machined. Its a 6 hour turn around and 60 bucks and it'll make me sleep better at night.

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Or you could diagnose the problem. For example, do a compression test. This will tell you if there's a major problem with the head gasket. NOTE: It's easier/faster/cheaper to do compression test than to change a headgasket.

Or you could do a leakdown test. This is the best, as it will not only tell you if there's a problem, but where it is, as well as the severity of said problem. For example, you may find that you have 11% leakdown on cylinder two, and you see bubbles coming out of the radiator. Or, perhaps cylinder 4 has 33% leak down and you can hear air rushing out of the crankcase by removing the oil cap on the valve cover and listening.

Or you could rent a cooling system pressure tester kit from autozone and use it to pressurize the cooling system to check for leaks. If you had a blown head gasket that was leaking trace amounts of coolant into the cylinders, this test would allow you to diagnose that problem down the the affected cylinder.

There's no need in "chasing" a problem that you don't know exist. Search here for a guy named "NA6C-guy". He has a thread where he's pulled the head and changed the gasket, collectively, four times. Still never fixed his problem either.

Erotomania

I will probably do some tests before I do any tearing apart. I'm pretty sure the gasket is leaking, I'd still like to test and see where the leaks are before I tear it apart. With a car with this many little problems its easy to get lost chancing problems that aren't there.

I still want to try running the car for a while maybe just letting it idle at 1,500rpm for a long time to see if any of that smoke will start to go away or not. It hasnt gotten any better or worse yet but its maybe had 15 to 20 minutes of run time since I've had it.

Erotomania

I pulled the head again, I just had a feeling the head needed some attention if I ever expected to sort this motor out. I took it to a machine shop, they tested for cracks and leaks blah blah..but basicly the head was pretty intensely warped. The machine shop guy said if I warp the head again its junk, he had to machine that much out to flush it all up again. I got the head back, and the surface just looks so much better, and if thats what it should look like, I must have been crazy to think it would have ever held before warped or not!

I'll have another gasket tomorrow, and I'll have it all thrown back together and see where we are at. I'm hoping for the best but I'm expecting to see an improvement, this time I doubt I'll screw up the timing again.

before

after


My half done valve cover slaying


Excuse the pictures, long day and camera phone

Erotomania

Well no news yet as to if the headgasket is holding. The motor started up with a pretty nasty knock coming from one certain area of the valvetrain, I could put my ear right over the valve cover and hear it so I assumed a sticking lifter considering it didnt go away at all. Upon tearing everything down again, I found most my lifters were fine, a few were pretty well chewed up, lots of pits and surface imperfections. I put it all back together, made sure it was cleaner, and purposely changed the order of what lifter went where only putting the one that fit the smoothest in each valve. Rosenthal has lifters each costing 40 bucks, on ebay I can find topline and another off brand a full set for 100 bucks or so. Is there anything to be weary of with these cheaper lifters? When getting new ones do I just put some oil on them and drop them in or is there more to it? I'm really clueless on HLAs and when I search I'm just fishing through mountains of info on getting rid of ticking and noise.