Maybe A Blown Head Gasket?

[SERvo]

Last night, noticed a decent coolant leak, limped the car home with heater on full blast, no overheating, parked it for the night.

This AM, a bit of coolant in the street below tranny/motor mounting area. Followed the leak up and noticed water stains on top of tranny bell housing, and a damp area between the block and head on the driver's side. Filled radiator, couldn't get the leak to happen at idle, quick spin around the block and leak starts puking, but still can't see where it's coming from (too much shit between block and firewall). No smoke either.

As per searching Zilvia and NICO, I checked the heater hoses from the block to the firewall...they look fine and the leak looks like it starts higher than that. Visually, everything in the front of the motor looks fine (water pump, hoses, radiator, etc). Leak is definitely coming from the back of the motor.

Any chance the head gasket ruptured between the block's coolant channels and the exterior of the block?

Thanks,
Ryan

[mr peas]

just coolant? or coolant and oil? this is on your s13 not your se-r right?

[SERvo]

Son of a b*tch! Think I found it. It's a damn hose in the rear of the engine. I looked down between the intake runners (3 & 4) and saw some damp area. Started engine, it warmed up and built some pressure and a spray was shooting on the block under the intake mani. Looks like it IS one of the hoses from the firewall that go to the heater. Now I get to pull the intake mani...oh joy. I hear it's a pain.
Off to get wrenching.
R
Oh, yeah, it's on my S13, not my SE-R.

[haveblue]

sweeet! thats a fun job!
im off fri-sunday. let me know if you need help. i gota wrench on my car over the holidays too. wheee!

[vegas_touge]

BLOWN HEADGASGET - if you have a blown headgasget...coolant will 99.9% of the time NEVER make it outside the block (as far as leaking goes)...if you blow your headgasget your car will overheat within a FEW MINUTES!!! a blown headgasget means the gasget between your head and block has ruptured/torn and coolant is beginning to mix in with the combustion chambers slightly...oil will begin to mix with this...it is easy to tell if this is going on just by either A) taking yer radiator cap off and checking down inside yer radiator...you will see a lovely green/brown sludge mix...B) drain yer radiator...oil is quite easy to notice mixed in with yer coolant...C) drain your oil...again...coolant is quite easy to notice mixed in with oil

sorry...i just get kinda perturbed everytime i see a topic about a "blown headgasget" when people have NO IDEA what it really means to have one...a coolant leak 99.9% of the time comes from either a faulty hose or faulty water pump

if you blow yer headgasget...the car will become UNDRIVEABLE as temperatures reach 240-250+ in yer engine (in a matter of minutes) and your little temp gauge goes into the red in a VERY short time (regardless of if you have yer heater full blast or not...this will do almost NOTHING)

[SERvo]

So it's absolutely impossible for a gasket to fail between the coolant jackets and the exterior of the block?

[vegas_touge]

Originally posted by SERvo@Dec 21 2005, 09:01 PM
So it's absolutely impossible for a gasket to fail between the coolant jackets and the exterior of the block?
i didnt say that now did i??? its less likely to happen as there is usually more material between the piston chamber and the outside of the block (meaning its longer) than there is between each piston chamber

[cfinch]

I have personally seen water leak out the side of a head removed the head and seen the break been in between a coolant jacket and the outside of the block so yes it is possible... If it's not having any of the other symptoms of a blown headgasket I would definately check the heater hoses and under the intake manifold before making any conclusions...

[msaskin]

Originally posted by vegas_touge+Dec 22 2005, 07:11 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (vegas_touge @ Dec 22 2005, 07:11 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-SERvo@Dec 21 2005, 09:01 PM
So it's absolutely impossible for a gasket to fail between the coolant jackets and the exterior of the block?
i didnt say that now did i??? its less likely to happen as there is usually more material between the piston chamber and the outside of the block (meaning its longer) than there is between each piston chamber [/b][/quote]
The proper answer would be there is less pressure in the cooling jackets than in the combustion chamber. The amount of material is almost irrelevant.

Head gaskets blow when the block/head warp slightly. This warping means that the extreme pressures in the combustion chamber (usually....) cause a rupture of the gasket, which is why most breaks occur between the combustion chamber and water jackets, hence the mixing of oil and water/coolant. This isn't always true though. There are cases where the head warps enough that the relatively low pressure of the coolant in the system (generally < 14psi) can seep past the gasket, causing a break just between the water jacket and the outside.

~matt

[Rolan G]

Originally posted by msaskin+Dec 22 2005, 03:21 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (msaskin @ Dec 22 2005, 03:21 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Originally posted by vegas_touge@Dec 22 2005, 07:11 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-SERvo@Dec 21 2005, 09:01 PM
So it's absolutely impossible for a gasket to fail between the coolant jackets and the exterior of the block?
i didnt say that now did i??? its less likely to happen as there is usually more material between the piston chamber and the outside of the block (meaning its longer) than there is between each piston chamber
The proper answer would be there is less pressure in the cooling jackets than in the combustion chamber. The amount of material is almost irrelevant.

Head gaskets blow when the block/head warp slightly. This warping means that the extreme pressures in the combustion chamber (usually....) cause a rupture of the gasket, which is why most breaks occur between the combustion chamber and water jackets, hence the mixing of oil and water/coolant. This isn't always true though. There are cases where the head warps enough that the relatively low pressure of the coolant in the system (generally < 14psi) can seep past the gasket, causing a break just between the water jacket and the outside.

~matt [/b][/quote]
HAHAHA.. you tell him matt... OH, now we know matts back!!

[msaskin]

damn fucking right! :goodtobad:

[SERvo]

"...I would definately check the heater hoses and under the intake manifold before making any conclusions..." - Finch

ding, ding. We have a winner. That heater hose was a bitch and half to get to, but now I know how to pull the intake mani. All hail the FSM.

Car is back running well again and with a few christmas present added on.

[cfinch]

damn man that shits annoying to do but it beats the hell out of replacing the headgasket...