Punched in the Breadbasket by Headgaskets

speedyg

Registered User
I never saw it comin'.......Well now I guess it is my turn for the headgasket replacement jobber. To sum it up there was a rough idle at a stop sign. A burst of white smoke when I drove off. I shut it down, smelled the coolant. And then I saw the antifreeze dripping outta my tail pipes. I have searched and found most of my answers and have a manual , Airtools, some time available, and no fear! (was that convincing?) :(

These are the remaining things I am unsure of:

I know all Headgaskets dont blow with coolant coming out of the tail pipe, What is this a sign of ?

Do I not use torque to yield with the ARP studs?

How do I resurface the block if the engine is in the car? cant huh?

I have a spare motor, would it be better to use it? Or would it be OK to use this motor even though it is flowing a lot of coolant out of the tailpipe?

Which brings up this question about preserving the bottom end (bearings)from pooling coolant........

Should I drain the coolant and the oil, refill the oil only, replace filter, run it for a minute, drain that oil and do it again before I take it a part for the gasket replacement? Does this matter? Or is the bottom end in future trouble anyway?
Thanks for anyones input

Brandon 1991 5spd
 
Coolant into the exhaust just gives you a sign of where it failed. It failed into the combustion chamber or intake manifold.

You should stop driving the car now. Dump the oil out so nothing is sitting in the coolant, and then do the head gaskets. No need to try to flush it now unless the car is going to need to sit for a long period of time.

Then after the work is done, replace the filter and oil with cheap stuff, run the car until it warms up and you are satisfied with everything. Then dump the oil and change the filter with the good stuff.

That may even be overkill if you don't find any coolant in the oil.
 
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