JDM engine blowing steam - Metal Intake gasket?

Hi Everyone,

I've been working on my new '91 metro and after failing to fix the engine with a new head, I wound up buying a JDM engine from a local company in Lynnwood, WA. 1 year unlimited mile warranty, not a bad deal for $399.

I pretty easily got it swapped out, but this time I bought my intake gasket from my local Napa auto. It was metal, unlike the original gasket and the one I bought from my previous rebuild kit. The JDM engine did have a metal gasket however, which I trashed of course.

I went ahead and put the gasket in with no sealant and fired it up. Immediately, I had a steam locomotive in my driveway, but it was running. Initially I thought the throttle body may have been leaking water, but it is not.

I took the gasket off, and replaced it using High-tack permatex, which I have used on paper gaskets in the past with much success. When it started this time, it was steaming a little bit, but nonetheless, I don't want to drive it this way. So it looks like I found the leak at least. The head better not be leaking, I never removed it so it should have a good seal.

I looked around locally for another paper gasket but was unable to locate one, so I bought another metal one, but I haven't installed it yet. I also bought some permatex Ultra Grey, as the back of the box shows it being used as an intake manifold gasket. Then there is a warning on the tube about not using it around gas seals! What gives? I suspect it will work, but needless to say, I'm VERY tired of pulling the intake manifold off and cleaning my last failed attempt up. :-)

Any thoughts on the metal gaskets? I don't see any warping, but with the water jacket holes right next to the intake, I can see how this thing needs to get a good seal. (Oh yeah, who thought that was a good idea?) Is there some trick I'm missing here, or do I just flat not know what I am doing?

Thanks!
-Kevin

unless your intake manifold is really warped i have never had a problem with using the metal gasket. i would pull plugs and make sure head gasket is not bad. what was wrong with old engine? if it had a blown head gasket exhaust might be full of antifreeze and it will steam till it all burns out

Hello,

Thanks for the response, but I guess the question I should have asked is, do I need to put anything on this gasket? Or should I expect it to work with no sealant?

Thanks!
-Kevin

when i reuse the stock metal gasket i put a little black silicone around water passages. if its a new gasket i install it the way it is

Thanks again. I am going to go ahead and seal up my new gasket with some ultra-grey and I'll just add it around the water passages.

On the old motor, I pulled the head and found a burned intake valve. I dropped the pan and didn't see any major issues and the scoring on the walls was really not bad at all.

I bought a head, and frankly, I don't think I torqued it correctly, and it was spewing steam. However, the steam was secondary in concern to the rod which I now realized was slapping in that motor.

In disgust, I bought the JDM engine and I figured I would rebuild the bottom half of this other one some day. I already have a head :-)

So when I put the JDM in, I had a TON of steam immediately and the coolant level continued to drop after 30 mins or so of idling. I killed it, put some other sealant on intake. After that, it only started steaming after 2-3 mins of running. I assumed the pressure finally built up enough to start leaking a tiny bit. It's too hard to see if the coolant level is dropping at this rate, but I suppose I may still have some water in the cat or muffler. By now, I would have thought it would have burned out.

I'll report back after saturday when I put this guy back together. I'm going to let the ba&#ard sit for 24 hours before I start it though!

BTW, no Latte Foam on the dipstick, just the nice clean oil I put in, so it doesn't appear to be the head gasket, or if so, it's at least not contaminating the oil.

Thanks!
-Kevin