Help!! Engine Rebuilding Story Continues...

[spanke311]

Ok. I rebuilt the engine and installed it last weekend. I finished the final connections last night and fired it up (yes, I primed the oil pump properly). I feel confident that everything's torqued right and put back correctly. No liquids are leaking, and it fired right up. Now here's what's disturbing: After only a couple minutes of running, smoke begins to seep out at the connection of the exhaust manifold to head, the entire engine seems to get quite hot quite fast, the upper end seems a bit loud (kind of a "ticking") and the cooling system only took barely over a gallon of coolant. I do not believe the exhaust gasket is directional, I did torque it correctly in several steps, I believe it seated correctly, and I thoroughly cleaned the gasket and mating surfaces with solvent (new gasket of course). The temp guage does not go above normal temps and the heater puts out heat after a couple minutes, however, the lower radiator hose remains icy cold, while the upper is toasty. I opened the coolant drain at the back of the block and coolant did start comming out; I also dumped coolant in the upper radiator hose. It seems to me that the cooling system should take at least another half gallon. Also, I have run the car for up to fifteen minutes to bring the car to temp, but with no coolant drop. From what I'm describing, could this be a problem with the new thermostat? If it wasn't opening, wouldn't nothing come out the valve at the back of the block? The new thermostat I installed did not look exactly the same as the old one (did not have the dangly thing on top). Is it possible I installed the thermostat in the wrong direction? And if it were a cooling system problem, wouldn't my guage read hot? As for the ticking, I realize this may be a valve clearance issue, but the heads been remanufactured, and I believe all specs have been checked. Is the noise and/or smoke I'm hearing/seeing normal for a fresh rebuild, maybe due to the new piston rings and the oiled cylinder walls? At the first couple engine starts the check engine light came on, but shut off after the fourth start. I was thinking the light was due to fuel pressure. What should I do/check next? I'm thinking about reinstalling the old thermostat, but other than that, I'm at a loss, and still wondering why so little coolant was used... (oh, and how do you post pics from my computer if they don't have a url?)

[huangxin]

for the pictures, you have to upload it to a hosting website, then use the url they give you.

i'm thinking that you have air bubbles inside your coolant system. open the radiator cap (after engine is completely cooled), let the engine run for a bit and top off the coolant as it drops. the lower radiator hose suppose to be cooler than the upper one, but it shouldn't be ice cold. i doubt that you can install the thermostat in the wrong direction in our cars since the cap is fairly shallow, but it is worth a try to double check it.

as far as the exhaust leak goes, are you sure it's coming from the manifold to engine area? make sure you connected the manifold to flex pipe correctly. if it is the manifold to engine mating, you might want to check them for warp. a big exhaust leak can cause extra engine noises, but if the ticking is still there after the exhaust leak is fixed, take it back to whoever worked on the head.

the CEL does not trigger on fuel pressure (at least i don't remembered that it's triggered by it), the fuel pressure should be back up after a few seconds of cranking. if the light comes back on, pull the code and see what it is.