I had a mechanic (a very good and experienced one, who's worked a lot on rally engines and similar, but of course not on the V6 Turbo, almost nobody in Norway has done that) rebuild my 1983 Turbo (an engine that had been standing in a shop since '83 and until I bought it), which I was going to use on an Oldsmobile Starfire. The build was finished between one and a half and two years ago, and then life happened. We moved to a place without a garage, and I had to give up the project. The car was sold, and I put the engine on the Norwegian equivalent of Craigslist. It took time, but I finally got it sold to a guy who was going to use it in a Riviera. He put it in, and two days ago I got a phone call that wasn't very uplifting.
The engine started, and the it began leaking water out of the exhaust. He tried to run it on the starter without plugs, and water came up of four of six plug holes! That must be the most catastrophic failure of a head gasket I've ever heard about! I mailed JCB Racing two days ago, but I haven't had an answer. Probably because he's on vacation, most normal people are these days...
So what can cause this bad a failure? The gasket was (as far as I could tell, I was there, but I'm no mechanic by far) mounted the way the instructions said, with the silicone and all, but I'm guessing it's not meant to stand waiting for more than one and a half year before being used. Can that be the reason, or does this have to be an error in mounting? And is there any way to come back from this if it's the time that's the problem? If not I do of course have to pay back parts of the money he paid for the engine, and that hurts. Especially since I'm already way over $1000 in the red on the engine alone (not to mention the car, which was sold very cheaply since it was difficult to get rid of). I sold the engine for around 2000 and that was the money I paid for only the engine and transport to Norway. In addition there was around 1000 to have it rebuilt and then the gasket kits and so on. So I'm probably close to 2000 in the red. The buyer has asked for around 800 of the 2000 back for replacing the head gaskets. (Remember this is Norway where labour costs are much higher than in the US).
The engine started, and the it began leaking water out of the exhaust. He tried to run it on the starter without plugs, and water came up of four of six plug holes! That must be the most catastrophic failure of a head gasket I've ever heard about! I mailed JCB Racing two days ago, but I haven't had an answer. Probably because he's on vacation, most normal people are these days...
So what can cause this bad a failure? The gasket was (as far as I could tell, I was there, but I'm no mechanic by far) mounted the way the instructions said, with the silicone and all, but I'm guessing it's not meant to stand waiting for more than one and a half year before being used. Can that be the reason, or does this have to be an error in mounting? And is there any way to come back from this if it's the time that's the problem? If not I do of course have to pay back parts of the money he paid for the engine, and that hurts. Especially since I'm already way over $1000 in the red on the engine alone (not to mention the car, which was sold very cheaply since it was difficult to get rid of). I sold the engine for around 2000 and that was the money I paid for only the engine and transport to Norway. In addition there was around 1000 to have it rebuilt and then the gasket kits and so on. So I'm probably close to 2000 in the red. The buyer has asked for around 800 of the 2000 back for replacing the head gaskets. (Remember this is Norway where labour costs are much higher than in the US).
