blowing head gaskets

[Isaac]

This is the second one. I've talked to quite a few people about my problem. As far as mod's, I have an explorer IM, x303, ported OE heads, 1" spacer, mac unequal shorties, offroad h, mac muffs, & smog removed.
I've went through two headgaskets & no clue on why. My timing IS set at 20btc (was set at idle, not sure if it matters someone asked about it). Two of my friends have told me that it's because of my timing being set at 20. I've asked 5 shops including one that is all about fox mustang 5.0's & set the record for fastest n/a at one time & was in the '92 issue of mm&ff. & i've emailed a few engine builders. Also My friend is running 25 degrees on his 5.0 H.O. with 12psi to top it off.
All of them said that there's no way 20 degrees timing would do that, they all said my head is most likely warped. It has seen 265 degrees at one time at the strip when my belt came off. Is there a way to check the head? Even if I am getting it surfaced I'd still like to know if it was warped to find out the cause of it.

 

[Isaac]

bump

 

[gcwh02]

well they are aluminum heads, which do warp easier. The only way to tell if they are warped is to take them off. Now did the gaskets blow right away or was it a decent period of time and they went each time? If they blew right away each time i would take them to a machine shop.

 

[Isaac]

I still have steel heads on, not aluminum. & The first one blew right away, but I think my gasket might have been messed up. My friend said he thought it was AFTER we put the engine together. The 2nd one I put on, I didn't notice until I went to the strip... my clutched fan went & took the water pump with it... so i went up there the next day, swapped pumps in their parking lot started it up with the rad cap off & coolant flew everywhere. In any case it wasn't acting up too bad. It would miss on low end now & then. So it could have blown right off the bat, it could have blown at the strip. The strip was just the first time I noticed it. If I had to guess due to missing at low end right after I replaced it, I would say it blew right off the bat.

So I'm getting ready to take the engine out after I get enough money to buy parts & have my heads machined.

 

[Isaac]

ttt

 

[PoopDawg]

If you're blowing head gaskets on that combo, either the deck service of the block is warped or the head(s) are warped. Could be a slight crack in the block or heads also. Good luck.

 

[speedytang]

How about the #1 reason the NA engine blows head gaskets. Are you running new head bolts to secure the heads down and to get a correct torque reading.

 

[poneypower89]

How about the #1 reason the NA engine blows head gaskets. Are you running new head bolts to secure the heads down and to get a correct torque reading.

+1 X infinity

 

[gcwh02]

I still have steel heads on, not aluminum. & The first one blew right away, but I think my gasket might have been messed up. My friend said he thought it was AFTER we put the engine together. The 2nd one I put on, I didn't notice until I went to the strip... my clutched fan went & took the water pump with it... so i went up there the next day, swapped pumps in their parking lot started it up with the rad cap off & coolant flew everywhere. In any case it wasn't acting up too bad. It would miss on low end now & then. So it could have blown right off the bat, it could have blown at the strip. The strip was just the first time I noticed it. If I had to guess due to missing at low end right after I replaced it, I would say it blew right off the bat.

So I'm getting ready to take the engine out after I get enough money to buy parts & have my heads machined.

Sorry, I thought I saw x303 heads.

 

[FORCED2DV8]

Did it blow the gasket in the same place both times??? Check the surface of both block and head for warping, Use new head bolts this time. Use quality head gaskets,

 

[thehueypilot]

This is the second one. I've talked to quite a few people about my problem. As far as mod's, I have an explorer IM, x303, ported OE heads, 1" spacer, mac unequal shorties, offroad h, mac muffs, & smog removed.
I've went through two headgaskets & no clue on why. My timing IS set at 20btc (was set at idle, not sure if it matters someone asked about it). Two of my friends have told me that it's because of my timing being set at 20. I've asked 5 shops including one that is all about fox mustang 5.0's & set the record for fastest n/a at one time & was in the '92 issue of mm&ff. & i've emailed a few engine builders. Also My friend is running 25 degrees on his 5.0 H.O. with 12psi to top it off.
All of them said that there's no way 20 degrees timing would do that, they all said my head is most likely warped. It has seen 265 degrees at one time at the strip when my belt came off. Is there a way to check the head? Even if I am getting it surfaced I'd still like to know if it was warped to find out the cause of it.

If your running that much timing are you running 110 or 112 octane fuel? I tried to run 20 degrees on 93 octane and it worked until I went to 22 degrees and it broke four pistons and blew both head gaskets. I now run 15 degrees with 93/110 octane mix.

 

[Isaac]

sorry bout that, meant x303 cam not heads.

I used these head bolts
http://store.summitracing.com/partd...908331+4294924930+4294840126+115&autoview=sku
torqued to 75 on top 65 on bottom the first time & I did torque in stages. The second time I reused the same ones torquing to 85/65

I'm not sure where it blew the 2nd time. I havn't taken the engine apart yet.

20 degrees with 89 octane. I kept doing trial & error to see what I could get away with. It will knock with 87, but none at all with 89.

 

[gcwh02]

seems like way to much timing, especially for 89 octane!

 

[Beasly B]

, they all said my head is most likely warped. It has seen 265 degrees at one time at the strip when my belt came off.

Sounds like a good place to start to me

 

[alludethis]

im a newb with stangs but it has to be 1 of 2 things. If your cars seen 265 degrees thats pretty damn hot, and its quite possible your block or heads are warped. Also, they suggest running 93 plus octane with 14 degrees of timing, you run 89 on 20 degrees? Thats pretty wild.

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

Ok, I think these guys are off to a good start, but I think we need more info about your combo. What injectors are you running? How about fuel pressure? How do your plugs look? In my honest opinion, 20° of initial timing and only 89 octane is what's killing your headgaskets. The 20° initial timing may be fine before you factor in the advance the EEC provides, but after, it's pretty much suicide. Are you running that much timing with the SPOUT pulled, and your timing is locked out? What type of head gaskets are you running? You mentioned that someone back in a '92 issue of MM&FF ran 20° of timing and that your friend is running 25° with boost, but that still never mentioned whether they locked out their timing, which I'd venture to guess they did. Replace your gaskets again, pull your timing back about 6°, and fill up with 93 octane if you want that thing to last. Next time you may not be so lucky when it detonates, which it will, and your spark plug breaks off in the combustion chamber, smashes between your piston and the head, and you're stuck replacing your head, plus rebuilding the engine if it's salvagable after the piston breaks into several pieces.

 

[Isaac]

I agree with the warped heads &/or block. I just wanted to know some other possibilities.

StangGT1995: Everything stock except for: Explorer intake, x303 cam, & full exhaust. Thats all that I figured mattered as far as this goes. Others I have an electric fan, coil, 1" spacer.

It HAD gt40 heads on it long ago, but that was like almost 3 years ago. These may have been bad head's from the start & I just didn't notice the first blown head gasket. The reason I had to take the engine out of the car in the first place was due to a twisted in half oil pump shaft. & like I said after it was put together from that, the head gasket was instantly gone. I'm not sure if the head gasket was already messed up from when I bought it. May have been a defective gasket that caused it, or it could just be that my head is indeed warped.

Here is another thing that makes me thing it's warped. Before when I would travel down the highway at 55mph the engine temp would slowly start creeping up. Nothing wrong with the radiator, thermostat, or waterpump. There's no reason it should have been getting over 210 when it had a 160 degree thermostat in it. It had a solid fan on it, not the stock clutch driven one. So it could just have been bad heads put on it in the first place.

The guy I bought the car off of took the gt40's with him the guy put some stockers on to replace them. Could have been bad heads from the start. My friend offered me his stock ones (he switched to aluminum) for $50.

 

[speedytang]

You are sure that the headgaskets are turned and facing the correct direction. Usually when a car gets hotter when moving when all cooling items are working correctly means a blocked water jacket or soup in the oil pan.

 

[Isaac]

They were correct all of the times i've put them on.

 

[speedytang]

Well I guess it is all a guess till you pull the heads. It takes a lot to warp steel heads and I have had many customers bring me cars that have had no water in them for weeks because of freeze plug leaks and not had a warped head.