Another day at the track....help.

nemoxii · Mar 17, 2008

Ok, well let me start by saying I'm very pleased with how the day went. My new best time is a 14.51@94!!! Woot :dancing6:
All I did was a tranny flush and picked up a full half second, crazy, huh? Well, that and I've been working on my launches, so I'm sure thats where most of the improvement came from.

The bad news...what are some symptoms of a blown head gasket? Heres the issue, my temp is all over the place. Normally my temp guage stays right in the middle, just past the 'R', however on my last run (it ended up being a 14.6) the temp shot up. It didn't over heat, and it came down while I was driving back to the pits. When my car idles the temp stays fine, when I'm cruising down the freeway its fine, but when I get on it the temp shoots up. It never over heats, but its definatly hotter than normal. Once I get off the gas and the rpm is back to normal (2k-ish) the temp once again returns to where it normally is. Its not noticably leaking any coolant and it doesnt look like the levels dropped. I pulled the alternater to get a good look at the water pump and valley and there is no coolant leaking from anywhere around it. I'm hoping my water pump is just starting to go, but I'm fearing for the worse. Any thoughts? :TY:

xsoutherngun89x · Mar 17, 2008

are you using premium fuel after your PI swap? and i could be wrong but i think lean conditions may make a car run hot. has the car been tuned?

nemoxii · Mar 18, 2008

not tuned, but I have been running premium. Its not knocking, so who knows. Today I'm going to rule out for sure the T-stat and water pump. When I put the heads on I used the gaskets from the FRPP head changing kit. Is there a better gasket to use if it is a blown head gasket? Should I go with Felpro?

-Adam

xsoutherngun89x · Mar 18, 2008

there is some kinda special gasket, multilayered steel or somethin. i think they are called MLS gaskets. i dont know if thats teh problem you are having though, i wish some more people would come in here, lol

nemoxii · Mar 18, 2008

Well, its not the t-stat or fan for sure. I don't think its the water pump...but its still acting funny. My oil looks clean (no signs of coolant leaking into it) so my next step will be to check the cooling system's pressure. If thats good I'm completely at a loss. I guess the water pump could be going out and just not circulating the fluid like it should? Dont see how, but I can hope. Thanks for the thoughts southerngun89

justinschmidt1 · Mar 18, 2008

not too bad...still think your trap speed is pretty low..

Johnny Langton · Mar 18, 2008

xsoutherngun89x said:
there is some kinda special gasket, multilayered steel or somethin. i think they are called MLS gaskets. i dont know if thats teh problem you are having though, i wish some more people would come in here, lol

That's what the stock gaskets are,as well as the gaskets in the FRPP kit.
JL