Hey guys,
I just finished my first head gasket job. I used RJC Bullet Proof Head gaskets (.030 thicknesses) with ARP Head Studs. I was very meticulous about doing the job as perfectly as possible. I ran the car and drove it around for about 15 minutes.
I'm having two questions/problems:
1.) My scanmaster is showing sky high coolant temps that do not match up with my Autometer water temperature gauge. My Autometer got up to about 150-160 but my scanmaster CLT erratically climbed up to 260! I freaked out, killed the motor and checked to see if my engine had drank a nice tall radiator of coolant but the coolant level was fine. The radiator was not over boiling I even tried touching the radiator and it wasn't really all that hot. I think I probably have an air pocket in my intake manifold. Is this possible? What can I do about it?
2.) This may be normal or my own paranoia but when I started the car up I got a lot of white smoke coming out of the tailpipes. I should note that the car had been sitting for a while so I wiped some oil in the cylinder walls to be safe before I put the engine back together and I used a lot of carbon cleaner to clean the piston heads. The white smoke almost totally disappeared I watched it idle and saw a few puffs of smoke every now and then. Is it normal for a car to smoke so much after this kind of job?
Details about the install:
-I cleaned the block surface with medium (red) resurfacing pads and lacquer thinner after cleaning all of the carbon off of the tops of each piston.
-Stock heads magnafluxed, resurfaced (.010 or less), given a full valve job, and hot tanked. I then pained them black with high temp black ceramic paint.
-Intake resurfaced mating surfaces, EGR tower plugged, All plenum bolt holes were "heal-a-coiled or helicoiled". I painted it with high temp aluminum ceramic paint and installed an EGR Block off plate.
-Due to the difference in gasket thickness and the resurfacing of the head I bought a set of new pushrods that are .040 shorter than the original.
-I'm using an OEM style intake manifold gasket.
-Soaked studs, nuts, and washers in brake cleaner before use.
-Hand tightened ARP Studs into Block with Loctite 567.
-Used assembly lube on washers and nuts for studs.
-Used RJC Torque specs / sequence (10 ft/lbs increments up to 50 ft/lbs, 5 ft/lbs increments to 85 ft/lbs.
-Oiled rockers and rocker shaft before reinstalling valve covers.
After I was finished I unplugged the ECM power and let the starter crank for a good 20 seconds to get some oil in the system. Then it fired up on the first try.
Scanmaster numbers are all great except coolant. Engine sounds better seems to run smoother than ever.
INT 128 bounces above and below
BLMS 128
16 In/Hg Vacuum
I just finished my first head gasket job. I used RJC Bullet Proof Head gaskets (.030 thicknesses) with ARP Head Studs. I was very meticulous about doing the job as perfectly as possible. I ran the car and drove it around for about 15 minutes.
I'm having two questions/problems:
1.) My scanmaster is showing sky high coolant temps that do not match up with my Autometer water temperature gauge. My Autometer got up to about 150-160 but my scanmaster CLT erratically climbed up to 260! I freaked out, killed the motor and checked to see if my engine had drank a nice tall radiator of coolant but the coolant level was fine. The radiator was not over boiling I even tried touching the radiator and it wasn't really all that hot. I think I probably have an air pocket in my intake manifold. Is this possible? What can I do about it?
2.) This may be normal or my own paranoia but when I started the car up I got a lot of white smoke coming out of the tailpipes. I should note that the car had been sitting for a while so I wiped some oil in the cylinder walls to be safe before I put the engine back together and I used a lot of carbon cleaner to clean the piston heads. The white smoke almost totally disappeared I watched it idle and saw a few puffs of smoke every now and then. Is it normal for a car to smoke so much after this kind of job?
Details about the install:
-I cleaned the block surface with medium (red) resurfacing pads and lacquer thinner after cleaning all of the carbon off of the tops of each piston.
-Stock heads magnafluxed, resurfaced (.010 or less), given a full valve job, and hot tanked. I then pained them black with high temp black ceramic paint.
-Intake resurfaced mating surfaces, EGR tower plugged, All plenum bolt holes were "heal-a-coiled or helicoiled". I painted it with high temp aluminum ceramic paint and installed an EGR Block off plate.
-Due to the difference in gasket thickness and the resurfacing of the head I bought a set of new pushrods that are .040 shorter than the original.
-I'm using an OEM style intake manifold gasket.
-Soaked studs, nuts, and washers in brake cleaner before use.
-Hand tightened ARP Studs into Block with Loctite 567.
-Used assembly lube on washers and nuts for studs.
-Used RJC Torque specs / sequence (10 ft/lbs increments up to 50 ft/lbs, 5 ft/lbs increments to 85 ft/lbs.
-Oiled rockers and rocker shaft before reinstalling valve covers.
After I was finished I unplugged the ECM power and let the starter crank for a good 20 seconds to get some oil in the system. Then it fired up on the first try.
Scanmaster numbers are all great except coolant. Engine sounds better seems to run smoother than ever.
INT 128 bounces above and below
BLMS 128
16 In/Hg Vacuum
