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I cant seem to quit pushing water with my turbo ls engine.I currently range between 23-25psi and its always pushing water.Couple things I have been thinking about it filling the block up to the waterpump holes and I know this is one I might of done earlier is using actual arp studs instead of the china stuff.My newest idea is filling the block up to the pump holes and adding arp head studs.I also have the heads surfaced and using ls9 head gaskets...The tune I have been using is timing at 12-13 at 23psi and on the lambda scale im .69-.70 for fuel.I also run a csu blow through e85 750 carb.I know people say they run 20 psi on even head bolts but im not one of them and have tried several engines with all kinds of different tunes etc..Would love opinions and discussions just really looking at others that have been successful with these engines at 20+ pounds of boost..thanks in advance
Does the carb have the correct positive pressure setup on the power valves? I seem to recall there was a special kit at one point for that. But was many years ago and those brain cells may not have survived intact..
I never had an issue with my 6.0 with ls9 gaskets and reused head bolts. Rebuilt It, had the heads and block decked and got new ls9 gaskets and put in China studs. Blew the driver side gasket out around cyl #1 on about 12 psi. Took It apart, made sure everything was still flat, put new ls9 gaskets on both sides, and it almost immediately did the same thing.
I have since swapped to prc heads with the thicker deck and arp ca625 studs, (normal studs were on back order). I really think it was the China studs being I didn't have an issue with stock bolts, but I can't rule out the head was thin and warping. It was blowing out between the 2 head bolts right outside of cyl #1, it would also push water.
edit- that's also really rich for e85. Need to lean that out a little lol timing seems safe if it's correct.
You are pretty rich... Any reason for that? Peak power rich for E85 is 10.8:1 Around .74-.75. Should really shoot for around there. (even without an IC) Not that should cause head lifting issues at all, but it could be causing overly rich cyl wash down and *might* be adding to detonation issues.
There are guys running upwards of 41psi on standard ARP studs with OEM finished head/block surfaces and not pushing water. So I do't think theres some magic to it. No specialty parts needed that is. I run hot air stuff around 20-23psi and haven't pushed any water on 2 builds... About 10 others if you count intercooled setups. Thats on ARP bolts, untouched head/deck surface and LS9 gaskets.
Id question what you have changed. Could the resurfacing job on the heads of been sub-par? Maybe deck is damaged? Generally once they start pushing water its a done deal. I'd get a new set of heads on there. Its likely the cheapest option. If you are pushing water on ARP studs and LS9 gaskets TQ'd reasonably... something has to be off. Your tune doesn't "sound" bad. Have you verified the timing? positive you are actually at 13*? Id lower timing to 9* from 3500-5000 and see if it still pushes water. What do you shift at? Where do the RPM's fall on the shift? Shouldn't be anywhere near PK TQ.
You are pretty rich... Any reason for that? Peak power rich for E85 is 10.8:1 Around .74-.75. Should really shoot for around there. (even without an IC) Not that should cause head lifting issues at all, but it could be causing overly rich cyl wash down and *might* be adding to detonation issues.
There are guys running upwards of 41psi on standard ARP studs with OEM finished head/block surfaces and not pushing water. So I do't think theres some magic to it. No specialty parts needed that is. I run hot air stuff around 20-23psi and haven't pushed any water on 2 builds... About 10 others if you count intercooled setups. Thats on ARP bolts, untouched head/deck surface and LS9 gaskets.
Id question what you have changed. Could the resurfacing job on the heads of been sub-par? Maybe deck is damaged? Generally once they start pushing water its a done deal. I'd get a new set of heads on there. Its likely the cheapest option. If you are pushing water on ARP studs and LS9 gaskets TQ'd reasonably... something has to be off. Your tune doesn't "sound" bad. Have you verified the timing? positive you are actually at 13*? Id lower timing to 9* from 3500-5000 and see if it still pushes water. What do you shift at? Where do the RPM's fall on the shift? Shouldn't be anywhere near PK TQ.
Good luck!
I switched to the arp head bolts and brian Tooley gaskets and so far im not pushing water.I also had my head resurfaced.I shift at 7000-7200 rpm.IM slowly leaning the mixture out I just had so much other stuff happening I was always just trying to keep from sinking.The winter blend and summer blend on the carbs can be a issue as far as a/f if you buy it at the pumps.We get the e content different alot so I seem to alwasy have it alittle rich so I dont grenade it if I get some really differnent e from the pump
My main takeaway from this is he pushed water in the posts before with china head studs, and now he is ok. Am I right?
the things I changed are the china studs,ebay style head gaskets and had the heads resurfaced.I hit 21+ psi several times in the last few days with it and havent pushed any water at all so far..
Great to hear! Lots of guys going fast on china studs as well. But with the quality of the china studs being hit/miss I prefer the ARP bolts. At least you know what you have with those. Priced similar as well. Id suspect the ebay gaskets more than anything. The LS9's have always done me right. Every time I've run something different I've pushed water.
I know Capizzi and a few others spoke about the water pushing issues on big power LS SBE stuff. They basically stated if you have good surfaces they hold for 20-30 passes at 1200+whp. Then the heads themselves seem to warp. They said you could throw on another stock head or go for an aftermarket head with a thicker deck and stop worrying about it. If you can stay around 1000 crank they seem to last a long time in my experience. Right around where the wallace weight VS trap calculator put my stuff anyway.
I never had an issue with my 6.0 with ls9 gaskets and reused head bolts. Rebuilt It, had the heads and block decked and got new ls9 gaskets and put in China studs. Blew the driver side gasket out around cyl #1 on about 12 psi. Took It apart, made sure everything was still flat, put new ls9 gaskets on both sides, and it almost immediately did the same thing.
I have since swapped to prc heads with the thicker deck and arp ca625 studs, (normal studs were on back order). I really think it was the China studs being I didn't have an issue with stock bolts, but I can't rule out the head was thin and warping. It was blowing out between the 2 head bolts right outside of cyl #1, it would also push water.
edit- that's also really rich for e85. Need to lean that out a little lol timing seems safe if it's correct.
on this gasket was it put on wrong.It looks like the small hole on the gaskets was put over the larger water passages in block.This was a question I had on the some of the ebay gasktest.They have front marked on the gakset and that put the larger ports towards the front of the block instead of in the rear where the larger ports are.I could be totally looking at it wrong and looked all over the net trying to find out with the ebay gaskets as far as proper orentiation.
on this gasket was it put on wrong.It looks like the small hole on the gaskets was put over the larger water passages in block.This was a question I had on the some of the ebay gasktest.They have front marked on the gakset and that put the larger ports towards the front of the block instead of in the rear where the larger ports are.I could be totally looking at it wrong and looked all over the net trying to find out with the ebay gaskets as far asb proper orentiation.
nope it was installed 100% correct. Them saying front on them makes it easy, and that was straight from the dealership. I believe the china studs were just junk. The gasket pictured was after 1 40 mph roll on to 12ish psi, blew it's back right out. Lol
nope it was installed 100% correct. Them saying front on them makes it easy, and that was straight from the dealership. I believe the china studs were just junk. The gasket pictured was after 1 40 mph roll on to 12ish psi, blew it's back right out. Lol
in the 2 pics one has front markedl and it puts the larger water passages towards the font of the engine.The original ls 9 gaskets in the 1st pic have the larger water passages in the rear of the block.This is where I had some confusion during install.When I saw you pic it looked like something pushed your gaskets up right at the passage port.Im real new to this and alway looking for info
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block fill and pushing water issues 
in the 2 pics one has front markedl and it puts the larger water passages towards the font of the engine.The original ls 9 gaskets in the 1st pic have the larger water passages in the rear of the block.This is where I had some confusion during install.When I saw you pic it looked like something pushed your gaskets up right at the passage port.Im real new to this and alway looking for info