Head F@#k

[STAGE-A]

looks like my head is farked!! ive got a lot of white smoke/steam coming out of the exhaust . bit of oil on the exhaust tip to. Ive just marked the coolant resovoir bottle and will keep a close eye on it.

Does this sound like a farked head or is there anything else it could be? Only optimistic thought i had was that my car is parked out on the driveway overnight so could maybe be a lot of condensation in the exhaust . will have to drive it around an see what happens... i'll post back .

Any ideas how much a new head would be or getting it overhauled? or would this be the time to look at some more serious mods?

Cheers

Lee

Edited July 16, 2006 by STAGE-A

[stasis]

dont borther overhauling just whack in a new donk in it.

Perhaps an RB26?!!

[CruiseLiner]

stasis dont be silly mate the 26 conversion is pretty pricey and not worthwhile, just buy a 260rs if he wants a 26.

now it could just be condensation as said, or even a blown head gasket. check your oil dipstick and make sure the oil isnt milky white and also under the radiator cap make sure its got no oil in it or bubbles coming to the top constantly while its running. (dont check it when its boiling hot or you will burn yourself taking the cap off)

could even be the turbo seals gone (cant remember what colour smoke is with turbo gone), or easiest way to tell turbo is give it some throttle onto boost and when u back off it will usually smoke pretty bad just as u back off.

head wouldnt be that pricey, i'd say under $1000 easy (well $1000 seems cheap to me from my expenditures but maybe not to you )

other option is take it to a radiator shop and ask them to test it for a blown head gasket, which takes them 5 min to do and thats a 99% accurate test, or do a compression test and u will be able to tell also.

i'd say u are worrying over nuthin but you never know.

let us know how it goes mate

Edited July 16, 2006 by CruiseLiner

[qikstagea]

id say at the worst, head gasket. Unless the car has been really put through some hardcore paces fairly repeatedly, a head shouldnt be cracked or corroded so soon in its life. If its been boiled it may be warped, but yeah.

Like CL said, get it checked. Head gaskets are costly to replace just cos of the time and labour that goes into it, hey. Someimtes you never know for sure til the heads off, though.

[GoldZilla]

Yep, what they said: probably a blown head gasket. Apart from the milky-white coloured oil (this is from the oil and water mixing together), you might notice that the exhaust smoke is kinda grey too.

If it's the head gasket, it's not a huge issue. Time consuming job, yes, but not too difficult for even an experienced home mechanic. The head might be warped, but if not they should machine shave it anyway so that when they put the new head gasket on it creates a proper seal...

[Sydneykid]

Get a leak down test and a water system pressure test done. Then you will know what's going on and we can offer some sensible advice. Until then, it's all just guess work.

cheers

[stasis]

soz cruise just been a bit mischivious thats all.

If you park outside overnite you will get that smokey thing and especially if you switch on your heater as weel.

Now the quickest way to check whether your head are cracked internally is check the radiotor fluid. If theres oil in it it means its crakes. Check from the oild dipstick will do the job as well. But just double check.

Let us know

[STAGE-A]

cheers everyone!!!

ill take it to get a proper check tomorrow .. ive checked the oil and no signs of water (milky residue ) just waiting for it to cool down a bit now before i try to run it with the radiator cap off like CL mentioned ... will let ya knows after the tests are done

Cheers

lee

Edited July 16, 2006 by STAGE-A

[FLYSLY]

I personally would not say head gasket.

I would be saying turbo is gone for sure.

I am in the middle of putting back together a pulsar that i have which did a head gasket. When the gasket went it was not blowing smoke especially not white smoke.

White smoke=Turbo

Id be happy to be proven wrong

From what i understand white smoke usually means turbo

[FLYSLY]

To get the head on the pulsar rebuilt was $600, but that was to fit some new valves as some were bent from a previous incident were the timing belt snapped on me.

That price is just the head being re-built, no labour costs as i am doing the work myself.

As to someone saying that a head gasket is easy to do, it is not easy at all, very time consuming timing belt has to be removed/re-placed, cams removed, valve springs everything else that needs to be removed.

I would not be recomending it for someone with no mechanical experience.

Once again my opinion and each to their own.

Simon

[CruiseLiner]

my moneys on turbo as well considering u been thrashin it the past couple of days

to check turbo cant u check your inlet cooler piping and see if its full of oil or is it possible its blown the seals and not got oil in the inlet??? sk?

just a suggestion & good luck mate

Brad

Edited July 16, 2006 by CruiseLiner

[STAGE-A]

the turbo ya reckon!!! Woohoo!!! thats awesome!! ive got my hi flo sitting here just waiting for my FMIC and the zorst to arrive before they all go on.

Ill test it today n just confirm its all good ..

Cheers for all your help everyone

Lee

[Tangles]

the turbo ya reckon!!! Woohoo!!! thats awesome!! ive got my hi flo sitting here just waiting

hehehehe Im a bit like that; difference is I Dont have a hiflow sitting here!

[Terminal]

hey i do, but my turbo hasn't blown yet... i should put that in one day

[qikstagea]

i have a turbo for sale... lol may be a lil bit full on for your engine though.... T88-34D... 800hp...

ps its the BIG one.

Edited July 17, 2006 by qikstagea

[FLYSLY]

even the little one is not that little lol

[qikstagea]

haha yep. i guarantee that if your head and gasket isnt stuffed, on of these bad boys will definitely do the trick for you. The smaller one is going into my 31 build. Big ones up for grabs.

Blue smoke is burning oil, black is fuel, pretty sure white is head/gasket.

I did a gasket on the falcon, and everytime i'd start it up, itd blow a massive puff of white smoke. Fixed gasket, all became sweet.

I guess if a turbo puts out the same symtoms, its going to be harder to diagnose til you decapitate it, hey. Spools up and doesnt make any crazy noises?

[STAGE-A]

yeah the turbo spools up, no crazy noises.. an no smoke today ?? i dont get it, wasn t able to get it checked either due to a staff member calling in sick so hopefully tomorrow i will know for sure.

[CruiseLiner]

yeah the turbo spools up, no crazy noises.. an no smoke today ?? i dont get it, wasn t able to get it checked either due to a staff member calling in sick so hopefully tomorrow i will know for sure.

is it not smokin at all at idle even? are you sure it wasnt just the cold morning and condensation? has it happened since the other day u started the car?

[AlexCim]

dont worry mate, my stagea blows blue/white smoke on cold starts every now and then.

i asked SK about it and he said that cold richness doesnt produce the same colour smoke as warm richness.

my smoke is just for the first 10 seconds too and only if i give it a bit (maybe 4k under load)

on another note, i didnt notice any water OR oil consumption, so it should be OK afaik.