It’s my first time doing a head gasket job so bear with me. But I got it all installed and started it up today and it sounded great for a little while. For some reason it idles fine but when I accelerate it makes some type of popping noise? It’s doesn’t sound like metal or anything just some type of air popping noise. I’m not sure what that means or if i should be worried. I installed new obx headers on it too and everything after that on the exhaust is stock and I’m not sure if that’s the problem. It’s also vibrating kinda harder than it did before as well and i’m not sure if poly engine mounts are the cause for that. Please let me know!!!!

 

Hello,

Was the head Machined (or at least Checked) before installation?
What was replaced other than the Head Gasket during this repair?
What Aftermarket Parts, aside from the Intake and the Mounts, do you have installed?
Is it a Constant Noise as you Accelerate, or does it only happen Periodically with a certain Interval?
How Severe is the Vibration in question, does it just feel like the Motor is now bolted to the Frame, or it's Irregular or Deeper than usual?

A Video of the Sound in question would be quite helpful.

First thing I would try is putting the Original Intake back into the car as they do come with a Noise Buffer, used specifically to mitigate noises such as the one you are describing, at least in theory, it's hard to tell without actually hearing it. Even if the Old Intake doesn't help much with the issue, I would still suggest to stick with it, outside of reducing Noise, it's just a well designed Intake that really doesn't need any Modifications done to it, not to mention that it will do a far better job of actually filtering the particles that shouldn't go into the Engine than most Aftermarket Options, without sacrificing any of the Performance.

As for Vibrations, it could just be what you get if you use Polyurethane Mounts, which are considerably harder than OEM by definition, but yet again, without having anything more than the statement of fact, it's pretty hard to tell anything..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Yea I made sure the block and the head weren’t warped before I installed it, I also installed all the seals, new water pump, lightweight flywheel, stage two clutch, and some obx headers. At first it was throughout idle but after sitting for a while it was only when I would add throttle and started to idle fine. It’s periodically and doesn’t have a rhythm to it at all. The vibration is definitely different from before I did the head gasket job as it’s not the subtle engine vibration anymore.

 

Well, sounds like a lot of new stuff, which doesn't make things easier..

Still, all the points written earlier are valid, a Video of both the Sound and Vibration in question would go a long way, our understanding of "popping" noises and "extra" vibration can be rather different, it is hard to know whether we mean the same thing without having a reference point.

The same for the Intake, I would still suggest to install the OEM one in place and see what happens.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

I took it to a mechanic and he said I had a misfire in cylinders 1,2, and 3. I genuinely have no clue how that’s possible or what could cause that. I’ve checked the spark plugs and the distributor to make sure they work and are installed correctly. I removed the new headers and put the stock ones on and that hasn’t helped either. I going to check compression tomorrow and see if my head gasket job was done poorly, but i’m not sure what else it could be

 

Interesting, that's not what I would describe as a *popping* noise.. A Continuous Misfire on 3 out of 6 Cylinders, it won't be a simple Vibration at that point either, it will be an earthquake with force sufficient enough to start rattling your teeth out, but again, without a Video of what you see and hear, we will keep going round and round in circles..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Sorry haven’t been working on it because of chinese new years, but here’s a video. It seem that the misfire is softish when it’s idling but when i rev it and the revs go down you can definitely hear the popping noise.

 

That’s what I was thinking too, so I pulled the spark plugs and put them back and the misfire wasn’t so rough anymore but making a slight popping noise during idle and alot of noise going down on rpms