Possible Blown Head Gasket.

flip888 · Aug 9, 2013

My friends selling a 90 gst for $600 with:
-no compression in 1 cylinder.
-a small amount of white smoke coming out of the exhaust at idle. Not sure how much under load but not a tol.
-the oil looks a little thin but doesn't look milky or chocolate milky. Just kind of thin. Not foamy or anything to make me think there's coolant in it unless the thinness is caused by coolant.

-I haven't checked the coolant yet.
-The car is of course running pretty rough with the no compression in that cylinder but it smooths out above 3k rpm.
-The car has 145k miles.
-The turbo boosts well and the transmission shifts smooth.
-The timing belt was replaced about 15k miles ago.

Does this sound like a blown head gasket? The car doesn't over heat and I can't smell coolant anywhere. So I'm confused. Could this be a warped head or a bent valve? I'm hoping its just the gasket.

Is this worth buying not knowing?

flip888 · Aug 9, 2013

Any help would be great. I want to but this car as a DD and max out a 14b setup and eventually add a 30-50 shot of nitrous or maybe look into methanol or something. Or possible move up to a 50 trim eventually if I have a lot of extra money to spend and don't go with nitrous.

Red1991TSI · Aug 9, 2013

Buy a compression tester from Harbor Freight and check the compression. I personally wouldn't go with methanol or Nitrous. Buy a larger turbo, supporting mods, and a tune.

flip888 · Aug 9, 2013

Thanks for your input. I'll do a compression test myself in the next few days. I might just buy the car and part it out if its something more serious.

Any reason in particular you would stay away from nitrous?

I like the idea of maxing out a 14b because I think I could come close to 275-300fwhp on it and I won't have a lot of spare money after buying the car so a new turbo might take a while. The nitrous would only be for the track and its a lot of fun on a turbo car.

ReSoL603 · Aug 9, 2013

I would buy it just for the shell. You can pick up an engine cheap enough or fix this one. The price is worth it alone. Pull the head off see what you see. Best case, you replace the head gasket. Worst case. you fix some valves and/or replace a piston.

r6speed · Aug 14, 2013

I second the compression test, and if you Really want to know whats wrong, do a leak down test or at least get compressed air on that bad cylinder.
Harbor freight does sell leak down testers but they DO NOT work correctly, however, they still come with the hose and adapter that enable you to fill each cylinder with compressed air, which will tell you if its a ring, valve, or head gasket failure.

This is what I do:
-buy harbor freight leak down tester ($40)
-leave everything in the case except for the hose and threaded adapter (goes into -spark plug hole)
-remove ALL spark plugs, remove oil cap, remove coolant cap, remove throttle body elbow or hose, and zip tie throttle body butterfly valve open
-get whichever cylinder your testing to TopDeadCenter, thread in the air hose adapter, and hook it up to 100psi of compressed air
-listen for air: If air comes out
throttle body = intake valve
exhaust pipe = exhaust valve
different spark plug hole or coolant cap = head gasket
oil cap or dipstick = ring

-return harbor freight leak down tester for refund

The reason the harbor freight leak down testers do not work is because the second gauge is only a 15psi gauge and its suppose to be 100psi gauge just like the first one. The only difference should be the "face" on it that shows percentage instead of pressure.
Trust me, don't even try to use the gauges or you'll break that second 15psi gauge and then they charge you a restock fee

flip888 · Aug 15, 2013

Thanks for the directions for how to do this and what the sounds mean. I knew what a leak down test was but never knew you could tell the difference between an bad intake/exhaust valve/gasket. I will definitely do this test next chance i get.

Wes393 · Aug 17, 2013

flip888 said:
Any reason in particular you would stay away from nitrous?

I like the idea of maxing out a 14b because I think I could come close to 275-300fwhp on it and I won't have a lot of spare money after buying the car so a new turbo might take a while. The nitrous would only be for the track and its a lot of fun on a turbo car.

A decent Nitrous setup would cost more than most of the supporting mods you need for 300hp, and still requires supporting mods in itself. And if a $40 head gasket is the make-or-break limit for you, I'm not sure a $600 Nitrous setup makes much sense.

Possible Blown Head Gasket.

flip888

flip888

Red1991TSI

flip888

ReSoL603

r6speed

flip888

Wes393

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities