Blown Head gasket rebuild....@297k

Cylinder number identification usually starts at the timing chain. TDC and the alignment of the timing gears always starts @ cylinder1. My bent rod was in cylinder #1 closest to passenger side.

The cylinder has a coolant jacket that surrounds it to keep the engine @ about 195 degrees farenhient while taking in 14 parts air and 1 part fuel for combustion. If the combustion runs too lean, water pump fails, cat/exhaust clogged the engine will run hot. The heat causes the metal (aluminum to steel/aluminum) to expand and contract. This friction causes the head gasket to fail. The coolant is roughly 1/2 inch away from the cylinder and is the first to enter the cylinder. The coolant is what bent the piston. If you google hydro locked motor, you will find some interesting failures. Water entering the intake, failed egr cooler, throttle body(some have coolant running through them)gasket, sea foam pored in to fast can cause a hydro lock.
When the combustion chamber has coolant in it, some of it will burn and turn white while exiting the tailpipe. The other unburned portion of coolant then passes through the rings and mixes with the oil. The egr getting clogged in my opinion is responsible for the head gasket to fail because the computer runs a different programming/tune for timing and air/fuel ratio when the egr is opened. A bad tune will destroy an engine. Opening the egr will do nothing when the egr cooler is clogged. That is why some of us are experiencing rough idle at start. My girlfriends car did this one time but has not done it since. I wonder if it is the oil catch that is keeping the egr system clean. Burning oil is essentially carbon build up.

 

Started right up first try, ran so smooth and quiet that I did not know it was on. It is also smoking right now and I do not want piss off my neighbors and have the fire department come out. I have to run this @ 2k rpm's and break the rings in. I will do this during the day tomorrow and let you know. Thanks to Nuts&Bolts youtube video on maintenance mode and coolant bleed. There is one missing 12mm nut in the whole rebuilt for the egr valve. Not too bad.
I've been reading a lot about different motor break in procedures. Getting plates tomorrow. I am going to idle till warm, run motor @2k rpm for 30 min and then flog it. I'm sure there is coolant still in the cat/exhaust system so I'm going to run this thing around the industrial area.

 

My ocd was kicking in hard and wanted all the veins clear on the egr cooler. I use #20awg solid copper wire and poked through the little radiator core's and was not having to much luck. I knew it was still clogged due to the purple power foam settling at the top. Then I put it on a drill and wallah! It works the carbon loose as it spins like a plumbers snake. Copper is soft so I was not worried about damaging the stainless steel.

 

I posted anyone can cook! I meant it. It takes effort, trail and error. In the end you will have the greatest satisfaction knowing you did it yourself and saved a sh!t ton of money. Having a garage would be super nice too.
Tips
1. If your knees hurt from leaning over the bumper to work on the car. Just point your toes @ the 10 and 2 "o'clock" position and bend your knees. This will prevent hyper extension and knee soreness when working on cars.
2. Use large pieces of cardboard to work under the car. Absorbs oil, its soft and it gets you low to the ground. If you drop something, you can find it. Sometimes when you drop things with a creep you have to pull out because the bolt/nut is under you.
3. Use an electric 3/8 ratchet and 1/2 impact gun. The correct tools make the job go quicker and make it fun, so does drinking beer or two
4. Do not rush, measure twice cut once kind of thing!