Have a mate who is having awful trouble with his 87 turbo wagon. Straight after he bought it, he found that it had previously blown a head gasket, which had been replaced earlier, but not after sitting for some time with water in the cylinder, so the engine was a write off. Got a new engine, this has now blown a gasket, and cracked the head at the usual place. Strange thing is, it hasn't been overheating at all. Any ideas what might be causing it, and how to fix it??

causing blown head gasket, is that what you're asking?

 

bolts and bolt holes need to be clean, super clean.

 

overheating? radiator, thermostat, hoses.

 

i'm currently exploring bad timing as being a major cause of head gasket failures. (i've read it a few places and some people agree). i had horrible timing issues (long story that i'm not sure i even know why/what happened)...anyway my new gaskets lasted 30,000 miles on the pass side and almost 40,000 on the drivers side.

Where exactly is the crack at? If its between the valves they should be fine. If theres a crack going up into the exhaust port(water jacket), then its toast. Gary has a point about the timing, which contributes to pre-detonation(might be other contributers). There has been a rash of blown HG's here that might be due to this. Or it could be a cheap gasket, I recommend OEM gaskets if possible.