LSA Head Coolant Leak

[ABADZL1]

Well, since you have a catch can this may not be the case for you. But, to get that much more carbon, its coming from somewhere. For some reason it's always the rear cylinders that have issues on supercharged engines. Lol. If it's not getting it thru intake. Theres only one other way to get in there. Assuming valve seals are good

[Flavorwrench]

Well here are the pictures from the passenger side of the motor. I can't tell for sure, but the head gasket around #8 looks like it would have eventually failed as well. I took careful note of how hard it was to loosen each head bolt and there were huge differences in several of the bolts. At this point I will point the finger a Chevrolet for this particular build. Like I said before though, I had an opportunity to fix their mistake after my initial build, so I still take the blame for not going through the head bolts and doing a re-torque. The galley side bolts (11-15) were extremely loose, I could have loosened them with pliers loose.

The lesson here for me at least with all of this is when you have the opportunity to check, do the work, don't assume anything. Seems kind of basic with everything right? It's always an interesting dance... how far do you go, what's good enough.

[DrkPhx]

So the head bolts were that loose from the factory? That sucks. I thought they used a special machine that torques each head bolt to it's torque value to eliminate human error. I used stock OEM TTY bolts and torqued to spec with a angle gauge. So far so good.

p.s. You should also replace the lifters and lift trays while you're in there. Mine had 19K miles when I swapped the heads and two of the lifter trays holes (that hold the lifter) were slightly out of shape to the point it couldn't hold the lifter in place and allowed side to side movement. Could have been catastrophic if the lifters would have turned sideways.

[Flavorwrench]

Originally Posted by DrkPhx

So the head bolts were that loose from the factory? That sucks. I thought they used a special machine that torques each head bolt to it's torque value to eliminate human error. I used stock OEM TTY bolts and torqued to spec with a angle gauge. So far so good.

p.s. You should also replace the lifters and lift trays while you're in there. Mine had 19K miles when I swapped the heads and two of the lifter trays holes (that hold the lifter) were slightly out of shape to the point it couldn't hold the lifter in place and allowed side to side movement. Could have been catastrophic if the lifters would have turned sideways.

I'll do that... thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure and report back what I find.

I still need to make a decision on where to send my heads and what to have done. I've already boxed them up and I'd like to get them sent out this week. So many choices... I think I'll stick with my BTR 2 camshaft for now, unless I get swayed by my Heads decision.

[Flavorwrench]

Well I spoke with Richard today at WCCH and I decided to have them port the LSA's and upgrade to the Inconel exhaust valves, I've had good results with those valves on my twin turbo motor, so I'll stick with whats working. Going to stick with the new Tooley springs as well.

[Flavorwrench]

So I pulled the lifter trays and everything looks good. I am a little concerned with the 2 pieces I found down between the lifters in the galley.



Not sure where those pieces originated.. The material is like hard black plastic.... maybe.

Anyone have a guess?

[Flavorwrench]

I just started doing my Trunnion upgrade... I thought the ones I bought through Summit Racing were manufactured by Straub Technologies??? (Summit Racing® LS Series Retrofit Trunnion Kits SUM-141560) Well anyway, I don't like the tolerances so far... they seem a little sloppy. I wonder if they tighten up when they get warm... I am a bit nervous about using these... last thing I need is the rocker flopping around on the valve stem.. Has anyone used these?

[ABADZL1]

Originally Posted by Flavorwrench

I just started doing my Trunnion upgrade... I thought the ones I bought through Summit Racing were manufactured by Straub Technologies??? (Summit Racing® LS Series Retrofit Trunnion Kits SUM-141560) Well anyway, I don't like the tolerances so far... they seem a little sloppy. I wonder if they tighten up when they get warm... I am a bit nervous about using these... last thing I need is the rocker flopping around on the valve stem.. Has anyone used these?

I wouldn't use them. Personally, I will only use che