Aaron-74

Doing a simple, done 1,000 times before, spark plug change. I get to the #5 plug, pull it out...and half of my damn radiator came out with it!! :nonod: :sad: :sad:

The_Dude

:( I'm sorry to hear that. Didn't you just finish putting that together not all that long ago?

Aaron-74

Yeah...about 6-7 months ago. Got about 2,000 miles on the motor. :banghead:

rainman69

:eek: Wow! Sorry...I blew head gasket(s) due to not getting the steel shim sealed exactly right. So, I'm putting the nice .041 FelPro composition gaskets (1003's) on this weekend. Good luck, it's not a bad repair as long as the gasket is the only thing blown.

Aaron-74

those are the gaskets i had that blew


lol...posting in school..isn't auto tech for 3 hours great!! :yesnod:

Fevre

Aaron

On first read I thought you meant you pulled the plug wire apart and blew a head gasket in your head. On second thought I bet you did! :)

verskel

Sorry to hear that. :(

At least it didn't happen while :steering: ......

Twin_Turbo

let me guess, car is in school parking lot, bunch of friends gather around, you crank it up, mash the throttle, 6000+ rpm's and now the gasket is awol

burners

Ooo, that's a bummer. Fortunately that is easy to fix. That is a one day job. Are you using steel shim gaskets? You may want to consider using composition types. Fel-pro makes a thin .018 or .022 composition gasket. I would check to be sure its the gasket and not a cracked cylinder head.

Aaron-74

I threw belts on the highway and over heat alot...like, needle pegged passed 260. I've done it about 5 times.

I'm using the composite gaskets from fel-pro.

I don't think the head is cracked and if it is, i'm screwed...

Jvette73

ditto...check the heads for cracks. also put a straight edge on em and check for warpage.

Langadorf

Geez... If my car ever gets close to about 200 I get really nervous and shut it down. I'm really suprised you didn't blow a head gasket (or worse) the first time it got to 260 degrees. If you see it getting that hot, why don't you just shut it down and see what's wrong and fix it?

70PurpleLS7

Your lucky you didn't attempt to start the engine in that condition. If it was dumping water that quickly into the cylinder, I would think it would of hydralic'd upon startup. Then you'd be in alot more poopie then just a head gasket change. :cheers: Good Luck!!!!!

Aaron-74

The heads are brand new. I rebuilt them last year. Had them decked, ported, bronze guides, checked for cracks...I won aVICA metal for them (auto shop project) I can tell you anything messure on those heads. From the valve cover hole size to the thickness of the deck.


LS7- I had been trying to start the car ALL DAY!! I wouldn't start in the morning. And I've been fowling plugs a lot lately. So, I figured that was what it was. So...well..you know.


Usually when I over heat I'm going down the highway @ 70mph. There's not much room on the shoulders here, so when I notice the temp up I get the next off ramp, shut down and coast as far as I need to. Usualy I don't even get above 160. That's RARE! and when I do I put more water in the radiator (now I know where it's all been going :smash: ).....

Crash Dummy

Aaron...

I'm confused what you were thinking in the first place. I wouldn't drive any car the first time after it pegged the water temperature needle without figuring out what is wrong... little less 3-4 more times pegging it again & dumping the belts while at it.

Twin_Turbo

Yeah, I agree, that's a pretty dumb move. You practically asked for it :(

If my heater stops wotking I'm already getting nervous, now with the needle pegging, I'd have shut it down immediately

Marck

Aaron-74

Hmm...well, if I'm so stupid. Why doesn't someone lend me 200.00$ So I can go buy a set of March deep grove pulleys and fix the problem of me throwing belts.

Langadorf

You shouldn't need any special pulleys to keep from throwing belts - something else must be wrong. Double check your pulley alignment - you may need to shim something in or out. Also make sure you're not overtightening or leaving too much slack when you install new belts.

How often do you check your gauges while driving? I make it a habit to glance at oil pressure and water temp at least every 30 seconds. If I were having problems like you are (throwing belts, etc.) I would check them even more often. Once your temps start to climb, you should have more than enough time to get off the highway before anything bad happens - even in Houston traffic.


[Modified by Langadorf, 7:23 PM 1/18/2003]

Aaron-74

Pulleys are plenty strait. So, that's fine. And I get them pretty tight. If I see vibration with the motors running I shut down and tighten it.


I watch the temp and oil pressure quite often. More than normal people. But, traveling down a highway, throw a belt and dont know it. I look at the gauges probably once every 2 or 3 minutes. And when you throw a belt don't know it for a minute or so, 60-70 seconds is plenty of time for coolant at 3,500-4,000 rpm to reach an extremely high level. Then I get to a point where it's SAFE for me and mostly my Corvette to actually get to a stop...Park it and change the belt. Shutting off your car at 70mph in traffic is EXTREMELY stupid.

rainman69

Belts can be over-tightened too...You want approximately 1/4" of play for 6" of belt.

For example, say it's 12" from water pump pulley center to alternator pulley center. You therefore want 1/2" of flex in the belt. This is measured by placing a straight edge on both pulleys (down the belt) and then using a ruler to push the belt. If it's at the right tension, you should be able to push the belt down 1/2" from normal and not further without difficulty.


On another subject, an ammeter can be about the best way to find out if the crank-water pump-alternator belt is thrown. It instantaneously drops to full discharge when the belt is thrown since the alternator is no longer charging the battery. It is how I've noticed my belts thrown when it happened twice, still getting the engine shut down before 210 degrees.

:cheers: