Anybody ever blow a MP headgasket?

[TurboII]

well im still not sure if i actually blew it or not but my car has been acting funny. I recently been having to add coolant to the raditor everyday for about a week now. But its not showing know signs of gasket blow. But i do have a small leak like when the car been sitting after 20min from a drive and theirs a little drop on the floor but i cant seem to find it on the car. The spot is in a weird location like underneath the tranny were their are signs of coolant lines or hoses around it or near it. Need help cause its driving me crazy

[MiniMopar]

They can blow, sure. Overheating, pinging, etc. However, it sounds like you have a leak coming from the coolant return from the turbo. There is a short section of rubber hose right above the tranny. This often gets a slow leak that sounds just as you describe.

[BadAssPerformance]

MP head gasket? I have a stack of blown ones... 30psi out of a decent sized turbo... I had some clamping issues.

[devlish]

same here. went for no reason on my last car... only ever run at 15psi. it can happen.

on a related note: what is a good headgasket for holding 20psi on a regular basis, 23psi on track days?? any suggestions. i have an MP waiting to go in, but now i'm reconsidering and maybe will go with something else if there's a much better option. or do you guys think the MP is good enough for only 20(ish) psi?? thanks

[1FastCSX289]

same here. went for no reason on my last car... only ever run at 15psi. it can happen.

on a related note: what is a good headgasket for holding 20psi on a regular basis, 23psi on track days?? any suggestions. i have an MP waiting to go in, but now i'm reconsidering and maybe will go with something else if there's a much better option. or do you guys think the MP is good enough for only 20(ish) psi?? thanks

Use a cometic....unless you subscribe to the theory that a MP gasket is like a "fuse" in case of detonation. The cometic will take lots of abuse and you can re-use it several times.

[Turbodave]

The Cometic is the only thing I've seen that's better than the MP gaskets, but I have seen the MP ones live for years with over 20psi on them.

[turbovanman²]

well im still not sure if i actually blew it or not but my car has been acting funny. I recently been having to add coolant to the raditor everyday for about a week now. But its not showing know signs of gasket blow. But i do have a small leak like when the car been sitting after 20min from a drive and theirs a little drop on the floor but i cant seem to find it on the car. The spot is in a weird location like underneath the tranny were their are signs of coolant lines or hoses around it or near it. Need help cause its driving me crazy

You could have a frost plug leaking or if the factory block heater is still there, they are notorious for leaking.

same here. went for no reason on my last car... only ever run at 15psi. it can happen.

on a related note: what is a good headgasket for holding 20psi on a regular basis, 23psi on track days?? any suggestions. i have an MP waiting to go in, but now i'm reconsidering and maybe will go with something else if there's a much better option. or do you guys think the MP is good enough for only 20(ish) psi?? thanks

Nothing wrong with MP gaskets, mine has held 30 psi runs with no problems. Make sure the block and head are straight and I like ARP studs for added insurance.

[cordes]

I had a MP gasket live for a very long time at 20+ PSI. It lasted until I had to rebuild the motor.

[Turbodave]

That factory block heater was standard on Canadian cars, but isn't very common on cars for the lower 48, so don't be suprised if you can't find one on your Lebaron Joey. But I would do your best to get the car up on ramps and while it's running see if you can locate where the leaks are coming from.

The coolant return line that runs next to the head on the drivers side is the first place I would look, the the heater hoses, followed by the freeze plugs, then look around the exhaust manifold since the exhaust studs extend into the coolant passages of the head.

[TurboII]

what im think about doing is pressure testing my lebaron and see if i could find something cause i have tryed pressuring it before and i couldnt fine noting it only leaked when the car was shut off after running. Weird

[devlish]

yeah, i've got ARP head studs. i think the MP will be fine then also. unless next year brings a t3/t4, then i'll upgrade to the cometic. how many times can you retorque (re-use) the ARP studs??

[turbovanman²]

how many times can you retorque (re-use) the ARP studs??

Forever,

[cordes]

yeah, i've got ARP head studs. i think the MP will be fine then also. unless next year brings a t3/t4, then i'll upgrade to the cometic. how many times can you retorque (re-use) the ARP studs??

Pretty much indefinitely.

[devlish]

excellent. glad i went that route. thanks guys. it's these little things i don't know enough about.

[cordes]

excellent. glad i went that route. thanks guys. it's these little things i don't know enough about.

If you pull the head a lot they pay for themselves pretty quickly.

[TurboII]

well its definitly the head gasket. I did and compression check and cylinder number one was running low. Another things that gave it away was that every time i cracked it over i heard bubbles in the resevoir and their was also signs of white stuff inside my exhaust pipe.
Compression # 75-90-90-85/90

[cordes]

Did you pull the air filter and open the TB when doing that test?

[TurboII]

Did you pull the air filter and open the TB when doing that test?

Why would i need to do that? what is the reason for that...
Also i didnt have the car running i pulled the coil plug off and went that route
All i did was have a buddy do a simple crack over for a few seconds and check the gauge.

Another reason why i think its a bad head gasket is because my car was spitting and sputtering when you go 5psi and up and it feels like it has know power or so.
Thanks
Joey

[BadAssPerformance]

The idea behind opening the throttle during compression test is so that the cylinders can suck in as much air as possible to make it a more realistic test.

[TurboII]

The idea behind opening the throttle during compression test is so that the cylinders can suck in as much air as possible to make it a more realistic test.

Don't mean mean to be rude
but is that really necessary or is that for a even more positive resault.