Blown SN95...

[stang4u2nv]

Jajajaja, welli guess it was time....hey guys how is it going for you, i hope good well as the title states i finally blewup my sn95. well there is no carnage so thats good, now the car smokes a lot, it is white smoke however but it doesn't come out through the tail pipes but through the valve covers...now my question is do you guys think i may have taken some piston rings? or a head gasket? BTW the car is a 170XXX plus mile stock block with rpm2 heads arp studs etc with a 70mm turbo at 9psi.....any ideas???

 

[95PGTTech]

it's not the rings.

where in the valve covers is it coming from?
compression test it yet?

I'm leaning towards headgasket, which is interesting since you said the motor is stud'd.

 

[94kingcbra]

it still runs?

 

[LAFENATU]

Probably head gasket.

White smoke is water...so I would lean towards the head gasket.

 

[stang4u2nv]

If it runs??? man that thing moves like a raped ape but its so uncomfortable to drive because of all the smoke.....one thing is for sure about 10 months back was when i put the edelbrock rpm2 heads and i studed them.... the car wasn't turbo back then but after i installed it and of course when stepping on it "without a tune" mind you is when it started to smoke through the breathers at the valve covers.....but when i installed the heads the cylinder walls had crosspattern scratches which i think is a good sign (a healthy) engine...so anyhow i haven't checked for compression yet, i know there is no oil in the coolant i did use cheap headgaskets from mr gasket for the heads i can't recall right now...but i know they weren't for boost...lol....it does however get a littel bit hotter than usual so i guess these are the gaskets that failed... how can i check if the piston rings are good???

 

[red94gt5.0]

do the compression test....

 

[95PGTTech]

do you have an air compressor?

 

[stang4u2nv]

Air compressor? hmmm i could try and get one but what for? for the ring test? guys remember that this engine is old that being established even if it was the gaskets my oil pressure it is also low when the engine gets hot it drops into the 15 and 20 psi range although it does go up when revved... if it is indeed the gaskets do you guys recommend replacing the oil pump and rear and fron main seals? and changinf gaskets? or should i acquire a used short block maybe from an explorer??? give me some ideas please...

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

Replace your head gaskets with high quality FelPro, Then perform a compression test and go from there. 15-20psi of oil pressure at operational
temperature is pretty normal. I could be mistaken, but for a 302, anything above 15psi of oil pressure is satisfactory.

 

[stang4u2nv]

ok...what gaskets do you recommend? for boost...cometics? factory fel-pros or maybe some multilayers from fel-pro that look just like cometics...? Do you guys think it is worth it to do all these things to this engine? change all gaskets and oil pump?

 

[LAFENATU]

Fel-Pro MLS hands down.

There are people running low 8's that use Fel-Pro MLS.

 

[stang4u2nv]

ok thanks for everything...i'll look into the mls gaskets and still do you guys think it is worth it to do all this to this engine? oil pump gaskets etc??? honestly let me know what you think. oh and about the test for the piston rings? how should i go about this?

 

[pirotec354]

ok thanks for everything...i'll look into the mls gaskets and still do you guys think it is worth it to do all this to this engine? oil pump gaskets etc??? honestly let me know what you think. oh and about the test for the piston rings? how should i go about this?

Honestly, in my opinion, it would probably be cheaper for you to do all that to the engine you have now rather than getting a shortblock. Because if you get a shortblock your not gunna know what kind of shape it is in for sure and you may have to do more to it anyways. For the rings, do a compression test like said before. If you dont have a compression tester you could probably rent one from an autoparts store if you dont want to buy one. Its very simple to do. Just read the directions if you have never done ot before so you get correct results.

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

A regular Felpro head gasket set (2-head gaskets, 2-lower intake gaskets, 1-upper to lower intake gskt, thermostat gskt,
2-valve cover gskts, I can't remember if I'm forgetting anything else) Is around $90. Felpro MLS gaskets are awesome for
boost, or any kind of abuse, but If memory serves me right, they are around $35 a piece.. But it's your car.

 

[ryclef331]

Put a set of standard fel pro gaskets on it. What would you rather have happen? Blow another head gasket or wipe out a stock piston and let the pieces of it trash your high dollar heads. I'd rather blow the gasket and save the rest of my parts.

 

[armyed]

Put a set of standard fel pro gaskets on it. What would you rather have happen? Blow another head gasket or wipe out a stock piston and let the pieces of it trash your high dollar heads. I'd rather blow the gasket and save the rest of my parts.

You can also blow out a gasket without there having been a chance of wiping out the piston. 9# of boost with regular gaskets is asking for multiple headaches...That's pushing the limits on them.

 

[det_riot]

hey not being a dick and i know you arent a noob but but check the dates on the posts but this is over a year old

 

[95PGTTech]

It's a tech thread - input is welcome regardless of the thread start date.

 

[modo]

if you have smoke coming from the valve covers that is blowby and since you have a turbo id bet money you hurt a ring land on cylinder 7 or 8


compression test isn't going to tell you snot other then you have to take the heads off... leak down test will give you more definitive results. regardless of when it is back together just put a set of felpro 9333 gaskets on it. you want the head gasket to go first... with a mls your going to hurt a piston before that gasket goes


your prob looking at something like this

 

[Slinger]

MODO is right. If there is smoke coming out of the valve covers,it is blowby.How could it have a blown head gasket and not be smoking out thru the exhaust? More than likely its rings or the ring lands are melted