where can I find a old timey paper manual?

[Astro14]

I'm hopeful, too. Compression loss, oil in the coolant, or coolant in the oil are all signs of gasket failure....you'll know...

[drgian]

OK, so she's back together and I started her up again. I didn't do any testing, but she starts and runs good.

I did find the exhaust leak, one of the gaskets had slipped off the bolt, this particular bolt came off out of the head so I was able to slip the gasket back in. She's still leaking a little exhaust, but it's minimal. I'll check the bolts again, last time I found one that wasn't tight to spec.

I will run her a bit and then change the oil and coolant. Also I'll do a compression test and keep an eye on the oil and coolant.

I will say that before this repair I was getting crazy pressure build up in the overflow bottle and I was losing coolant like crazy. She's not acting like that now, but like you, I'm not convinced all is well until some time passes and I don't see any symptoms.

Thanks for the help.

[drgian]

I topped off and marked the coolant bottle and took her for a good long ride. The smoke is down considerably, does seem to be coolant rather than oil and stops altogether at times. But the good news is that the bottle was exactly where it started when I got back from my 30 min test ride so I am taking that to be a good sign.

I still need to measure compression and I'll get back to you with those numbers... is there a spec or is it just a matter of them all yielding the same value?

Couple other questions. I found the problem with the exhaust leaking, there is one exhaust bolt that is stripped, I switched it out to a new bolt and got it pretty tight, but it started to give before I stopped. I'm pretty burned out so I plan to take it somewhere to get that bad exhaust bolt fixed. I don't see how I can tap it out, I'm not particularly good at that under the best of circumstances; I don't see how I can get back there and tap out the hole in place. Should I try to fix this myself, anybody have any input?

Lastly, I was disturbed to see some oil in the turbo, on the small hose that connects the turbo itself to the large plastic tube that feeds the intercooler. Not a whole lot, but some. I wonder if running the car on the bad head gasket and the water and antifreeze in the oil didn't burn out that turbo. I also wonder if this isn't the source of my smoke (or at least part of it). My thinking is to just disconnect it that long hose and let the air come in unpressurized and see if that has any effect on the smoking.

[drgian]

OK here's the update. She's all back together and running perfectly, no smoke, no nothing, exhaust is all buttoned up and quiet. She has been idling rough and today when I had her out she started running really rough and the check engine light came on. I came home and did some debugging and it was one of coil packs I was able to isolate it. I replaced the bad coil pack (O'Riley's had them in stock) and she's back to running perfectly but the check engine light stays on.

I tried a reset by disconnecting the batter, but no luck. I will buy a reader I guess to see what the code says, but wondering if anyone had any ideas. it came on after the coil failed, but didn't go off after the coil was replaced. ...

[drgian]

well this resolved itself. I was on the way to get the code read at the auto parts store and it reset itself. So this job is officially done and this car is all set. She runs great and I can even hear the turbo whine when I step on it.

I'm really happy, thanks to all.

[Edpruss]

You were correct not to reuse your old head gasket used only once.

Ed

[amish119]

I would clean it by laying a bit of fine sandpaper on a true surface, like a table saw, and just taking a few light passes to ensure a flat surface.