How Much HC Is To Much

[rainvic]

Coming from the radiator that is, first time using a gas analyzer to diagnose a head gasket problem, my question is how much hydrocarbons is too much, when putting the probe over the coolant vapors we registered 522 parts per million while under a load, and about 150 at idle. Anyone know what the standard rule of thumb is?

 

[Chris142]

Any is too much! Your 522ppm is huge! The last car I tested had about 30 ppm and was blowing water out daily.

 

[rainvic]

vehicle never would over heat, we didnt want to warranty out a radiator we put in a year ago and went fishing for any excuse to make a big sell

 

[Chris142]

What kinda car?

 

[yonyon]

That 522ppm is high for a reading at the tailpipe let alone at the radiator.

 

[rainvic]

03 jeep liberty 3.7 already tore the heads off.

 

[mattd]

yes that is WAY too much. were you able to see where gaskets where leaking?

 

[crazy8]

High HC can be from oil lealing into the cooling system, additives, or headgasket leak. The best way to tell using an analizer is to look at the CO any Co is bad.

 

[mechtech2]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Any is too much! Your 522ppm is huge! The last car I tested had about 30 ppm and was blowing water out daily.


This!

 

[rainvic]

head gaskets looked perfect, car would never overheat for us or customer, passed the block test with the blue liquid, for the [censored] of it we threw the analyzer on it and got over 500 ppm hc under load,... maybe we overlooked something. who the [censored] knows anymore??? Not to mention it looks like getting the timing right with the three chains is gonna be so much fun without the special tool.