Hey guys has anyone heard of or experienced any head gasket leaking or braking with big boost? anyone know if this is a common vg problem or not? im using all ARP head bolts and Trust head gaskets and having over heating issues but not sure if its head gasket or not.
Honestly any headgasket can leak under extreme load. That is why its so critical to ensure you have an absolute true deck surface on both the block and heads. Many who experience leaking headgaskets usually are related to either one of two issues.. 1. Deck surface not square/true 2. Improper installation of headgasket/dirty heagasket surface Copper headgaskets while they seal the best due to expansion properties they leak the worst when the engine is cold due to their cold dimension. These gaskets are 99% of the time used in pure racing applications. I would not suggest using them in a street application by any means. They are a good material to use though for a headgasket material. If you are experiencing overheating issues you may want to look into your radiator/thermostat. Check to ensure your oiling system is circulating properly. Do a pressure test on the coolant system as well to see if you have any air pockets in the system. This is a common & leading issue for most over heating situations. Do a compression test to ensure you still have a good seal around the bore and that the rings aren't on their way out. if you have exception or average numbers the issue won't lie with the headgasket. Another thing, are you using any other form of pullies at all?
i disagree, if i was pushing his power level, 800rwhp or what ever it is, id want stainless wire o rings and copper gaskets. they will take the power
have you fitted an underdrive water pump pulley ?? If you are usng the stock one maybe its cavitating at high revs. If its overheating at idle disregard this.
And so will a Tomei sealed fire ring headgasket. You don't need to go that far with sealing when making 800rwhp. MLS gasket is cheaper and does a better job than an open layered headgasket. If you do O-rings you must receiver groove the heads as well. All of these extra machining processed done will enable you to make a superior seal but the costs in getting all of that done is 3 to 4 times that of a set of headgaskets However, you will leak coolant when the engine is cold with copper headgaskets.
Basicly what's happening is it's overheating because it's loosing coolant from the overflow bottle and not recalculating back into the radiator. This doesnt happen at idle or just general driving it only happens When you come up onto boost all the way to 8800rpm it's filling the overflow bottle which is only approx 200-300ml and it's reaching it's capacity and pushing it out the bottom. It has had issues in the past with an air pocket and not opening the thermostat as the radiator is alot lower than the engine. We have made a header tank which sits at the top of the engine bay at the back and put in a big overflow bottle. Hopefully this fixes the issue and it's not the head gaskets!!!
If the temp isn't increasing substantially while you are hitting high boost & revs then unfortunately from what you have just typed this sounds VERY typical of a head gasket leak under high boost What torque was applied to the head nuts? What washers were used? Were the nuts retorqued after a temp cycle? (can resolve minor leaks sometimes with MLS gaskets) How much boost you are running?
