# Recent rebuild problems



## SubaruBlue200sx (Mar 21, 2004)

Ok. its been awhile since i posted...i recently swapped my bottom end.. i did a number on my pistons and bearings.. ill post pictures of it soon for all too see.

but for those who aren't aware..im running the hotshot turbo kit.. with Cobra maf, 50lbs injectors, turbo cams and i just also installed the snowperformance Water injection kit. turns on and injects at 10psi and up. easy install by the way.

car ran fine after the install, new gasket, head bolts, chains tensioners.. water pump.. removed egr. car pulls hard temps were great.. under boost the temp stayed at 172. oil pressure was perfect. but after a week.. my buddy had the car out for joy ride. and the car began to get hot.. hitting 206. so i turned it off.. i noticed the coolant resivoir was boiling. but wasn't hot.. so i let her cool down.. and the car was ok for another week... my freind took the car again for some interior work i needed... and when he came back the car got hot again.. to about 220. .ever since then. the car does this.. the resivoir tank fills up to the point whre it over flows.. especially if you boost it. you can see the coolant boiling but i don't let the temps get hight then 195. 

i just did a compression test.. both hot and cold.. and the numbers read 151. in all 4 cylnders... i double checked them. but all 4 cylinders were exact... FSM states they should be between 199-174. i am noticing dirt in my coolant.. not oil but looks like dirt. spark plugs 1-2 were black.. plugs 3-4. had a sligh white hint to them. 
the car still boost hard... any ideas on why the car over heats? ive bledd the system. new rad cap. any ideas?


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## wellitsovernow (Aug 29, 2004)

is your system sealed? Fans working? maybe obstruction in your system somewhere,


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## SubaruBlue200sx (Mar 21, 2004)

wellitsovernow said:


> is your system sealed? Fans working? maybe obstruction in your system somewhere,



fans are working perfectly.. they come on at 195. like they are supposed too..i am goin to check to see if there is any obstruction in the cooling system. mine concern is that my compression numbers are low.. 151psi in all 4 cylinders?.. FSM states it must be between 174-199.


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## wes (Apr 30, 2002)

Sounds like a head gasket... 

If you get the car to 196 and the fans come on, will it pull the temps down or do they keep climbing? If you dive the car will it creep to 196 and keep going or what? 

Sounds like you need to kick your friend in the balls!


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## SubaruBlue200sx (Mar 21, 2004)

wes said:


> Sounds like a head gasket...
> 
> If you get the car to 196 and the fans come on, will it pull the temps down or do they keep climbing? If you dive the car will it creep to 196 and keep going or what?
> 
> Sounds like you need to kick your friend in the balls!



when i first got the car back.. she was running fine.. fans came on at 195.. temp went done to 188 fans turned off.. like it should.. maybe i pushed the car a lil to soon.. im not sure the break in period for the head gasket.. but the car still pulls hard to 15psi. (with water injection of course). after 2 weeks of running fine..it started acting up..
151psi in all 4 cylinders is def low.... now is the head gasket shot?.. or can i is it possible that the head bolts loosened up and i just need to tighten them down? or do i need a new gasket and bolts again? 

while driving the car will stay fine.. for maybe 20 min.. but then the temps will climb...excedding 196 degrees.. and doesn't go down. the overflow tank will fill up wit coolant.. and then over fill. so air is getting in the system. only other thing i can think is that one of the coolant lines is clogged.....but that doesn't justify my low compression numbers.


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## wes (Apr 30, 2002)

SubaruBlue200sx said:


> when i first got the car back.. she was running fine.. fans came on at 195.. temp went done to 188 fans turned off.. like it should.. maybe i pushed the car a lil to soon.. im not sure the break in period for the head gasket.. but the car still pulls hard to 15psi. (with water injection of course). after 2 weeks of running fine..it started acting up..
> 151psi in all 4 cylinders is def low.... now is the head gasket shot?.. or can i is it possible that the head bolts loosened up and i just need to tighten them down? or do i need a new gasket and bolts again?
> 
> while driving the car will stay fine.. for maybe 20 min.. but then the temps will climb...excedding 196 degrees.. and doesn't go down. the overflow tank will fill up wit coolant.. and then over fill. so air is getting in the system. only other thing i can think is that one of the coolant lines is clogged.....but that doesn't justify my low compression numbers.



"dirt" in the overflow is likely oil due to a leaking head gasket. Did you use new OEM bolts and headgasket? How did you install them using a torque wrench or a torque angle meter? 

I am no a fan of trying to tighten them down again and I'll tell you why. First off if it is leaking the gasket mating surface is not clean, it means that oil and water have passed over it, thus it will most likely not seal correctly. Second, the OEM head bolts are a torque to yield bolt. This means that when tightened properly using a torque angle meter that are as tight as they can possibly be without starting to stretch. If you do this properly they will NOT EVER loosen. This tightening them more or again will do nothing more than stretch them out. 

FWIW when I replaced my HG 3 years ago I made sure of two things, I used new head bolts, and I used the most recent version of the OEM headgasket, anything less is garbage. 

Lastly I think you keep having problems because your car is detonating. Unless the install was wrong that is the only reason you would kep popping gaskets like this. 

If you fix it I would get the car on a wideband, run a conservative amount of base timing (8 degrees max) and have fun with it. 

I know this motor can take regular abuse and there is no real break in period for the HG. I took it easy for maybe 200 miles but that's it. I regularly run 16 pounds and I have no methanol or water injection. I am not sure why but every other person that has run that much boost on a GA seems to have issues. The only thing I can think of is the thermal coatings I did on the cylinder head.


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## aminidab (Apr 30, 2002)

For the temps.. 195 or even 206 isn't that high.. 220 is. My car with turbo, texas heat, and worst of all traffic gets pretty close to overheating with the stock cooling system. That said I've never had problems with coolant overflowing like that.
Also about the low compression test results.. even with low mileage engines I've usually had results lower than the FSM recommends (don't have exact numbers with me). The fact that they are consistent across all cylinders is usually more important, especially when looking for a blown HG.

I have a wideband on my car and I can't run more than 12.. maybe 13 PSI (w/o alcohol injection) without detonating. The car is not running lean(rich if anything) when it's detonating and the timing is set to 8. 

Have you ever heard the car detonating at all?

One thing I've installed recently on my car is a knock sensor light, it taps into the knock sensor signal and RPM signal and will light up yellow then red on detonation. This really helps to warn you of detonation before you can even hear it. This engine can take a little detonation before the HG goes, but if it's consistently detonating or starts detonating heavily the HG will go.

I agree with wes on the nissan HG the later part number is a much better HG.


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## SubaruBlue200sx (Mar 21, 2004)

i have never heard the car detontate.,. like i said previosly.. the car ran perfectly once ihad it back together..no leaks. no wierd noises. she boosted hard and fine too 13psi. my plugs were gapped to .030. 2 weeks of driving and the car acted up. my compression numbers show 151psi. in all 4 cylinders.. all are exact. which still boggles my mind this of course was done hot cold, wet and dry. if the HG was blown. wouldn't the numbers be different across the board?
i dont' wanna start ripping the motor apart for the 4th.. yes 4th time this year if i don't need too.

the only other info i can share is this... plugs 1 and 2 looked normal. sooty cuase i am running an atmospherie BOV. but plugs 3 and 4 were kinda white. and looked like were starting to chip away.
is there anything else i should check that would cause the coolant to evacuate into the catch can while driving?

im gonna be workin on her this weekend.. i have an oem HG and head bolts. i also have a Felpro HG that looks really good.. dunno if anyone has used one before.
thanks for listening.. please respond wit any info you may have


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