YACT: What would cause coolant to come out of the exhaust?

[Shawn]

Usually it's a blown head gasket, but I just replaced it and i'm still getting white steam out of my exhaust. :Q Any ideas?

Maybe a cracked head?

 

[Armitage]

Or warped so that the new head gasket isn't seating right.

 

[Vette73]

Did you take the head and have it machined? Never JUST replace a head gasket without doing that.

Also the intake manifold can cause the same problem.

 

[DainBramaged]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Usually it's a blown head gasket, but I just replaced it and i'm still getting white steam out of my exhaust. :Q Any ideas?

Maybe a cracked head?

Ouch dude...I saw your pics. That would suck having to do all of that again.

 

[CaptnKirk]

9 out of 10 times it's a crack in an aluminum head between the valve seats.
Can't be seen when cold on the bench, but opens up under heat and pressure
to provide a path for the fluid to escape.

Weld-up & re-machine of valve seats & head to block surface.
Enjoy.

 

[TwoBills]

Did you check the head for cracks in the combustion chamber, before you put on the new gasket? Any oil/water or water/oil mix?

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: TwoBills
Did you check the head for cracks in the combustion chamber, before you put on the new gasket? Any oil/water or water/oil mix?

I didn't see any cracks. And as far as I can tell there is no water in the oil, or vice versa.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Blown headgasket, cracked head, cracked block. They all require major engine work. Cracked block is by far the worst though. Might as well get a new engine if that's the case.

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Blown headgasket, cracked head, cracked block. They all require major engine work. Cracked block is by far the worst though. Might as well get a new engine if that's the case.

what he said.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Blown headgasket, cracked head, cracked block. They all require major engine work. Cracked block is by far the worst though. Might as well get a new engine if that's the case.

Well if the heads cracked I might just swap it out with an head from a 99-2000 miata. They are compatible as long as you replace the intake manifold too. The newer engines have an extra 12+HP because of the redesigned head. With FI I may get quite a bit more.

 

[TwoBills]

I ran my old mitsubishi for 4 or 5 years with a crack in the combustion chamber. Had to add a little 50/50 every now and again. Put some KW block seal in there and that seemed to help. Rod bearing finally gave it up and when I pulled the engine and looked into #2 it looked like a beehive. One weekend and a fresh engine and I was good to go. Never could get those 2.6s to quit leaking oil, tho.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: TwoBills
Did you check the head for cracks in the combustion chamber, before you put on the new gasket? Any oil/water or water/oil mix?

I didn't see any cracks. And as far as I can tell there is no water in the oil, or vice versa.

There doesn't have to be water in the oil or vice versa. It depends on where the seal is broken. I once had a head gasket let go between the cylinder and the outside of the engine block, so the only symptom was a loss in power and a bad exhaust leak.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: TwoBills
I ran my old mitsubishi for 4 or 5 years with a crack in the combustion chamber. Had to add a little 50/50 every now and again. Put some KW block seal in there and that seemed to help. Rod bearing finally gave it up and when I pulled the engine and looked into #2 it looked like a beehive. One weekend and a fresh engine and I was good to go. Never could get those 2.6s to quit leaking oil, tho.

Yea, I'm thinking about just leaving it for now. But I need my car to last 4 more years through college, and if it breaks down while I'm up there I'm screwed. But right now I have a month to fix whatever's wrong with it before college.

 

[TwoBills]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: TwoBills
I ran my old mitsubishi for 4 or 5 years with a crack in the combustion chamber. Had to add a little 50/50 every now and again. Put some KW block seal in there and that seemed to help. Rod bearing finally gave it up and when I pulled the engine and looked into #2 it looked like a beehive. One weekend and a fresh engine and I was good to go. Never could get those 2.6s to quit leaking oil, tho.

Yea, I'm thinking about just leaving it for now. But I need my car to last 4 more years through college, and if it breaks down while I'm up there I'm screwed. But right now I have a month to fix whatever's wrong with it before college.

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Yeah, you better get to it. W/my old Mit I knew the head was cracked and purposely didn't remove it. That'll make the crack bigger. I never did have white smoke coming out of the exhaust, just sticky spark plugs. I used to rotate them at every oil change, just to keep them freed up.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Also the intake manifold can cause the same problem.

tell me more about this. what can be wrong with the intake manifold? what are the symptoms? is fixing that a bigger or smaller job than all this head gasket stuff?

 

[OrganizedChaos]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Also the intake manifold can cause the same problem.

tell me more about this. what can be wrong with the intake manifold? what are the symptoms? is fixing that a bigger or smaller job than all this head gasket stuff?

some engines are designed to have coolent running thru the lower intake manifold. they can crack,leak, not seal properly etc.

 

[FoBoT]

so replacing the lower intake manifold would fix that white smoke problem , in that case. thanks.
replacing that part is easier than taking the whole engine apart for all the other stuff talked about above i assume?

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Also the intake manifold can cause the same problem.

tell me more about this. what can be wrong with the intake manifold? what are the symptoms? is fixing that a bigger or smaller job than all this head gasket stuff?

some engines are designed to have coolent running thru the lower intake manifold. they can crack,leak, not seal properly etc.

actually, that sounds possible! I'll have to look into that....