WTF! Fel-pro sucks ass?

[Jason96SL2]

OK, I have a properly torqued flat head and block <ie no warpage, I have never knocked, I have never overheated, but after 25k miles the headgasket blows. Does fel-pro suck that bad? I'm pissed. I'm tempted to just keep tightening my arp headstuds until the leak stops. haha. What else is weird though, is I don't overheat or have any of the typical problems. Just a pissy idle on startup that smells like coolant and misfires, but goes away after a min of running.

[liamrh]

Re: WTF! Fel-pro sucks ass?

.... headgasket blows. Just a pissy idle on startup that smells like coolant and misfires, but goes away after a min of running.

Uh......your kidding right? Something was wrong there. Probably didn't torque right or maybe just had a piece of something on the block that allowed the coolant to move through the HG into the chamber. I bet one side of that HG was wet as shit and that is where it blew out.

[Jason96SL2]

I dunno, you'd think it would have symptoms long before now. (it's actually more like 28k miles.) The head was torqued down a hair tighter than factory since I was using the arp studs. I followed the pattern in the fsm, and retightened after a few thousand miles to make sure. The block was completely dry as it was fresh back from the machine shop were it was bored and decked. Same with the head. So there was absolutely nothing on either surface. I know they did a kickass job on the machining too. All I can think of is a substandard headgasket from felpro.

Those symptoms above are what lead me to believe it's the headgasket...I'm just used to seeing more drastic things like overheating, bubbling coolant, smoke out the tailpipe, etc. This car doesn't even smoke...

[liamrh]

Could be you just got a lemon HG. Oh well, at least it is only HG replacement instead of a bunch of crap down in the bottom end.

[therealm0rh0us]

i had one fail after two years w/ no warpage on the head and the gasket looked great it took me & my boss like a really long time to see where the leakwas comin from
it had over 1000 ppm of CO in the cooling system

[sl2racer]

it happens.

[TheMU47]

it happens.

+1

[Jason96SL2]

well, I guess it's a good time to yank the motor and chase down what's making my t-chain rattle.

[sl2racer]

ever hear of a brand new car having problems. nothing is perfect. sometimes there are minor imperfections and that is all it takes. do it again and it should be fine,

[therealm0rh0us]

yeah thats right ive had gaskets warranteed before
the damn five year olds in the headgasket sweatshops need to work on quality control

[saturn_06]

Jason96SL2
I followed the pattern in the fsm

thats the problem

i ad the same thing happen... felpro gave out on me after 400 miles tho... got a copper one, and never had a problem

[Jason96SL2]

ya, I guess crap does just happen...
But it's much more fun to blame it on something else, like felpro. haha.

[saturnspeed_12]

your problem sounds like a normal "moist" engine. mine always started up with misfires when it was cold outside, or a bit damp. after a minute of running, it was fine. on some days where it wasnt driving in a while, it took 5 minutes or a bit longer. my headgasket wasnt blown. you probably have some kind of coolant leak elsewhere.

2 questions, #1-do you have some kind of intake on the car? #2-if possibly headgasket, did you do the 90 degree turn after the 33 ft/lbs(?) second stage torque?