Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

ok I just changed my head gasket on my h23 prelude. the car seems worse than it was before.It was 6 months ago when this first happend, car had a lot of blow by. Did a compression test. It was 175,175,115,105.

so I pulled the head. I filled the cylinders up with gas to see if it would leak, it took a few hours to leak out. Than I filled them up with oil and turned it over by hand it took almost a week till the oil leaked out. I dropped the oil pan didn't see any broken parts, of metal flakes.

Than winter set in so my car was snowed in. 5-6 months later I finally got around to fixing it. put it all together. Did a compression test now I have 125,125,75,0. Now on the last cylinder that read 0. it would build up compression and when I let off the key it was gone. so If anybody can point me in the right direction that would be great.

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

do you have any bent valves?

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

when the head was off I looked and dind't see anything bent, and the valves looked to be closed and seated. Iam going to pull the valve cover tomorrow to see if anything is bent.

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

wow man, that damn engin is roached. cut your loses and replace it

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

Yea man dont wants ur time with that one, just pick up a used one.

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

ummm... when you did the head gasket... did u check it for flatness and/or mill it?..... it's prolly warped!

mike

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

no I didn't get it milled, I just used a quick sraitght edged it. that was it.

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

That damn surfacing will get you every time. It's cheap insurance. You could be like me and replace the head gasket 3 times before starting to think maybe something else is wrong. ::)
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Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

first off did you turke the head down to the correct pounds it needed. becuase maby you have too much turke on one side of the head than the other. and then 2ed you should take fine sand paper and take off every thing nasty on the block and head. till you see a nice shiny look.then do a compreson check again. i learned from my mistakes. i hade to do 2 in 2 month. becuase i did my first one roung.then after i did it right my car ran nice and fast till i blow the engine up.and then the other and the other.but its all good.

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

Yea Dr.Boost I think its the surfacing that got my here. I could kick my self in the nuts for not doing it. Yea I have everything torqued down by the book, with 3 passes 29,51,75 pounds. I talked to Abaz last night after I got back from the bar, bad Idea I was all fucked up. not sure How I was able to type. but he helped me out, giving me other ideas what to check for, and it looks like I gotta get the head resurfaced. thanks abaz

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

while you have the haed off, put the plugs back in, turn it upside down and fill it with oil and see if any leaks out. that will identify the valves not sealing properly.

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

Maybe this willl help.

With there being 0 compression on one cylinder, and low compression on two adjacent cylinders, I would suspect components that are common to both cylinders, like the head mating surfaces, and the head gasket.

To be really sure, perform a leak down test. There are tools for this, but you can use an air hold tool, or anything else that will let you put compressed air in the cylinders through the spark plug hole. You could even weld a male air fitting to one of those goofy anti-fouling adapters. Connect whatever tool you have or can borrow. 90 Psi should be more than plenty. Expect the cylinder to move to the complete bottom of the stroke, which is fine. Both valves will need to be fully closed!

Listen to where the air is escaping, and you will have found your problem. Air coming out of the following locations are probably due to the matching problem.

Throttle Body = Intake valves
Exhaust Pipe = Exhaust Valves
Radiator = Head Gasket
Oil filler = Rings

That should cover it!

If your compression figures were reasonable, an actual leak-down check would tell you your percentage of leak, which could be used to determine the ring or valve sealing issues. Since your numbers are so bad, there is a major problem you need to deal with, and the percentage is not even an issue at this point.

Hope that helps!

Craig @ Tuner Toys

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

Oh Yeah...I forgot...you can do a leak-down test with the engine fully assembled. No taking the head off, or screwing with any of that crap.

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

I just got done doing that, nothing leaks out. thanks fot that info turner toys, I wish I would have read that before I took the head off. I sending the head out, and I might pull the pistons to see the rings. thanks again

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

also put some assembly lube on the head studs b4 you put them in.. you'll get more accurate tq.

also, did you re-use head studs? (coughARPcough) ;)

Re:Car seems worse after new head gasket?
 

Did ya use a torque down squence so u didnt warp the head, sounds like you have a warped head or you need a valve job my man