I think I blew the head gaskets, again.

JasonMiller94SC

Registered User
I was hoping this would never happen again after I installed the MLS gaskets but seeing bubbles in the overflow tank it looks like it has. Has anyone else had problems after installing MLS gaskets?
 
Yep. If your AFR is right then you need to run less timing. Each motor is different based on the cam, combustion chamber efficiency, boost, and compression ratio so you can't predict exactly how much timing a given engine will need without hands on tuning and even then you can be too aggressive. The motor will continue to pick up power even when detonating slightly so it can be misleading.

Most often the MLS gaskets will lift under boost and reseal during normal driving moreso than the old style so you end up with a little bit of a "grace period" with them but if you have bubbles you have leakage...

Also check for oil consumption. Bad valve guides or rings will cause oil to get into the chambers and oil is a guarantee for detonation.

David
 
I have been having a problem with the number 3 fouling the plug with oil. I thought maybe I had a bad valve seal. Would the oil in the chamber cause it to detonate?
 
I got the passenger side head off and number 3 was the plug that kept fouling with oil. Now it looks like it has been burning normal. Would getting coolant in the chamber and buring it the last time it was driven have cleaned off that plug? Also, if the head gasket was bad before I saw bubbles in the overflow tank could that have let oil get into the chamber fouling the plug?
 
Could it be that you've been getting excessive blow by allowing oil to collect in the back of the manifold and run down into cylinder #3? How does the back of the intake valve look? How are the valve guides/seal?

Yes, oil will cause detonation. Oil has a much lower flash point temperature than gasoline. It will ignite on compression only causing the rest of the mixture to ignite way early.

Does the gasket show signs of carbon blowing out past the compression rings? If not then you'll need to pull the driver's head because you should be able to see traces of leakage. Well, you've gone this far you really need to pull the other one anyway.

Do you have any good pictures of the #3 plug? How about the rest?
 
Here are some pictures I took. Number 3 was the one tht was getting oil in it. Number 2 is just to have something to compare it to.
 

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which cylinder are u callin #3? Middle one on passenger side or one closest to the firewall on passenger side?

At least the plugs are indexed right.

edit- nevermind i see the caption that comes up on the thumbnail.
 
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FYI, burning coolant will make a plug look very clean. Perhaps a little bit of greenish deposits on the plug as well. If you do have a HG problem and you find one clean plug, it's a good bet that that cylinder has the leak. Not that it really matters, because you wouldn't replace one side at a time anyway.
 
Number 3 being the closest to the firewall. The car is at a friends house in his garage. I looked at the heard and coudn't really find a place where it was leaking. The rubber material was coming off everywhere.
I have a bad feeling I know what the problem is. When I first put the motor together it was together for about 600 miles and then I spun a rod bearing.
I took the short block to Coy Miller's shop to be built. When I picked it up I asked if they had any new gaskets and he told me since they were not on there very long to just reuse the ones I had.
Well I'll not reuse the same ones again. What's the best MLS gaskets to get. I had the felpro MLS gaskets in it before.
 
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