lots of coolant into engine after headgasket replacement

[BigRedtheGinger]

Not too long ago, I got my 2003 Galant ES 2.4l and I needed to replace the headgasket(leaking compression into the coolant). I sent the head to a machine shop, they milled .008" off and did a valve job. The didn't mention any cracks. I put everything together, new timing and balance shaft belts too. Used a Fel Pro head kit, replaced the gaskets for everything I removed. After everything was back together, I started it up and there was a ton of white smoke coming out of the exhaust! The cylinders were dry when the head went on. I even scraped the carbon off the tops of the pistons. Is it possible that I simply mixed up some of the hoses on the mani? Though, water was getting into the oil too! That wasn't a problem before. it's only been ran for a total of 5 minutes, but there is quite a bit of water in the oil(used Mobil 1 synthetic and synthetic Lucas additive with a Wix XP filter). Is this something I might have screwed up, or something out of my control? This is the first time this happened to me. My last car was a 1987 Civic and I actually rebuilt that engine with no problem. Had to do the headgasket on it after the cooling fan failed, but didn't mix water and coolant after fixing it. I'm pretty confused on my Galants issue. Can't really find anything as far as coolant hose routing on the mani.

[BigRedtheGinger]

Shouldn't matter, but I did use new head bolts too. Even sprayed the gasket with Permatex Copper gasket spray, no difference. Ran straight water to flush out the system, had a lot of rust thanks to the previous owner(s). It threw a code for Cyl 4 misfire, when I pulled the spark plugs, 3 and 4 were wet.

Found a few things were hack jobs on this car, sadly. Wiring to the main fan connector was cut and they used a light switch from a house to turn the main fan on and off. Also, the front coils were cut, instead of using proper lowering springs.

[charris]

Did you deck the engine block or do a flatness check on it? Did the machine shop check flatness on the head in addition to machining?

If you're running a stock intake manifold, I don't *think* there are any coolant connections that would introduce coolant to the fuel/air mixture. If you had a leak like that, I'd also expect it in all cylinders and/or a hydrolocked engine.

The symptoms you describe really just sound like a massive leak in the head gasket. :-(
Do you also have oil in the radiator (check under the cap) or reserve tank?

[BigRedtheGinger]

Did you deck the engine block or do a flatness check on it? Did the machine shop check flatness on the head in addition to machining?

If you're running a stock intake manifold, I don't *think* there are any coolant connections that would introduce coolant to the fuel/air mixture. If you had a leak like that, I'd also expect it in all cylinders and/or a hydrolocked engine.

The symptoms you describe really just sound like a massive leak in the head gasket. :-(
Do you also have oil in the radiator (check under the cap) or reserve tank?

I didn't check the block. The shop said they needed to machine .008" to level the head. I found the FSM and saw the only coolant hoses go to the EGR and throttle body. There is no oil in the coolant. I ended up installing a used engine myself. Bought the engine for $650 with a 3 month warranty, plus the place installed a new timing belt and delivered it for free. The car is up and running now, but I plan on keeping the other engine to rebuild, and maybe do a DOHC swap on it. I would be surprised if it is a bad gasket since I installed a new Fel-Pro gasket, but stranger things have happened. I work at a truck stop as a lube tech, and I've seen 2016 trucks with bad wheel seals, so anything is possible. Strange it would have all these symptoms now when it never smoked before.

[charris]

Awesome to hear you got it working! Keep fixing the hack jobs and improving the car little by little. It's worth it.

[BigRedtheGinger]

Awesome to hear you got it working! Keep fixing the hack jobs and improving the car little by little. It's worth it.

I plan to. My dad had one, same year but baby blue and it had 231k miles on it before the driver side CV axle locked up. Everything was OE, except for the timing belt. I think next week I'm gonna hit up the junkyard and get the wires for the cooling fan and AC compressor. My last car was an 87 Civic with 516k, I'd like to see this car pass that.

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