Head Studs? I blew my headgasket...

[Begle1]

I don't know what happened to me, but I'm pretty sure it was oil related.

My oil pressure was definitely higher than I've ever seen it before, immediately after filling it up with oil; I'm not sure it's a head-gasket, but I'd bet money it's something oil related.

Something cause my pressure to drop to nothing. The way I see it, that means it's either a head-gasket or something I'm pulling the engine over.


I just can't figure out what'd cause oil pressure to go high. I imagine over-filling it would do it, although I'm having doubts that's what I did since my fluid level is perfect all of a sudden.

[RCCUMMINS89]

I'm wondering if it is possible that a lot of crank case pressure could fool the electrical sender.

[Begle1]

A lot of crank case pressure wouldn't fool the sensor, it would legitimately increase oil pressure.

Right?

My engine definitely has its fair share of blow-by. But I don't know could give me so much so suddenly, right after topping it off with oil.

[Tacoclaw]

Your EGTs stayed over 1k* for 10 minutes after it died?

Blowing the cap off the puke tank says head gasket, but losing oil pressure and hazing black sure don't.

This sounds like an odd mixture of things to have happen, I just don't see how overfilling with oil could do this. Any more details that may point to something?

[Begle1]

Yup, EGT's stayed up there for quite some time. My coolant in the block was over 200 for around a half hour.

A head gasket oil passage blowing out would cause an oil pressure drop at the sensor location, right? I forget what the oil path on these engines...

[Tacoclaw]

I can't imagine a leak in the head gasket could drop your oil pressure much at all, and I highly doubt crankcase pressure could ever escalate to a pressure readable on a gauge, it would be puking oil out of every gasket in sight.


Any chance your electronics got a dousing of coolant and were messing with your gauges?

[Begle1]

I can't begin to imagine water getting my electronics wet or anything of the sort. I know nobody has faith in the stock pressure sender, but if something ALWAYS runs at one level and then suddenly shoots up one level, immediately after putting oil into it, and holds that level steady for 15 minutes or so before asploding, then I really want to say my pressure was higher than normal.

Here's the oil flow path on an ISB. It isn't helping me much.

It doesn't say where the oil pressure sensor is, I think it's in the "main oil rifle" on the side of the block? I don't see how a blown oil passage in the gasket wouldn't cause that to drop off. I think that's just not how head-gaskets typically fail.

Provided the oil passage did blow out, then I just have to figure out why the pressure was higher than normal in the first place.

[matthewh]

The oil pressure sender is on the drivers side of the block, behind the vacuum-p/s pump. As your standing on the drivers side, looking at the block, you'll see it hiding in there

[Begle1]

This is what I found when I took the head off.







I still don't have any idea what the root problem was or even what the actual failure was, but #3 cylinder looks like crap and I can catch a fingernail in the cylinder walls, so I just want a new engine now so I don't have to think about it anymore.

Anybody got a fresh engine to sell me?

[93flatbed]

Ouch man. Sorry to hear/see this. There was a complete VE eninge on compd a few weeks back in Arizona. If you are real serious about it I can go check it out for you before you buy.

[fatty]

Looks like your head gasket may have been blown for quite a while.

[RCCUMMINS89]

Looks to me like there was a TON of water/meth thrown into that engine.

[oldestof11]

[Begle1]

What exactly are you guys looking at here?

Does the head gasket look obviously blown? Is that cylinder damage somehow indicative of water in the cylinder?

I don't know what #3's problem was. Cylinder wall damage like that looks like an oiling issue, right? But what's the white stuff? Ash from coolant intrusion or a crappy injector?

The rest of the cylinders and valves look fine and normal, don't they?

[RCCUMMINS89]

That yellowish on the valves is normal from water/meth. As far as the rest... hard to tell what took it out. Because it is scratched all the way around... it appears to maybe be an oil issue.