That old head gasket finally went

[turbodan]

I've been running one that started leaking a few months ago, and I think it finally failed the rest of the way this morning. I dropped of the GF for work and proceeded to drive the car to my parents house where I do work on it. It drove fine on the way over, no overheating or anything unusual. When I reached my destination I noticed a little puddle under the battery, above which the reservoir sits. So I popped the hood to find the coolant reservoir completely filled with coolant. It was pressurized enough to have begun purging through the overflow.

The temp was normal, car was running fine, but it seems combustion gases were getting into the cooling system. Some burping and bleeding got the air back into the expansion tank. There was some air in the tstat housing when I bled the system, which could have only come from combustion leakage. I'll probably go drive the car some more to make sure it wasnt overheating, just in case I didnt notice it during the drive. But it really looks like head gasket time. I guess its not too suprising that the leaky HG went out while running a steady 210 kpa and spiking to 240. That sure is a lot of boost.

[M. Holtmeier]

All that matters is that it didn't quit with the girlfriend in the car. That's what I call reliability!

Is it going to get a MLS gasket and studs now?

[turbodan]

I like the way the stocker held up despite the stretch bolts. Maybe another stock gasket with studs. I'm thinking about an MLS gasket though.

I took it out for a drive after bleeding the system, and it ran great. No overheating, no leaks, spun the tires rolling on in third . Cooling system was holding pressure immediately after. So I dont know what to think about it yet. No coolant in the oil, no smoke out the exhaust. Just what seemed to be combustion chamber pressure in the cooling system. I think I'll probably take a sample of coolant in to work and see if theres any amount of combustion gases present. That would seal the deal on the HG.