94 R/T Blown head gasket???

[Scott E. Smith]

I have an 94 R/T 10 with what appears to be a blown head gasket it has been using coolant and getting air (exhaust gas?) in the cooling system.Visually it looks like the #7 cylinder..the plug is covered in an orangish residue and upon removing the intake the runner and intake port down to the valve has a dark residue
all other cylinders look fine.
The first sign I had that something was wrong was a night that I had run it pretty hard,I stopped for a while and when I started it back up if huffed white smoke/steam from the drivers exhaust then stopped after about 10 sec. it continued to do this on start up..when I pulled the plugs #7 was wet with coolant.
Does this sound like a gasket problem or possibly a crack..has anyone else had a similar experience? Any help would be great.

 

[TOOOFST]

My friend's 94 just got repaired ,deja vous.If your interested in looking over his work tickets,send me your address,and or fax.He spent 5000-6000g range.You can't tell for sure until the heads off,and sometimes theirs rodbearing damage.We had one of our local viper performance co's look at it and they started out with the new motor ********.Most cases just pull the head,install new gasket and go.Start her up and change oil after a few min. of running.The 94 runs better now.We did not touch the crankshaft.Good luck,some races here will probably one up my advice and tell u how to kick it up a notch while your in there.

 

[Mike Brunton]

I highly doubt the block is cracked - much more likely a cracked head or blown gasket.

I had this exact same problem on another car and it was a crack in the head between the spark plug hole and the intake valve.

If you are mechanically inclined, then take the head off on that side and have it magnafluxed and checked for cracks by a GOOD shop. Look at the gasket too - if you see an obvious break, then thats your problem right there. Pull the other one off while you're at it and get it checked too (better safe than sorry).

Replace the head gaskets with high quality ones and reassemble, and your problem should be gone. If you DON'T find a problem in the head gasket or head, then get it checked further before you reassemble. I don't see how it could possibly need a new motor, and I also don't see how the rods could be damaged, unless this is some problem with the cylinder sleeve becoming displaced - if that's what happened, you could be in real trouble.

 

[Scott E. Smith]

Hopefully it's just the gasket...I'll have the heads off tomorrow...there are no signs of coolant in the oil which is a relief so far...the gaskets I'm using are from the dealer so I guess they're ok I'm also taking advantage of the situation to install the newer style GTS headers (some welding required) and 1.7 rockers,I just want to get it back on the road soon!

 

[Lee Dove]

Mike, The way the rods could get damaged is: Water does not compress!
If the cyl. fills with water and you turn the engine over it's like the piston hitting a brick wall......ie: Bent rods smashed bearings ect.ect....

Do not try and spin motor over till all plugs are removed! Find and fix problem before this worse case situation happens. Good Luck.

cmfwaic

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[phiebert]

I'm sure its the gasket, that's a common problem with the year. I had the same problem but Jon B suggested re-torquing the bolts first and so far that has fixed it for me. Keeping my fingers crossed. I suspect in a few more thousand miles I will have to change the gasket though. When I talked to people about it everyone recommended an after market gasket that was aluminum or something. Supposed to be a lot better than the stock one.

 

[Jay Herbert]

I was thinking about putting these new gaskets on my car for "good measure".

(Below is from a previous post on this topic)

Revised head gaskets for the gen 1 (heavyweight) engine and they are now MLS (multi layered steel) style gasket Part number is 5245157BA.

Usually a supersession from DC is alphebetical. AB, AC, AD, etc. It's odd how mine came BA.

The list price is 81.60

 

[Mike Brunton]

Lee,

Thanks for the info - I know that rod damage can happen if the cylinder fills with liquid, but usually a leaking head gasket only leaks when the system is pressurized, and the heat of the motor expands everything - they usually don't leak overnight or something and fill up the cylinder. Same thing with a head crack - usually it's just a tiny crack that leaks when under pressure/heat. I guess if this is a major leak, then the cylinder filling up is a definite concern - good point Lee.

Scott, did you get a look at the gaskets that are on there now? That's the first thing to check - it could have been a bad gasket or installed incorrectly... it sounds like you've had the head gaskets replaced before?

Also, I'm not sure on the Viper if you're supposed to use new head bolts when you remove the old ones - anyone know? I believe it does call for new bolts - better safe than sorry. I've rebuilt engines before and used the same bolts when it called for new ones (and I did things a LOT worse than that when I was young and poor), but on a Viper, I'd replace 'em if it calls for it.

 

[RobHook]

What's involved with retorquing the head gaskets? I've rebuilt engines in the past so I know the basics. What I mean is, do you loosen the head bolts and the retighten them? Do you remove them and replace them due to the yield?

This problem really worries me as I almos bought a supercoupe once and it blew the head gasket on THE DAY I WAS SUPPOSED TO PICK IT UP. That was a CLOSE one!

Anyway...thanks for any answers.

--Rob