Blown or crakced head gasket?

[kainvamp]

OK so i have been having some really bad coolant loss over the past few days. It started wehn my water pump went and I started to overheat. It didnt overheat too bad and as soon as i noticed the temp up i pulled over.

I was able to replace the water pump the next day (on the side of a busy road because the jackass mechanic at the gas station i was parked at said i wasnt aloud to do it on his property), and no more leak from that area. On the way home I again notice the temp start to rise, I imediately pull over and notice coolant streaming from under my car. I got some watter and kept pouring it in till I got home to realize it was coming from the heater core. I then bi-passed the heater core and voila, no more visible leak from anywhere.

I thought I fixed all possible leaks, only to realize with a few trips around the block that my coolant is still diminishing. Much less than before, but I needed to add like a half gallon of after like every 5 miles of driving.

There seems to be the smell of coolant burning, so can anyone tell me what they think the main problem could be? It has to be burning off, because there is no more leakages I can see, and it goes fast.

So the main thing i would like an opinion on is, could it just be the head gasket, or could it be something much worse?

[kainvamp]

Also, Ive just had this engine put into my car and have not ran it hard at all, it should have between 30-40,000 miles on it.

[doridori23]

Pull your oil dipstick and see if it looks like a milkshake (from the water and oil emulsifying). Otherwise there is a good chance that when getting hot your head warped or your gasket cracked. If your really really unlucky it is a leak at a sleeve but that is pretty rare if the motor has never been torn apart.

[Deadrodent]

bump for similar problems!

[Hijacker]

Dori hit the nail on the head. Check your oil for water in it. It looks like a milky substance. On some rare occassions, oil gets into the coolant, but that's hard to to since the coolant system is pressurized.

You should notice your exhaust is smelling sweet from the burning antifreeze as well as leaving white smoke behind.

If it is a headgasket issue, I highly suggest having both the head and block redecked as the gasket likely blew from an overheat warping the mating surfaces.

[rps13sh]

check your pistons! what i do is take out the coilpacks, then plugs, use a thin led light and stick it in the head to see the pistons. if you have liquid then you need a new headgasket. sometimes it wont mix with the oil so you wont get the milky oil with a bad headgasket. but if its evaporating and you dont see any leaks then its probably going into the pistons and being pushed out the exhaust.

[Sugar]

To put your mind at ease just do a compression test. It takes 30 minutes and couldn't be easier.

Warm engine.
Pull all spark plugs.
WOT and Crank until the pressure stops climbing or I always let it crank about 10 times.
Read Compression go to next cylinder.


The internet will tell you a thousand things your problem could be but compression test is pretty dead on when checking for a leaky head gasket.

[PyR0NiAk]

Sugar, you're posting useful things in every thread. How'd we end up with a new member that is doing nothing but helping people? I like it..

[Sugar]

I just got sick of seeing everyone reply to people with the most general and useless information that they were probably told by there cousins friends ex girlfriends nephew. I've had my s13 for about 5 years now, decided I should try to help out while spending countless hours on the internet at night.

[Blown240sx]

Turbo could also be culprit if the motor checks out.

[PyR0NiAk]

I just got sick of seeing everyone reply to people with the most general and useless information that they were probably told by there cousins friends ex girlfriends nephew. I've had my s13 for about 5 years now, decided I should try to help out while spending countless hours on the internet at night.

hope you stick around

[s14tan]

I just got sick of seeing everyone reply to people with the most general and useless information that they were probably told by there cousins friends ex girlfriends nephew. I've had my s13 for about 5 years now, decided I should try to help out while spending countless hours on the internet at night.

I like him.
I wish the new members were more like him, have you guys seen 240 gen lately? my god..
Great job bro.

[OM3GA]

I like him.
I wish the new members were more like him, have you guys seen 240 gen lately? my god..
Great job bro.

I know, it has been keeping me away a little bit more than usual