Shyam Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Since joining the starlet community, I've noticed a lot of nice Glanza's being broken due to head gasket failure. Towards the end of this year, I am planning to build to get some more power however I don't want to become another victim. Many of you have starlets which are highly tuned and putting healthy miles on the clock and some of you may have been a victim head gasket failure or even a blown engine. What is the main cause of head gasket failure/blowing an engine(bottom end failure etc) and what can be done to prevent it when building for around 200bhp? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
maddox710 Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Don't understand why people don't just change it it's relatively inexpensive and not as hard as it looks to replace. Obviously it once the head is off and the damage is assessed is either to continue or not if it's financially feasible. But to prevent against it again at higher power levels it needs a very clean deck surface before installing a multi layer steel head gasket, combined with arp head bolts Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akyakapotter Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 maintenance its key mine gets new oil and filter evey 2k or after every track event also have a baffled sump to help stop oil starvation during hard cornering. cheers nick. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
daniel_g Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Head skimmed, block decked, 0.5mm metal HG, ARP studs.After that if mine blows again i'll burn it to the ground. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Whitenoize Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Wouldn't worry to much about a head gasket mate fairly easy and inexpensive job the key with these cars is do everything right the first time and don't try and cut corners just to save a few quid Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shyam Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 Don't understand why people don't just change it it's relatively inexpensive and not as hard as it looks to replace. Obviously it once the head is off and the damage is assessed is either to continue or not if it's financially feasible. But to prevent against it again at higher power levels it needs a very clean deck surface before installing a multi layer steel head gasket, combined with arp head bolts yes pal, it's not a hard job to do but sometimes theres no telling when its going to go. My motor is close to 250 km now so I'm debating whether I should rebuild it before I go to push for more power. Although it still runs very well and smoothly.. Steel Head Gaskets such as the Athena ones? They're quiet expensive but I'd definitely put on in if it's the difference between it blowing or not lol maintenance its key mine gets new oil and filter evey 2k or after every track event also have a baffled sump to help stop oil starvation during hard cornering. cheers nick. Thanks for that Nick, is that every 2000km or miles? Good measure to take mate, you must love your car haha. Baffles on a sump, never heard of that being done before but does sound interesting. Guessing it's not a requirement for daily use though... Head skimmed, block decked, 0.5mm metal HG, ARP studs.After that if mine blows again i'll burn it to the ground. haha easy daniel_g, how many times have you blown yours mate? So from all that I can gather; - Good Maintenance- Metal multi-layer gasket- ARP head bolts Quote Link to post Share on other sites
starletezy Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 If you get the head and block skimmed you wont have any issues people tend not to skim sometimes and end up with problems i made the same kind of mistake a few years ago didn't deck my head before fitting my msl gasket it blew a few weeks later. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shyam Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 yeah Whitenoize, agree with you there fella. I'll probably get everything I can afford to get brand new. Will maybe have to settle for a second hand piggyback ecu though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shyam Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 If you get the head and block skimmed you wont have any issues people tend not to skim sometimes and end up with problems i made a mistake a few years ago didn't deck my head before fitting my msl gasket it blew a few weeks later. Thanks for the input starletezy, okay so it's important to get head and block skimmed before putting on a new head gasket, regardless of if it had blown a head gasket or not? will bear this in mind Quote Link to post Share on other sites
starletezy Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Thanks for the input starletezy, okay so it's important to get head and block skimmed before putting on a new head gasket, regardless of if it had blown a head gasket or not? will bear this in mind You can do a strait edge feeler test on the deck to see if the deck is strait the limit on the feeler test is 00.5 anything above that would need skimming but would recommend skimming 100%. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shyam Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 You can do a strait edge feeler test on the deck to see if the deck is strait the limit on the feeler test is 00.5 anything above that would need skimming but would recommend skimming 100%. Thanks bud. I'm definitely going to do this. Going to be a bit more expensive than I thought but it's important that I can use car as my daily with peace of mind. My engine has done almost 250,000 km and it's on a auto box(probably exposed to less stress than a manual). Would you recommend I rebuild the engine before going for more power? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
starletezy Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 If the engine is healthy and has been maintained well through out its life stock engine would be okay mate best thing to do is a compression test to see if your engine has good compression still if it has would be fine for 230hp max before you need to start rebuilding it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akyakapotter Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 mine reads in miles so every 2k miles bud, cheers nick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shyam Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 Awesome guys, thanks again for the heads up and all the advice fellas. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
5e colin Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Maintenance and 2nd stay out of the VTEC range these are turbo mother's not limiter bashers that's how those newbies kill them Quote Link to post Share on other sites
daniel_g Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Aw man ive blown up many statlet engines haha all part of the fun!Some people recently have had bother with those athena HGs.OEM Toyota are normally fine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Calum122 Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Maintenance and 2nd stay out of the VTEC range these are turbo mother's not limiter bashers that's how those newbies kill them Watch any AE86 video and you will always see them in the VTEC range lol! Obviously not a turbo car. Colin you saying these cars are prone to failure at the red line? Wow, I must say...that is kinda disappointing to hear. Maybe I ought to get a Honda lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
daniel_g Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Colin you saying these cars are prone to failure at the red line?Yeah stay away from the red line.. 5th gear red line in the 4paw a few years ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shyam Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 Maintenance and 2nd stay out of the VTEC range these are turbo mother's not limiter bashers that's how those newbies kill them haha thanks Colin. Mine is a bit more reluctant getting to VTEC range being an Auto but will definitely remember this for when its converted to a manual! Aw man ive blown up many statlet engines haha all part of the fun!Some people recently have had bother with those athena HGs.OEM Toyota are normally fine. Yeah stay away from the red line.. 5th gear red line in the 4paw a few years ago. Daniel_G, Fakin hell mate, that's some serious head gasket failure. You can go swimming in that mate haha Is that a multi layer metal gasket? Didn't seem to hold up too well at all. It doesn't seem like the gasket itself blew, water seep through gaps?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ollieh17 Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Watch any AE86 video and you will always see them in the VTEC range lol!Obviously not a turbo car. Colin you saying these cars are prone to failure at the red line? Wow, I must say...that is kinda disappointing to hear. Maybe I ought to get a Honda lol4efte isn't really designed to be a performance engine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
glanzagee Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 What is the main cause of head gasket failure = excessive boost for components used e.g oem headgasket, oem head bolts . poor tune the list can go on.. bottom end failure = again being unrealistic with the amount of load components can take vs power goals = ticking time bomb. poor tune poor machine work etc etc vtec rev range hmm i think thats around 10000 rpm i havent seen or heard of a 4e or 5e rev too that and live too tell the tale ! but i have seen them rev too 9000 rpm all day long but that involes alot of R&D and money Quote Link to post Share on other sites
daniel_g Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Daniel_G, Fakin hell mate, that's some serious head gasket failure. You can go swimming in that mate haha Is that a multi layer metal gasket? Didn't seem to hold up too well at all. It doesn't seem like the gasket itself blew, water seep through gaps??When it went.. at 133mph.. i thought it was the HG, until i stripped the head off, check no2 piston.That was a standard OEM gasket with OEM headbolts, the ones from factory. The piston melted before the gasket blew, was still in good nick! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
glanzagee Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 When it went.. at 133mph.. i thought it was the HG, until i stripped the head off, check no2 piston.That was a standard OEM gasket with OEM headbolts, the ones from factory. The piston melted before the gasket blew, was still in good nick! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
5e colin Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Ya stock head is a no no on the limiter and small turbo 1s work is done no problem but still happens not as often I've a full acis ported 5efhe heads and sometimes still blows at 7500/8000 and always between 1 and 2 cilinder again common spot right there seems the heads are the course maybe design flaw I don't know Quote Link to post Share on other sites
glanzagee Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Ya stock head is a no no on the limiter and small turbo 1s work is done no problem but still happens not as often I've a full acis ported 5efhe heads and sometimes still blows at 7500/8000 and always between 1 and 2 cilinder again common spot right there seems the heads are the course maybe design flaw I don't know sometimes blows at 7500/8000 ? what data do you have too say this ? does the turbo your using still make power at this rev band ? dyno graph ? for the need too rev this high ? i presume youve changed your head gasket more than a few times? how many times have you decked the block ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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