550sx Head Gasket Leak?
Hey guys,
I recently slapped a high compression head on my 92 550sx. I got the head with the ski and knew nothing more about it other than the fact that it was shaved. I used the old stock head gasket that the previous owner used with it. (first mistake) It ran great for about 10 minutes and then the powerband started to fluctuate when you pinned the throttle. I could tell it was sucking air. Pulled the plugs and the aft plug was white. I went into my local kawi dealer and he told me the stock head gasket would be ok to use. So, bought the new head gasket, slapped it on, and it ran great again for about 45 minutes. It then started to slightly fluctuate again when the throttle was pinned when pulling me up out of the hole. I took it back to shore and let it sit for a while (30 min). Jumped back on and it ran great for about 10 minutes and started to do it again. It seems like the leak is only occurring once the motor warms up to a certain temp. Is that likely? Should I be using the stock gasket or a stronger aftermarket one? I have no idea what my "squish clearance" is by the way. I made sure to meticulously razor off all of the old head gasket remnants. Could the head be warped? I know I need to check the head on a piece of glass with some grease. If it is warped, do I have to take it to a shop to be re-machined or is there something I can do myself to straighten it back out?
Any suggestions??? The thing runs like a bat out of hell when its running right...I just want to get it to be reliable. It's also got a factory half pipe.
One last thing....any suggestions on a more powerful starter?? After slapping that head on, my starter is really struggling to turn the motor over. Sometimes it just clicks until I give it a couple raps. Even then, it barely has enough power to get the ski to start.
Thanks guys!
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