problems after headgasket repair

[subarari]

So I just finished my headgaskets on my EA82, along with timing belts and other odds and ends. I started her up and she spewed white smoke everywhere, and had TOD from hell. I let her run for a few minutes, but never up to temperature because I'm worried about the TOD since it's worse than before the operation. I did notice some lifters that didn't want to budge while others were free, should I have changed these? I did reseal the oil pump, but since the noise was there before I'm not sure if the oil pump was any good to begin with since it has 160k on the motor. Could the white smoke be caused by residual coolant/water in the exhaust?, and if so I'm assuming this would go away if I let her run longer.

[archemitis]

both problems sound totaly normal.

the white smoke is most likely water in your exhaust system, if you have a catalytic converter, those hold water for a long time.

the TOD should go away after the oil gets everywhere it needs to be. do you have an oil pressure guage? as long as you have oil pressure, let her tick till it gets up to temp.

[idosubaru]

it is normal to have a lot of noise and white smoke after a head gasket job. typically lots of coolant can get into the exhaust and sit there until it burns off.

 

I did notice some lifters that didn't want to budge

this is bad news, they should have been replaced. but it depends how badly seized they were. i've seen them so bad that soaking in cleaners, heating and vices would not budge them - that is bad. if yours are that bad then they will never free up. but certainly doesn't hurt to try your options. you'll certainly want to do all the TOD stuff - ATF, MMO, seafoam, etc and see if it helps. it may take quite some time.

 

how long was it overheating and how long was it driven with bad headgaskets? the longer it was run hot and driven like this i think the more likely the lifters were damaged and are now frozen.

[kayakertom]

A little late now, but the lifters are pretty easy to clean out when things are apart. The caps can be pried off and the innards soaked & cleaned. Might be worth trying Seafoam at this point.

 

Also, next time you do the heads, when you unbolt the exhaust manifold put plastic bags over the exposed pipe opening to prevent any more coolant entering when the heads are removed.

[subarari]

Thanks for the info...I don't have a oil pressure guage, but the oil light on the dash doesn't go on while it's running so I'm assuming it has some pressure. I'll try to let her run for longer next time and see if the TOD and smoke go away. I'll try some seafoam for the lifters and see if that helps, if not I guess I'll have to tear her apart again to replace them, or try to loosen them up. I traced this whole issue back to the fan thermostat switch that had a hairline

crack along the threads making it inoperable. I think this was happening for some time, but never too bad. It would always run a little hot and then heat up when I climbed a hill etc. I'll repost my results tomorrow

[subarari]

So I did the seafoam trick and she purrs like a kitten, no more TOD! Now I have another problem, it seems that my cooling fan won't come on at all and the car idles at midway and gets up to 3/4 when I drive around town. When is the fan supposed to come on? I just replaced the switch, and isn't is rated for 195 degrees? Alos when I jump the switch the fan it comes on, so what's the deal? Is the switch I just bought bad? I'm thinking about wiring a switch to turn the fan on and off from inside the cabin.

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Check to see if the radiator is grounded properly. It has to be for the switch to work.

Andy