Mods are in my sig.... I’m hoping for just a blown head gasket....

So I took the car to the track (1/4 mile) and on my 4th run after it was done and heading back to the starting line, the motor started feeling weird so i pulled over turned it off, checked the oil and everything looked ok. Turn it back on and now a whole bunch of white smoke kind of smelling like coolant is comming out of the exhaust and the car is shaking with a little tick (Like a exhaust leak). Check the radiator and no coolant. So I call a tow truck to get the car back home. Once back home I turn it on again to get it in the garage and now the motor is surging bad like if i would have had a cam in it and a whole bunch of white smoke.... But no knock! so I’m hoping (wishful thinking) that it’s just a head gasket...

I have yet to take a look at anything.. probably do it this weekend. Drain the oil and see what it looks like. then remove the heads and see what that looks like.

Posting to get peoples opinions as well as a little help on diagnosing the problem

 

Just a guess...blown head gasket and a ringland or two lol

 

Just a guess...blown head gasket and a ringland or two lol

 

It does sound like a blown head gasket. Did you pull the heads yet?

 

Pulling them tomorrow...

 

I'll bet that you find more than a bad head gasket. Have you pulled the plugs yet to see if any of the electrodes (probably #7) are smashed? Bob

 

Leaving work in about 30min and will be working on the car in the next hr... I will let you know what i find. Im just hoping for the best!

 

Ok, let me start by saying that i checked the radiator again with a flash light and the coolant in the radiator was full. Checked the oil again and looked fine. Keep in mind i only drove the car for maybe a minute after I noticed something was wrong.

So i pulled the plugs and except for plug # 5 they all looked good. On plug #5 the gap was closed completely. So I crank the motor and no fluids coming out the spark plug holes except the gas from the injectors. So I put my finger in the hole and its wet, smell it and it smells like coolent. Did it to all the holes and the only one that is wet and smell like coolent was the #5.

Tomorrow I will drain the oil and start removing the heads. Im just going to remove the heads and check it out that way.

 

Since the electrode on #5 was closed completely, you'll likely find a piece of #5's piston ring land sitting on top of that piston when you pull the heads. Since you didn't drive it much after it happened, the bottom of the cylinder head should not be too damaged. These piston pieces can get themselves wedged between the piston and the block when the engine is running, and can cause the block to get a hairline crack in that cylinder bore. It is rare but I've seen it happen two or three times back at the old shop. Bob

 

Looks like i blew 2 pistons

Piston # 5





Piston # 7

 

That sucks, whats your plans now?

 

If you plan on reusing the block the first thing to do is to make sure there aren't any cranks in the bores. As I mentioned before, cracks are rare but they can occur. Bob

 

looks like the first guess was right

 

I haven’t decided yet. Either

1) Build a new forged block (383 or 347) and up the boost

2) Sell all the go fast parts, put a stock motor back in her and sell the car stock then by a z06

Decisions decisions????

 

Sucks,.... how much boost and what fuel when this happened?

 

9lb of boost and think it went lean in this cold weather

 

What fuel and timing?

 

What do you mean by "What fuel"?

Im not sure on the timing cars been sitting in the garage.

But i will tell you that the car lasted for 2 years with multible passes down the track, low 11s with 128 trap speeds and alot of 6500-6700 shifting going on!

I knew it wouldnt last that long with the abuse i put on it!

 

There is a 65K mile LS1 for sale on CL with AFR 205cc heads for $2500. Sell the heads and get the shortblock for a $1K. The block needs a couple threads repaired/helicoiled. It comes with an upgraded cam you could sell also to recoup some money and other parts.

 

I saw that.... I dont want to really deal with all of that tho