keep blowing head gasket on 5 psi bbsc

[snakey]

Just had all my seal redone a week ago and the car has already blown another head gasket...Oil all over the engine again...

Took her up to 130 mph short shifting and rolling onto the throttle with the 200 mile exedy clutch when it happenned...

Any suggestions for keeping these things in place????

It's been the head gasket at the rear of the vehicle the past two times..Directly in the center of the head..

 

[warren1205]

it could be a lot of things. When they did the head gasket, did you re thread your block, re-use the original head bolts, check if the block needed resurfacing, head resurfaced, what type of HG did you install and did you pressure test the heads and did they look for cracks on the sleeves. Answer all those questions first before you go any further.

 

[warren1205]

And we are assuming that tuning was good! I hope you didn't use that shi*** ss box! If i recall, at least 4 or five people warned you.

 

[tnguyen]

yeah detonation can be an issue too. I dunno much about the SS box, but a lean condition can cause a headgasket to go. If you reused the head studs that right there is a big no no cause they are torque to stretch.

Then head surface, then deck surface after that.

 

[Elite]

Need more details, but your head or block could be warped.

 

[angus]

How does "oil all over the engine" mean a blown headgasket?
Are you sure its a headgasket?
Where is the oil coming from?
Is it being blown out the breather?
Could be blowby causing excessive oil to come out the breather?

To answer your questions about how to reinforce the headgaskets , you could add headstuds , cometic gaskets and O-ring the heads , AFTER you determine :
A) the heads and block are straight
B) what is causing the detonation , or lean condition
C)how to prevent it from happening again (methanol injection and/or some sort of knock control)

continually repairing the affect , without addressing the cause is pointless.

 

[C-speed]

How does "oil all over the engine" mean a blown headgasket?
Are you sure its a headgasket?
Where is the oil coming from?
Is it being blown out the breather?
Could be blowby causing excessive oil to come out the breather?

To answer your questions about how to reinforce the headgaskets , you could add headstuds , cometic gaskets and O-ring the heads , AFTER you determine :
A) the heads and block are straight
B) what is causing the detonation , or lean condition
C)how to prevent it from happening again (methanol injection and/or some sort of knock control)

continually repairing the affect , without addressing the cause is pointless.

^ What he said.

Although, I highly doubt its due to detonation. The pistons/rings would tend to go first before the HG. Or you'll need some serious detonation events to kill the HG. Either way, if it were detonation, you'd see signs of it on the spark sparks and pistons - especially if it's happened more than once already and you still have the same bottom end.

It's most likely a warped head or block. OR its not the HG at all. 99% of the time when a HG blows, the car will blow smoke out the tail pipe - not blow oil all over the engine bay. That sounds more like a leak.

 

[snakey]

OK..Maybe Im wording this wrong...

What I consider the roller rocker cover some people call head covers ect.

It's the black cover towards the rear of the vehicle. I can clearly see the rubber gasket sticking out and this is were the oil/smoke is coming from. This is the second time in what appears to be the same location..

 

[C-speed]

OK..Maybe Im wording this wrong...

What I consider the roller rocker cover some people call head covers ect.

It's the black cover towards the rear of the vehicle. I can clearly see the rubber gasket sticking out and this is were the oil/smoke is coming from. This is the second time in what appears to be the same location..

Haha, ya you are definately wording it wrong... I'd say it's completely wrong terminology

The metal piece that 'covers' the head to keep the oil inside it is called the *VALVE COVER* - the name derives from the fact that it 'covers' the valvetrain assembly.

The gasket between the valve cover and the head is called the "VALVE COVER GASKET" - rightly named.. I'm sure you can figure that out on your own

If it is constantly leaking from that particular gasket and/or the gasket is constantly 'hanging' out, then there are only two possibilities:

1) You didn't place the gasket correctly in the valve cover channel that surrounds the perimeter of the valve cover itself, or you did place it in the channel, but it fell out when you flipped the valve cover right side up to place it on the head. A little Hondabond in the future will help hold it in place.

2) You installed the valve cover and gasket correctly, but didn't tighten the valve cover nuts correctly, hence the valve cover itself is loose on the head which gives it room to move up and down, allowing the gasket to eventually creep out of place.

Either way, easy fix - just take your time and a little more care when you reinstall a new one.



PS: a "head gasket" is the gasket the sits between the head and block. More specifically, between the bottom of the head and the top of the block. *NOT* the top of the head and the valve cover.

 

[ScienceofSpeed]

If you are sure that the gasket or more specificly the installation of the valve cover gasket is not the issue, you may wish to consider a breather tank to allow both valve covers to improve crankcase ventilation. We offer the one below, however, I do not believe it will work with the Basch supercharger with th jackshaft going across the front of the engine

http://www.scienceofspeed.com/produ...roducts/NSX/ScienceofSpeed/oil_breather_tank/

This breather tank is made specificly for the NSX and installs to existing bolt locations with out a need for drilling. It vents both valve covers and has an inline PCV valve for best performance.

Cheers,
-- Chris

 

[Elite]

Haha, ya you are definately wording it wrong... I'd say it's completely wrong terminology

The metal piece that 'covers' the head to keep the oil inside it is called the *VALVE COVER* - the name derives from the fact that it 'covers' the valvetrain assembly.

The gasket between the valve cover and the head is called the "VALVE COVER GASKET" - rightly named.. I'm sure you can figure that out on your own

If it is constantly leaking from that particular gasket and/or the gasket is constantly 'hanging' out, then there are only two possibilities:

1) You didn't place the gasket correctly in the valve cover channel that surrounds the perimeter of the valve cover itself, or you did place it in the channel, but it fell out when you flipped the valve cover right side up to place it on the head. A little Hondabond in the future will help hold it in place.

2) You installed the valve cover and gasket correctly, but didn't tighten the valve cover nuts correctly, hence the valve cover itself is loose on the head which gives it room to move up and down, allowing the gasket to eventually creep out of place.

Either way, easy fix - just take your time and a little more care when you reinstall a new one.



PS: a "head gasket" is the gasket the sits between the head and block. More specifically, between the bottom of the head and the top of the block. *NOT* the top of the head and the valve cover.

LOL, yes, you have a Valve Cover Gasket issue, not a Head Gasket issue. So basically it's what C-speed has said or one other possibility.. you are torquing the Valve cover nuts wrong somehow. And there are little tabs on the Valve Cover Gaskets that should be in the correct spots on the Valve covers for everything to fit right.

 

[David]

Now this thread makes more sense.

When you re-install it, clean the gasket carefully and the groove it goes into thoroughly. Then dab a bit of Hondabond in the 'corners' to help hold it in place while you assemble and tighten it.

If you are careful, it is not hard at all to do properly.

Best of luck with your project.

 

[angus]

^ What he said.

Although, I highly doubt its due to detonation. The pistons/rings would tend to go first before the HG. Or you'll need some serious detonation events to kill the HG.

Well this seems almost off-topic now but >
Thanks for backing me up on that one Crescent! I just wanted to add ;

Actually from what I've seen on honda motors , and I have dealt more with turbo than N/A - the headgasket is almost always first to go , especially in honda motors with composite gaskets - ie. - early D-series AND 3.0 NSX!
you will see the fire ring gets pushed out , into the water jacket , making it lose the seal , it is the weakest point on honda motors with composite gaaskets , the "shim" gasket is much more resilient and is more prone to leaking only under boost, where the car will not overheat or push the water out unless you get into boost.

 

[White92]

Wow what a beautiful engine! The owner of that car must be a lucky guy! :biggrin:

 

[ScienceofSpeed]

That's Shawn's stroked 3.6L ... he deserves it!

-- Chris

 

[snakey]

heres some pics....A few of the full engine bay I just took....Then a few i just took for Chris at SOS..I think I already have one of those??????

And then a few pics of some oil catch can thing...Im not exactly sure what it is suppossed to do????But i know that one of the hoses coming from it is only 3 feet long and has an open end that always has light smoke..WHY is THAT???

Cris at SOS..Is this a differant version of what you have????Referring to the metal peaice above the engine..Is it some type of oil resorvoir???

Sorry guys im used to vettes and Vipers and all this extra engine stuff is kinda new to me

 

[C-speed]

Well this seems almost off-topic now but >
Thanks for backing me up on that one Crescent! I just wanted to add ;

Anytime

Actually from what I've seen on honda motors , and I have dealt more with turbo than N/A - the headgasket is almost always first to go , especially in honda motors with composite gaskets - ie. - early D-series AND 3.0 NSX!
you will see the fire ring gets pushed out , into the water jacket , making it lose the seal , it is the weakest point on honda motors with composite gaaskets , the "shim" gasket is much more resilient and is more prone to leaking only under boost, where the car will not overheat or push the water out unless you get into boost.

You'd be surprised... I've been tuning Honda motors (na and fi) for almost 10yrs now, and I'd safely say that 9 times out of 10, detonation will cause the pistons to melt and/or the ring lands to break before the headgasket fails - even with forged internals.

The only time I can see detonation being the cause of a HG failure is if the detonation was very minor and was occurring for a prolonged period of time. Usually when things break, its on the dyno when you're pushing it, or the owner is doing it themselves and messes up and you get a moment of major detonation. That's when the piston/rings fail, they take the brunt of the force - not the headgasket.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the rod bearings take a beating as well

 

[Cody@LoveFab]

Edit: I forgot to mention that the rod bearings take a beating as well

And so can the main bearings and the Crank itself

 

[David]

Wow what a beautiful engine!

I wouldn't have put so much effort into powder coating that stuff if I had known Ponyboy was going to hang that ghetto alternator next to it. . . .

 

[Ponyboy]

I wouldn't have put so much effort into powder coating that stuff if I had known Ponyboy was going to hang that ghetto alternator next to it. . . .

I break wind in your general direction. Merry Christmas.

 

[C-speed]

And so can the main bearings and the Crank itself

It *can* hurt the crank and main bearings, but I've only see that in 1 case. The rod bearings can EASILY be hurt with moderate detonation. Generally, the crank and main bearings don't get hurt at all as they don't see any side loading from the detonation event.

The 1 case where it did render the crank unusable and hurt a few of the main bearings was on a 900rwhp supra (T78, methonal injection, etc etc). The wastegate line had degraded over time and eventually got a pin hole in it. The owner did not realize this, and punched it on the freeway. Boost is set to 2 bar, but it WAY overboosted and pegged the 3bar guage! Needless to say, it melted several pistons, and bent 2 rods and of course, the bearings we were originally talking about. So ya, in most cases (that I've seen or personally delt with), the crank and mains are fine.

 

[peiserg]

snakemaiester, did you ever resolve this? what was your course of action?

 

[snakey]

Yea....After about 1 year I think my oil leaks are finally takin care of...

Step1=4000$ for new timing belt and seals and exedy clutch installed( still slow drip coming from oil pan area)

step 2= valve cover seal comes out and oil drenches the vehicle( slow oil pan drip gets a lil worst)

step 3= have valve cover seal redone for free..Seems perfect ( then oil pan drip turns into massive leak spilling 3 quarts a day easy)

step 4= $100 to have have oil pan and exhaust taken down and and have the supercharger oil line that taps into oil pan retightened ( oil pan leak is 100% gone)

step 5= valve cover seal had a slight drip again, more of small barely visable bubbles actually..I saw that the oil level was about 1 quart to high and drained the level down to perfect..Problem went away even under full boost

step 6= at this time their are no leaks other than my oil catch can ocassionally putting out a few drops from being over flown..

So I still need an aem computer and 8 psi pully..As well I need the rear brake light seals as mine were ruined by my mechanic and now everytime theirs a heavy rain the trunk gets flooded..This resulted in my eclipse amp being destroyed...


With all that said before I let the mechanic touch my car I could smoke my buddies stock 2005 nsx pretty easily (Id say about 3 cars in front of him by 100 mph)..But after my mechanic touched the tuning..Well lets just say that from 20-100 mph the stock 2005 nsx was about 2 cars in front of me....

Not very happy with that but the aem and 8 psi pulley will have me around 370-400 rwhp SAE....So Im not to worried about it

 

[DRIFTER]

TRY getting the car Properly tuned before you blow it up.

 

[RON98]

get it tuned and stop detonating.