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[Spridgets] Another year, another head gasket blew.

To: spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: [Spridgets] Another year, another head gasket blew.
From: Dave Grandeffo <davegran@ticon.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:06:07 -0500
Frank Clarici wrote:
> 
> Same spot, #2 cylinder and water into the cylinder.
> Again, I have this low speed miss but it goes away at about 1500 rpms.
> changed the plugs, no change, compression test showed great compression 
> but I could smell the coolant squirting out around the compression 
> gauge. Pull the gauge off and I can see coolant squirting out of the 
> spark plug hole.
> At least it made it to Missouri and back before blowing.
> So the next day it's under 95* out in the garage, I guess I have a small 
> project to do.
> And this is exactly what happened in May of 2007, blown gasket @ #2 cyl.
> So what am I looking for? Warped head? Twisted engine block? or just 
> crappy gaskets?
> The 1st one that blew was a good one, this one was a standard gasket, 
> and no I do NOT want copper, I have blown EVERY copper gasket I ever 
> tried on 4 or 5 different Sprites and Minis over the years.

Hi Frank,
First off, I assume that you've checked the head and block for flatness
and that you can actually see where the gasket failed, yes? And same
with the last occurance, you could see the failure point? If yes, then I
would try three things: first, retap all the head bolt holes in the
block to make sure they are full depth, not buggered up, and there's a
chamfer on each hole; second, make sure that the volume in the #2
chamber is not less than the other ones (higher c/r)and there are no
sharp edges to cause preignition; third, I'd use the old trick of
spraying a coat of real aluminum paint on the new gasket before using
it. Back in the day, it was found that the microscopic overlapping
particles of aluminum did a super job of sealing on problem heads. Then
I'd retorque (By the way, is your torque wrench accurate?) after cooling
down from the first good heat cycle, and every 500 miles until the bolts
settle down. 

If you can't actually see a failure point, I'd use a different head,
suspecting a crack.

If none of this works, better get your retired priest to do an
Exorcism....

-- 
Dave Grandeffo
www.kettlemorainemotorsports.com
Southern Wisconsin
USA
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