fixed VANOS w/Beisan's...perfect..est drive... half way through blew head gasket??

[RobPatt]

pic of coolant and oil and water in the plug wells. when running it was boiling up... turning to steam...

still stuck at "is it the head or the head gasket?" off to clean things up.

[632 Regal]

Okay after seeing those pics I think I know whats going on.

Valve cover gasket leak introducing oil upstairs. Secondary idea is there is coolant in the oil, once hot it's steam blowing past your bad valve cover gasket into the plug well along with the oil. Possibly through the stud holes. Was the valve cover gasket fubared? Should take a lot of pressure to do that and a bad head gasket could. But you said nothing obvious. Spark plugs loose?

Is this project new or is it your old regular car that you drive? This all plays towards an answer.

I know you have a leak somewhere letting coolant into the oil...

[RobPatt]

Okay after seeing those pics I think I know whats going on.

Valve cover gasket leak introducing oil upstairs. Secondary idea is there is coolant in the oil, once hot it's steam blowing past your bad valve cover gasket into the plug well along with the oil. Possibly through the stud holes. Was the valve cover gasket fubared? Should take a lot of pressure to do that and a bad head gasket could. But you said nothing obvious. Spark plugs loose?

Is this project new or is it your old regular car that you drive? This all plays towards an answer.

I know you have a leak somewhere letting coolant into the oil...

upstairs meaning into plug wells?
i understand what you mean though on both answers.
cool stuff never thought that much into the path stuff could take, intermixing, etc. but makes sense to me.

vc gasket was newly installed 5 years ago, but only 800 or so miles in that time.
car sat in garage while i had a long commute (bought honda accord for that)
... have a new job locally now... daughter goes to college in the fall... so time to get he bimmer running.
all those 5 years i'd drive it about 20 miles maybe month or every other month.... down 3 miles to interstate... run to next exit, come home.
so i thought i could reuse the vc gasket... ?

plan is this will be my daily driver again... wanted to spruce it up with the leather seats.... vanos fix... etc and keep at least next four years (college bills!)

SO... your theory agrees with the visuals... makes sense to me. Kind of "hope" it's the head gasket since I've torn it all apart.

[632 Regal]

Valve cover gasket *could* explain the spark plug well but not the coolant getting into the oil. Have you found a reputable shop yet?

[RobPatt]

Valve cover gasket *could* explain the spark plug well but not the coolant getting into the oil. Have you found a reputable shop yet?

Yes.. little no advertising place tucked way back on a dead end side street in old part of Biloxi.
Guy is a one man shop.. mid-late 20s... even looks german. has e30s everywhere, some perfectly cherry built... some turbo'd... some trashed... he bulds custom maps with megasquirt.. etc etc... and in his warehouse is an RV which I think he lives in. I'd say it's his life and passion.

So after a really sweet tour of his shop and projects.. we're nowhere. He sees no evidence on the head or gasket.
If I can pull the cams tomorrow I'll take to a machine shop he recommended for some type of dye pressure test he recommended.
Also tonight I'm going to really REALLY check the cylinder walls.. front for water pump clues... etc. etc for clues.

off to pull cams.

THIS video seems REALLY good to pull the cams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRnqy-7dT28

But I'm going to review the Pelican Parts article too... and use whicver seems less error prone. (wish me luck)
*edit... they're the same... going for it, except I'm home alone for a while... clean some parts and do it later.

[RobPatt]

Some "silly" questions I need help with... please:

- Which fuel lines coming up from under the car at the brake booster... I've lost track which goes to the front/back ends of the rail. Rather not crank and see spurt.

- Can I reuse the head bolt WASHERS?

- Can I reuse the cylinder head to exhaust manifold studs AND nuts? (most of my studs came out, easily... have not tried to remove the nuts from the studs yet)

- IF I use that "freeze off" nut cracker in a can stuff to take the exhaust nuts off the studs, can I still reuse those items?

- What are the blue and black sensors on the side of the head behind the oil canister?
- Are they troublesome that I should replace while the head is out?

HAD THE HEAD PRSSURE CHECKED/HOT TANKED WHATEVER.... the head is pretty flat.. bowed UP a bit in the middle... shop says maybe shaving of .005 would do it, and roughen up the surface a bit. Should I ? (valves seal good, no cracks!)

Thank you everyone.... continuing the saga of why and the repair. -Rob

[632 Regal]

Sort of off topic, we bought a honda with overheating issues. Everything was replaced and new head gasket. Eventually we had to pull the head again due to carbon buildup under the valve seats causing a miss. Lapped those and just before we put it on I noticed very fine cracks in the cylinder. Apparently the block froze and the pressure pumped between the sleeve and the block. Very interesting.

[RobPatt]

update:

Friday: head checks fine, shaved .005 as it was bowed "fatter" in the middle... valves seat good.
Saturday:
- polished pistons and top of block with a rubber fingered type buffing wheel in the drill... don't know what to call it.
- all the exhaust studs came out of the head w/the nuts...soaked in PB blaster for several days, nothing. headed the copper nuts w/the torch, nothing... heated the nuts again and then put in a tupperware of ice... THEN put in the plastic grip thing for my vice, they came off... buffed studs with wire wheel.
- next up - clean the lifters best I can... reinstall them and the cams.

[632 Regal]

So why is coolant getting in the crankcase?

[RobPatt]

So why is coolant getting in the crankcase?

I wish I knew. several folks have looked at the HG... no signs of failure.. they've shown me what failed ones look like and the signs remaining on the head and/or block... I didn't have any of that.

I'd like to think I didn't screw up the vanos repair/install somehow... but it seems most likely. No clue.
Going to press, button her up when the gaskets, etc come in and triple check everything.

No obvious signs leads me to think I screwed something... don't know what... up.