Possible Head gasket issue??
08-13-2015, 11:04 AM
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Possible Head gasket issue?? I ran my car pretty hard during lunch yesterday (forged 5.7 ls1 d1sc 9-10 lbs arp head bolts ls9 head gaskets 10:1 compression) and it pushed a little bit of coolant out of the radiator cap... the car never ran hot or smoked etc just curious if anyone else has had this happen?? coolant level was about 1 inch low in the radiator and started to fill back up when i restarted it after it cooled down a few hours later
08-13-2015, 11:55 AM
#2
I have a similar situation. I find just about every time I drive my car, I end up checking after the cools down and I'm about 6-8oz low on coolant again and I always seem to notice a Dex-like smell from the car, yet never see a drop of coolant anywhere. Oil doesn't appear milky, no obvious signs of oil in the coolant, but there is always that slight odor and always seem to "lose" a little regardless of how I drive it. I've come to the conclusion that I must be consuming it somewhere (despite the studs and LS9 MLS gaskets) through some minor imperfection, but it sure does get annoying.
08-13-2015, 12:10 PM
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Yeah I could actually see a small amount of the antifreeze sprayed around the area of the radiator cap in my situation though so maybe a bad radiator cap??
08-13-2015, 01:30 PM
#6
If you're getting manifold pressure in the rad the HG is leaking. The only thing you can do is re-torque the head studs and hope you don't see it again. If you do, you need to replace the leak. May also be a sign that you're cylinder pressure is spiking. Might be time to revisit the tune and drop timing down a bit.
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08-13-2015, 02:25 PM
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If you're getting manifold pressure in the rad the HG is leaking. The only thing you can do is re-torque the head studs and hope you don't see it again. If you do, you need to replace the leak. May also be a sign that you're cylinder pressure is spiking. Might be time to revisit the tune and drop timing down a bit.
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08-13-2015, 02:25 PM
#9
Eliminate any other possibilities like bad radiator caps and re torque the heads to see if it continues. 10:1 and a shitty tune is a perfect recipe for pushing water. It happens ALL the time with higher compression S/C cars. If Your going to flirt with mechanically achieving Max CP be sure your tune is spot on or pay the price.
08-13-2015, 02:45 PM
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Replacing the cap in the morning and I feel pretty comfortable with the tune Alvin at pcm of North Carolina tuned it and has done all my past cars as well
08-13-2015, 05:15 PM
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So I just got home checked coolant level, all good, warmed her up and went and drove the **** out of it again and everything was perfectly fine ran like a banshee and spit no water!!! What gives?!?!
08-13-2015, 08:19 PM
#12
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If the system over-pressurizes again and you can get your hands on a CO/combustion test kit, check it with that. In your case I would set up the tester and check the coolant in the overflow bottle as you slowly release some of the pressure/gases into the overflow from the radiator by very slowly loosening the radiator cap. Be damn careful. And it only takes a little turning of the cap to allow the gases out and into the overflow. The test kits are relatively cheap, easy to get and very accurate. Good luck!
08-14-2015, 02:28 PM
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