Head Gasket #3

[[ion] C2]

I found this color liquid in a couple cylinders today.


Ever since I did my head gasket last September, the cooling system has run at a higher temperature than normal, from minimal to excessive, due to a broken plastic heater hose connector, a leaking water outlet, a bad coolant tank/cap. But the Cometic gasket may have been leaking all along, ever since the install, working its way up until the point where I have a puddle of coolant in cylinder 2, and minimal amounts in 1 and 3.

Now it may be that other small things breaking making my car run at high temperatures caused the head gasket seal to fail. I can't be absolutely sure, as referenced in my Head Gasket #2 thread, quite a few people have torqued their heads to around 85 ft-lb with Cometics without issue.

When it's put back together, the water outlet leak, my intake manifold vacuum/boost leak will be all solved, so everything should be perfectly buttoned up in my car. What I need to know are suggestions for what gasket I should use...

• Cometic steel, head torqued to only a little above the stock spec of 40 ft-lb
• Cometic steel, head torqued to 80 ft-lb
• GM composite/fiber (torqued to _?_ )

Now the Fel-Pro blew with stock bolts on a small turbo. The GM blew with studs on the GT3076R, all the main studs were torqued to 75 ft-lb, although the small ones near cyl 1 were torqued to the stock spec of 40 ft-lb. The Cometic leaks at 88 ft-lb on studs.

This effing sucks.