Fe3 head gasket leak ???

[Ractive]

Hi all, I've gotta problem with my built FE3 weither it's normal or not I don't know for sure so I'll post it here. My coolant is slowly draining when I was street tuning. From full to min on the reservior coolant tank after about 8 runs. I'm guessing theres a leak somewhere in the head gasket ( Kia ). I'm using ARP studs and torqued at about 95lbs also double check the torque after breaking in engine and was off a bit. This was before street tuning. No sign of coolant leaks or smell. I just want an opinion before i do another head gasket job. Also boosting @17 lbs on pump 93

Thanks

[lundgren420]

How did you torque the head, straight to 95 lbs or did you step it to 95 lbs?

[Ractive]

I stepped it.

[lundgren420]

was the HG KIA, or the engine is KIA, you think it might have the cracked wall syndrome. Did you have it borred?

[Ractive]

Engine - Mazda FE3
HG - Kia
ARP studs and nuts
Head was milled due to warpage

Stock 86mm bore just honed to seat new rings. Hopefully it's not a cracked wall. If i remember correctly i kept on adding coolant in the reservior when breaking in engine but drained very slow. Just didn't seem right to me until I was street tuning. Must be going somewhere. I'll do a compression test across the cylinders to see what numbers I'm getting. Any other ideas??

[lundgren420]

What condition is your heatercore? May have been leaking into your passenger side floor board?

[Dutch]

or a cracked head. i just bought me a new head due to such problems.
cracked near the spark plug hole cilinder #4

[lundgren420]

ouch sorry to hear that Dutch, how is the turbo project going? I dont mean to be a post whore.

[infini]

I'm not too sure on this but i'll suggest anyway..
If it's a cracked head, wouldn't there be a build up of coolant leaking into the oil causing it to mix into a milky residue (check in engine oil cap??)?
And also, if the head gasket is leaking then wouldn't there be oil leaking into the coolant causing a milky build up in the cooling system (radiator, overflow bottle etc..)?
I guess whether the oil leaks in to the cooling system or vice versa would depend on which has higher pressure.

i have a similar problem with mine where i recently had the head machined and rebuilt due to warpage. i also lose coolant very slowly but i think it's due to too much pressure pushing the coolant out of the overflow bottle. I'm' not sure what's causing this.
The onfusing thing is that it doesn't always leak, sometime is does and other times it won't.
My oil isn't milky so i know there's no mixture between oil and coolant.

if you have a look at the photos i posted in the gallery you can actually see a small puddle on the corner.
http://www.mx6.com/forums/gallery/21...ar-photos.html (New CAI addition plus car photos)

[Ractive]

Thanks guys for taking the time to look at this post. Maybe it is vaporating or maybe i just need a new radiator cap, would that help? I gotta get this thing ready for the drag strip coming up soon. Hopefully I'll break in the 12 second barrier. Will post vids too.

[fredio54]

If you aren't 110% certain that your rad cap is in perfect shape you should replace it with a genuine OEM mazda or nissan one. Without pressure the cooling system can NOT function properly.

Fred.

[Ractive]

I'm not 110% sure Fredio54. Purchased the cap ( 13lbs ) from Checkers a long time ago, made by Stant.

[fredio54]

Time for a mazda one I'd say :-)

[Ractive]

Found my problem. The hose connected to the thermostat to radiator had a slow leak. Thanks

[lundgren420]

SWEEEET, now some pictures of the FE?