Heating Issues

[Rolla__Boy]

Ok, So I have my supercharger on, and like I suspected, it magnified my small engine temp problem into a big problem.

 

I had a blown head gasket recently (due to a split heater hose and an idiot not watching the temp guage) and I was stuck at the coast with nowhere to shave my head, so we chucked a new gasket on it, and I drove it home. It has been playing up a little, getting hot sometimes, but not losing water. And it has been getting massive pressure in the radiator after only a few minutes running.

 

I suspected a cracked head, or the head wasn't flat. But I was just hoping it would be something else.

 

I also had to use a cut thermostat in it at the coast as nowhere had a thermostat. So I changed that, and it helped a little. I then flushed the radiator, which made next to no difference, so I ran some Bars cleaner in the system, and it must have cleared something that I didn't want cleared (ie. a piece of head gasket) and now is losing water and getting way too hot.

 

I went in today and got a quote to get a full head service and a pressure test and shave. $250, plus $50 for a graphite head gasket that the guy recommended. I know nothing about heads, and he seemed to know what he was talking about.

 

So anyways, I am thinking that is the only way to go now, and I will get the radiator cleaned at the same time.

 

Any thoughts as to what else I could do, or any general comments on my situation would be helpful.

 

Thanks guys

[ROLLN'03]

Find a cheap block to throw in for a bit.....?

 

Thats one of the great things about old rollas.... :hmm:

[Rolla__Boy]

Kinda defeats the purpose of having a Supercharged 5K.

 

I don't need the car on the road...I have another registered one. I just want everything done, so I have as few problems later as I can.

[Super Jamie]

i run a graphite head gasket too. you install them with no sealant, the idea of the graphite is to allow the different metals (iron block, alloy head) to move around as they expand at different rates

 

graphite is a lubricant. you use graphite grease when you assemble an engine, on everything except the piston rings. you use graphite grease on things like brake caliper sliders and wheel studs as well. "running in oil" is just a fairly thin mineral oil with bits of graphite in it

 

i think it's a good idea. my sortof-high compression 10.1:1 4k got hot fairly quickly (metal wise) so i can only imagine the sort of dynamic ratios a supercharged engine is getting subjected to, a well stuck down standard head gasket would have a tendancy to cause problems. a graphite gasket is also a bit thicker, 080 uncompressed and 050 compressed, as opposed to around half that for a normal hg

[Rolla__Boy]

Stewart said that I might need to use Hylomar to ensure the graphite HG seals, as the graphite one wont have as much "squish" as a standard one.

[Super Jamie]

sealing a graphite head gasket defeats the purpose of using it in the first place. mine seals fine

 

if you keep having problems blowing gaskets, either wind the boost down or o-ring the bores ($$$)

[Rolla__Boy]

Blowing head gaskets from the SC has never been an issue...the head gasket on this engine blew before I put the SC on.

Stewart is pretty switched on about this stuff though.

I dunno...I just want the f@$kin thing to work...it's pissing me off

[dysolve]

go and see jakes preformance..(in mitchell) he seems to know a bit about rolla's (he races one) he should be able to do it a little cheaper..

[Rolla__Boy]

I would burn my car to the ground before it went ANYWHERE near Jakes Performance...thanks anyway

[kangaroosa]

Sorry that this is a little OT, but i normally use an off the shelf HG (whatever they are made of) and rarely have dramas with them.

I'm curious about these Graphite ones though, as i have never heard about them.

Who makes them?

Do you guys just order them through your local auto parts shop?

[Super Jamie]

i think mine have been fel-pro or something? i got them thru the machine shop who bored and balanced my motor

[Rolla__Boy]

From what I have been reading today, ACL are graphite.

ACL

[Super Jamie]

i can guarantee you they aren't. an ezy-fit or monotorque gasket looks massively different than my graphite thing

[Felix]

just get the head skimmed ~$50.

 

these days i coat head gaskets with permatex no3, around all the water galleries. i haven't had any sealing issues in a long time, ie many many years. worked well even on my mother in laws gemini which had a blown head gasket (they are WAY worse than corollas). worst bit about doing this is the heads are hard to pry off later. :hmm:

 

4psi boost shouldn't need o-ringing. a 9:1 CR 4K with 4psi is an effective CR of 11.4:1, definitely not over the top.

 

if anything i would be looking at a better radiator, once you have the head sealed properly. something from a 2 liter should do well (a 1500 with 4psi boost thinks it is a 1900cc engine), maybe bigger if you up your boost later.

[Rolla__Boy]

4 psi is just what it happens to be running. I am getting a bigger pulley (8-10psi)

 

The car doesn't run hot with the supercharger on it. (Have had the supercharger on 4K's for 5 years) This isn't the problem. The problem is that I had a blown head gasket and didn't get the head shaved. But I am now concerned about what other damage has been done to the head. The guy told me today it may have lost it's hardness, and may also be cracked (although unlikely).

 

I was intending to get a 3 core radiator for it when I decided to put the supercharger on it.