head gasket issue

[ps-motorsport]

hi everyone,

been looking into a beat for a while now, and am still very interested to find one i like. hopefully not long to wait.

but with all the information i have collected so far and they are know to have a typical problem with the headgasket problem.

as i build race engine and involve in a lot of honda racing parts development and research i was just wondering does anyone know why this problem is very typical on them ??

i can understand if the ignitor problem from the ECU cause the engine to under spark and start running lean, and also they have quite a low torque setting on the head bolts compare to other hondas.

mechanically wise how really realible are they ? sorry for being a newbie on this subject .... been spending all my days working on civic type r, integra type r and b-series engine .... this is quite new to me.

any help would be grateful

regards
Peter

[adrianp]

Didn't realise there was a problem with the Beat & Head Gaskets...

What info have you found??

Ady.

P.S.

Woohoo Post No. 800...:bounce:

[ps-motorsport]

well its just nearly everyone i spoke to about the beat said be prepaire for the headgasket ?!

[Wh1teLeopard]

Sammy from the Honda Revolutions website said the same to me. That Beat's were renowned for head gasket trouble.

I was a little suprised as no-one has mentioned it on here.

I think mine went because I abuse it on track days... and then drive like a granny on the motorways... think it's confused.

[ps-motorsport]

hi emily, dont know if u remember me, i was that chinese guy at the track day on sat !

in most honda engine i do believe they have a really good design and realibility, and one of the reason if this is the main .. that cause the heatgasket to go would be the engine running hot due to lean mixture. and this could be cause by the ignitor / capacity. which can be easily solve.

althoug what amaze me was the torque setting on those head bolts, they are rather low .....

maybe its just those people i spoke to were the unlucky ones then .... :D

regards
Peter

[Andy V]

I've not seen anything specific about the head gasket before this thread, the only particular areas of concern I'm aware of involving:

a) An early batch of distributors (search for 'dizzy' on this board and you'll find full details) which had a tendency to fail. Presumably by now there are few dodgy dizzys around now - they'd all have been replaced.....or failed.....? Worth a check though!

b) An 'advisory' regarding a shorter-than-you-might-expect lifespan of the cambelt which can be guarded against by renewal at lower mileages (again a search should throw up some recommendations). Must get ours done soon.....

In the couple of years since we took delivery of ours she's performed faultlessly, though I should point out we probably do less-than-average mileage and whilst we like an, er, exhilerating drive :D from time to time we haven't done any track days (though I have been sorely tempted at Cadwell Park.....).

[Adam]

There is no problems with headgaskets!

Your confusing it with a Fiat, they use paper gaskets.

And as far as the car goes, once you repair the couple of known issues and change the oil when you should you will never have any trouble and since your a mechanic then you got nothing to worry about.

[ps-motorsport]

hmmm this is now getting interesting !

dizzy shall not be an issue, slightly shorter life of cambelt although is annoying, but would say last at least 40k before needed changing, which is good few years of normal everyday driving which i can live with that.

the reason why i was asking this, is there is something in my mind that i am trying to do as a project, in normal standard engine which i know it will be fine, and was just thinking if the engine will actually take the amount of extra load and stress without much issue. there is a few stuff that i am going to re-engineer a bit once it all here.

but hey still got to find a beat first ..... still trying to find a decent one from japan with the spec i wanted. but i am not in a hurry, will post up some pic once i got a beat landed into uk!

thanks guys for all your information

regards
Peter

[Wh1teLeopard]

Originally posted by ps-motorsport
hi emily, dont know if u remember me, i was that chinese guy at the track day on sat !

Hello! you should've said something on the day :D

[ps-motorsport]

hi emily, really sorry about that day, i was totally spaced as usual. been having a long week with very little sleep :D

will come and chat with u properly next time ......

regards
Peter