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blown headgasket '93 940t

littlesnides

New member
Joined
Oct 7, 2013
Location
New Martinsville, WV
Well I have coolant leaking out externally and being burned ever so slightly. No smoke show yet, but I have to put a little coolant in every couple of days to bring it above minimum again. I can see where it drips down onto the exhaust manifold and burns. My car is a '93 940t with 220k miles. It is my daily driver. I am debating on just replacing the head gasket and calling it a day or getting the valve stem seals replaced while it is off also. I was reading another thread about them rarely wearing out?

Just looking for any advice, thanks.
 
Did you mean .005"?
They probably mean .050in, my turbo car has .020in taken off the head to bump the compression a bit. The deck on the 8v heads is pretty thick, and lot can be removed. I machined .085in from the head for the b230 in the rally car. Over about .060in, and a 2.0L pinto timing belt needs to be used (it's one tooth shorter).
 
They probably mean .050in, my turbo car has .020in taken off the head to bump the compression a bit. The deck on the 8v heads is pretty thick, and lot can be removed. I machined .085in from the head for the b230 in the rally car. Over about .060in, and a 2.0L pinto timing belt needs to be used (it's one tooth shorter).

I assume when you shave that much it's on an NA motor? How was the performance after that? Sorry to derail.
 
I will probably go el cheapo route and just throw a gasket on and be done. But the other half of me wants to atleast do the intake valve seals... not sure if they will need replaced, i guess it depends on many variables. I suppose I would have peace of mind with them replaced. Probably won' do any shaving, I plan to increase boost pressure and like the added security of lower compression
 
Take it to a machine shop and have them check it. Odds are high that it will be out of spec and need to be resurfaced. They can put the valve stem seals in too. It shouldn't be too expensive and will save you from having to do the job over again later.
 
Cool, will try it. I guess our local machinist in our little town stays very busy because of the dirt track cars, mud trucks, and what not... I will have to take up a sixxer to see how that works. I went ahead and ordered my stuff including the valve stem seals... now I am sorta thinking I should order a turbo rebuild kit for my 100k mile 15g .... but then that will need rebalanced
 
Cool, will try it. I guess our local machinist in our little town stays very busy because of the dirt track cars, mud trucks, and what not... I will have to take up a sixxer to see how that works. I went ahead and ordered my stuff including the valve stem seals... now I am sorta thinking I should order a turbo rebuild kit for my 100k mile 15g .... but then that will need rebalanced

Engines that bring him $10k+ will have a priority over a cylinder head that brings him $200. That's why the incentives help out a bit.

Is your 15g burning oil or doing anything weird?
 
They probably mean .050in, my turbo car has .020in taken off the head to bump the compression a bit. The deck on the 8v heads is pretty thick, and lot can be removed. I machined .085in from the head for the b230 in the rally car. ?Over about .060in, and a 2.0L pinto timing belt needs to be used (it's one tooth shorter).
Jup. I took 1.2 mm away, just enough to use stock belt. There is small amount left for one shot.

My compression ratio is somewhere 9.5:1 and I'm having about 10 psi boost. Fuel consumption is down about 5% after few tanks.
 
Just pull the head, make sure the surface isn't warped with a machinist straight edge and then slap it back on if not.

I wouldn't worry about the valve stem seals. They don't really ever fail on these cars that I have seen.
 
At 220K I would take the time to have a valve job done. I know this is Turbohacks, however, if this is a car you want to hang on to for awhile, why not do what actually makes sense while the head is off. You would be surprised how much valves leak with the mileage you have on that engine. Most people on here want bigger turbos, hotter cams, new exhaust etc, yet, ignore the basics that are critical to performance.
 
Good point. If keeping the car a while a valve grind might be a good idea. A pressure test or leakdown wouldn't hurt.

If valves are ground, the machinist may take the tips down too. Otherwise they will be closer to the can and a significant reshimmimg could be needed.
 
hrmm good points, 15g is fine just a used turbo with 100k miles. I suppose its not that big of a deal to remove for a rebuild at a later point if it needs it. My goal was to take the car to 300k miles.

I am also trying to keep costs somewhat reasonable. I will take it to the machinist and see what he recommends with the valve job. If I go doing all of that then I will have to get a performance cam too!
 
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