I just finished pulling the head off my 94 miata. I was and my mechanic had assumed the gasket was blown due to there being exhaust gases in the coolant, as well as some coolant leaking in to at least one of the cylinders. Now that I have the head removed I do not see any breaks in the gasket or cracks in the head itself, but its still going to be heading out for pressure testing and resurfacing.
One thing I did notice is that the black material on the surface of the multi-layer steal gasket was flaked away between at least two of the coolant passages and its nearest cylinder. This flaking was also present on a few other parts of the gasket as well and appeared to be bubbling in a few others as if overheated. The engine was never overheated in the 4k miles since it was installed and the head was torqued down, but I do not know if to spec.
This same black material was found in the cooling system once I started to notice the coolant issues. So my questions are as follows.
1) Would a loss of that thin black coating be enough to allow coolant and exhaust gases pass between the cylinder and coolant passages?
2) Aside from pressure testing and resurfacing the head are there any other things I should be looking for as a cause?
3) How far do I need to tear down the head for the pressure testing and resurfacing?
4) Who makes the best gasket set for the 1.8L miata engine? I don't want to have to tear it back apart until after I build a new engine for forced induction.
Thanks for any answers or advice you may have.
Gimpster |
Post at 2-7 07:35 AM
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