Tell me what you think of these compression numbers

[LoneS14NKS]

ok, KA24DE with 135,xxx ... compression is 160 - 170 - 180 - 150, front to back. im losing about a quart of water every 100 miles or so with no visible leaks, and after idling for a bit i get water spraying and grey nasty smelling exhaust. still seems to run ok, but not great. doesnt over heat even with the ac on .. unless i have a thermostat in it/.... HEAD????
Modified by LoneS14NKS at 1:04 PM 6/25/2008

[LoneS14NKS]

Really??? Noone has any idea cause im stumped, I drove it to Independence and back today, prob 70 miles round trip... with the AC on the whole time, let it idle for about 10 minutes with the AC on when i got there and still it ran fine. if i put a thermostat in it itll over heat. and there is a power loss. But its not noisy or anything, just doesnt run real strong 0-55mph.

[danielsan]

sounds like a blown head gasket.

[justy90240sx]

whats the oil look like? are your spark plugs discolored? i take it when the thermostat in it becomes worse as far as getting hot and losing water witch is caused because the thermostat causes more pressure in the block so i would say you have a bad headgasket. accually i would bet on it

[LoneS14NKS]

the oil looks good, no water in it at all, i just wanted to narrow it down before i started tearing it apart. i thought it was the head gasket too, but its been like that for like 6 months now and i drive it everyday, including a 1400 mile trip to kansas from florida with no problems ... now again thats without a thermostat, it has a 2in 2 core cxracing rad with dual fans, running straight water cause i dont want to blow a bunch of money on coolant that im just gonna burn up anyway. everything points to the head gasket but it doesnt get hot, not when i sit idle or run it hard or anything, just the smoke and water out the exhaust and loss of power ...

[Vegascorbin]

+1 for head gasket. You just got lucky in the section that let go did not cause more problems. Fix it now before things get worse. And they will eventualy get much worse, you just don't know when.

[Neil]

yyeah change your head gasket. Without a T stat and using straight water has apparently helped you to not overheat yet, but i suspect you will soon begin to lose a lot more than 15% of your compression.

If you rev it from the TB with the hood up, and look down in the radiator and see it get bubbly and fumy, that means your exhaust gasses are getting into the water jackets around the cylinders.

[LoneS14NKS]

thanks alot ... ill do that tomorrow morning.

[vanquish2]

Yep.....headgasket

[LoneS14NKS]

so it is possible to drive from florida to kansas with a bad head gasket and not have any problems??? I mean im not doubting anyone here i just want to be absolutely sure ... 1400 miles ... avg 70mph the entire trip ... air temp between 50F in florida and 30F in kansas, No tstat. can anyone recommend a good gasket set thats better than stock replacement but isnt going to cost a fortune??? I have a father in law who has been building drag cars and teaching auto shop at the HS for 30 years, 1 of 17 or 1700 (cant remember how the story goes,) mechs in the WORLD that are "certified everything" that has to do with auto repair, yada yada as the story goes ... anyway hes convinced that since i have done all this driving that its not in the head. he says that even with low air temps that if there was an issue in the head that it WOULD heat up and it WOULDNT go back down while it was running. As he lives 200 yards away from us on the same 40 acres id rather not start any **** by insulting his intelligence and all that ... i just want to make sure i have my facts straight before i start that discussion. hope you guys understand ... thank you for the advice so far.

[markex33]

you should try this http://www.steelseal.com I've done it in 8 different cars and it works really good. is only about $50.00 a bottle and is worth it

[LoneS14NKS]

nah thats cool ... i want it fixed right ... not so i can sell it off to some poor schmuck before he notices that the head has problems ... thanks though

[Neil]

I would definitely not try to drive 1400 miles...

that's like asking if its okay to give a fat kid more cake

[Se7in]

whats wrong with giving the fat kid more cake...?. I like cake.

Anyways, sounds like a blown head gasket. Best way to check is go to your local napa/ vatozone and get a block tester (balkamp # 700-1006 I think I'll check it out at work tomorrow), checks for hydrocarbons in your coolant. Thats a for sure way to tell, and it's not that expensive.

[LoneS14NKS]

I would definitely not try to drive 1400 miles...

that's like asking if its okay to give a fat kid more cake

no man, ive already made that drive like 4 months ago ... thats what i dont get ... did i really get that lucky ... to make the 1400 mile drive ... after i had already been driving it back and for to work for a month ... and ive been driving it around here too... thats why i came on here and asked cause i thought so but i had heard that it wouldnt be possible for the head to have a problem cause ive been ridin it out all this time, runnin the ac and everything and it doesnt over heat ... unless theres a tstat. but im going to try the leak detection and see whats up.

[Neil]

No I know you already made the trip once.

All I'm saying is basing your faith in making another 1400 mile trip with a known bad head gasket on the fact that you've done it once before is what I would call a "bad idea".

You can either fix it now, or make the trip with overwhelming odds in favor of a breakdown along the way.