Second opinion(s) wanted

[Joe]

So i took the car to work saturday just for ****s and giggles. when i get home i notice a small coolant leak near my lower hose @ the engine (couldnt pinoint) and a bubbling, burning noise in the rear cylinders. i immediatley removed the radiator cap and my coolant was a dark brown color and the level was moving rapidly up and down. i drained the coolant today and sure enough, nice brown color, all of it. the coolant was 2 weeks old BTW, changed it for a drift event. anyway im 99% certain my headgasket decided it had enough and left, wich at 84k miles and how much i beat the piss out of my engine on track, im not surprised.

couple questions

1) diagnosis sound correct? anything im overlooking?

2) is it easier to pull the engine to replace the HG than try and deal with it in the car? (also planning other upgrades while its out, water pump, oil pump, timing belt, maybe cams.)

3) any tips or suggestions? never done a HG on a RB before.

[JonPowell]

You can change the head gasket in the car, MUCH easier out, but possible in. You wil have to yank your bumper & radiator to sccess the lower crank pulley so you can remove the timing belt, but all in all its not that bad.

I would check the oil and see what it looks like, see if you are leaking coolant into the oil. check compression also.

Might just have a bunch of **** in the engine that is getting moved around/relocated.

[Nameless EJ6]

What did it look like last time you drained? If it was green and nice looking/smelling then ya, I'd say head gasket.

I'd drop the engine out for a head gasket job. Beats sticking your hands under the intake mani and disconneting/unbolting stuff.

Maybe try a leakdown first to make a proper diagnosis..

[Joe]

last time i changed the coolant the coolant was 90% green and a small portion brown. i wrote it off to just contaminates in the engine because it was very dirty inside the radiator and hoses when i got it. i flushed what i could but you can never get it all.

my buddy has my comp tester so ill be doing that this week and as for a leakdown dont have the tools at the house to do it.

what would explain the burning noise after the car is off tho?

[JonPowell]

If there is a leak int he coolant system, it wont hold pressure and allow the coolant to boil. Could be all it was...no clue.

[Joe]

If there is a leak int he coolant system, it wont hold pressure and allow the coolant to boil. Could be all it was...no clue.

really.

it was leaking from my lower hose.

[eh?]

It's easy doing it in car. You just need to remove the radiator to put a socket on the crankpulley. I didn't need to remove my bumper like JP mentioned.I've done it about 3 times in car. You will need someone to hold the other side of the head when you pull it. It's a back breaking job. Putting on the head back on is a pain too. if you don't already have headstuds, buy them now. They will make lining up the head 100x easier. Another thing is the hood support rod get in the way when removing and installing the head. Find another way to hold the hood up.

[JonPowell]

Or take the hood right off!

[Carl H]

what would explain the burning noise after the car is off tho?

if you mean boiling noise i would say you have a hella air bubble which is causing coolant to boil.

[Joe]

what about the brown coolant then? lol one of these i can write off but its just too many things.

[Imissmyturbo]

My coolent is turned redish/brown. I am sure my HG is fine since the car runs good and doesn't loost any coolent. I think it's from the iron block. I also run pure water with 40 below addiative. I know coolent has some anti corrossion properties to it but I can't run coolent in this heat for the car will run too hot.

[Carl H]

My coolent is turned redish/brown. I am sure my HG is fine since the car runs good and doesn't loost any coolent. I think it's from the iron block. I also run pure water with 40 below addiative. I know coolent has some anti corrossion properties to it but I can't run coolent in this heat for the car will run too hot.

damn dude, not good news.you should always run coolant in a street car, rust and ionization will **** up the engine like you wouldnt believe.the corrosive nature of pure water combined with a AL head is horrible you should never do that in a car that is daily driven.while you are right pure water does cool the best it also is the worst for a car's cooling system.if i were you i would run 25% coolant with 1/2 bottle of redline water wetter and the rest pure water.i had that setup on my s13 for the longest time and i never had a problem.in my s14 ive got approx 60% water and 40% coolant and in this sweltering carolina heat the car isnt doing too badly.

[Joe]

are there any worthwhile coolant flushes that will get what rust and crap that is in the engine out?

[eh?]

It's the impurities in water that cause corrosion not the water itself. You should be using Distilled water if not using coolant.

IS the water brown? Or a thick milkshake? What you should do is drain the system and use a graden hose to flush the block and radiator. refill and go out for a hard drive. Stop, let cool down. If you have a leak you should see oil drops in the coolant or a big leak you will see a milkshake top layer.

[Joe]

its brown, not milkshake consistency. this coolant is only 2 weeks old. my last one was 3 months and 4 track days (7 hours of actual on track driving, 3 of wich drifting) only had a very slight top layer of brown wich i just thought was corosion. almost all my coolant was brown now.

[eh?]

Have you added any oil?

[Joe]

did my oil before the coolant (1.5 months) no signs of coolant mixed. havent replaced it since. i check it periodically and no signs on the dipstick or filler cap. i dont "add" oil, it dosent burn and the level hasnt changed.

[biglipzit]

oil and collant makes a milky pearl effect but not brown. Just sounds like you are getting rust buildup that finally blew through in the engine.

[eh?]

Don't bother changing the HG then.

[Joe]

compression results

150 145 145 140 145 145

throttle closed on cold engine. im gonna get new hoses (lower hose is ghetto rigged like a mother****er..), find a good cooling system flush and reinstall everything.

[jilo860]

hey if you need to get the block flushed out try to find a shop that uses bg products. they make an insane coolant flush system (as wella s flushes for all other fluids and an intake clean too) this stuff would work wonders to the nasty cars we brought into class at wyotech. if i remember correctly the chemicals only cost lie 30 dollars and it is really worht it. just my 2cents