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xanderdeg

I did the head gasket in the beginning of july, the next day I lost the keys...

New ignition came a month and a half later so it sat in the driveway for that time.

After I installed the new ignition I started her up with no initial problems...

But after I tenderly drove around the block there was some steam coming out of the engine bay (not too much but noticible once I shut down the engine and the alternator fan stopped dissipating it)

The steam appears to be coming from somewhere under the exhaust manifold of cylinder 1 - so where the head meets the block.

Coolant levels are just fine and she runs okydoky, anybody know what the problem could be?

I plan to do a compression test once I grab the tool and that could reveal something.

fiat22turbo · Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 4040 Location: Portland, OR

Did you get the water pump installed properly? (I'm hoping you replaced it while you had it apart).

No missing/loose bolts on the thermostat housing/timing belt tensioner mount?

How about the lower radiator hose?

How is the hose from the waterpump to the thermostat housing?

Did you bleed the cooling system properly and make sure the bleed nipple is tight in the hose?
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Stefan
1979 924 Carrera GTS (clone-ish)
1988 944 Turbo S (Silver Rose)

xanderdeg · Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:22 am Post subject:

Here's the thing: I was in a rush to get it ready for the historics so I forgot/omitted a few things... oops.

I did not replace the water pump.

No missing or loose bolts that I know of.

Lower radiator hose is fine.

That hose was a bitch to get back on but it seems to be in good condition.

No I did not.. I'll do that now... oopsies...

emoore924 · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 2822

Did you have the head redone when it was out of the car? Just wondering whether it is flat (enough) to reseal properly.

daniel · Joined: 18 Jun 2009 Posts: 686 Location: Sydney, Australia

Sounds like water is leaking on the exhaust. Start her up and have a very close look for the leak, hopefully it is just a leaky water pump/hose and not a headgasket issue
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Over the top of skyline, total brake failure.... hit the wall at over 200 kp/h at the dipper, so anyone who has to brake for the esses is a pussy.
1977.5 Race Car, CAMS Group S Spec
1989 944 Cabriolet

xanderdeg · Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 1:56 pm Post subject:

No the head wasn't redone. I was in such a rush that I forgot to even check it for trueness and only realized once it was all together...

Hoping it's just some kind of leak

xanderdeg · Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 2:46 pm Post subject:

Sooooooooooooooo the threads for the bolts connecting the upper and lower t-stat housing were stripped out. Replaced the lower housing and that seals well now and doesn't leak. There's still a leak somewhere around the housing that I can't find...

Also coolant likes to bubble out of where the water pump to rad hose connects to the water pump...

No water temp indication at the moment, no idea why...

I also have to get my emissions testing done...

Just an update from a very busy and not-happy-about-not-having-a-car xander

fiat22turbo · Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 4040 Location: Portland, OR

No coolant temp indicates you have air in the system and/or enough coolant.

Fix the leak at the water pump (check the clamp for tension, replace clamp if necessary, etc.

Put the heater control to full hot and then bleed the cooling system at least twice afterward and see if that fixes the issues.

Now, with that said, there's a reason why headgasket sets include all of the gaskets for the cylinder head. Also why waterpumps and radiator hoses are almost always replaced when the head is removed, usually because a head gasket failure is often due to a cooling system failure or due to age. Either way, refreshing all of the cooling system components at the same time should stave off future issues.

If you haven't had your radiator checked at a shop, you probably should as they like to fill up with crud and work less and less efficiently until they can't keep the engine cool. Radiator shops can take one of the ends off and clean out the radiator vanes with a metal rod (called "rodding out") which will help for a while. This should cost about $60-$100. Unfortunately new radiators for the 924's aren't easy to come by.
_________________
Stefan
1979 924 Carrera GTS (clone-ish)
1988 944 Turbo S (Silver Rose)

xanderdeg · Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 9:51 am Post subject:

Bled it, the problem actually turned out to be a bad connection at the sensor wire which is the biggest b*$ch to get to, still need to fix that...

Went for emissions, they told me to go home until I have a muffler on my car

Gotta replace the coolant elbow that has the bleed plug as that's pretty screwed.

Slowly getting there, maybe after my car's back on the road I'll have time to start that '77 rebuild...