Blown head gaskets?

[G50911]

i just picked up a 3.2 motor and started to tear down. i noticed that there is a little soot or burnt oil near where the cylinder and heads meet on 2 cylinders. i checked to see if there were any headstuds missing and/or loose but they're all there and are tight. i read somewhere that this is normal if headstuds are there due to uneven surfaces mating. is this true? compression is 2-4% on all cyls according to the shop i got it from.

my question is should i fix this now? i'm inclined to say yes but am worried i'd find myself hit with the case of "might-as-wells" aka the slippery slope.

in case i do go that route, what else should i do while im there? 964 cams? valve guides?

[Jdub]

Far more informed posters will reply here, but the surface must be absolutely surgical when mating these two, and the deck height for these (all, really) cylinders must match. Has the engine been torn into before?

[G50911]

it doesn't appear to. the surface on all cyclinders, heads and case seem very consistent. the shop said it was removed from a low mileage carrera (~60k miles) which suffered front end damage and was totaled.

[yelcab1]

First, you mean leak down is 2-4% on all cylinders.
Second, don't go looking for trouble where there is none.

[Tippy]

Put it in and enjoy it!

[gtc]

My motor had the same symptoms... a bit worse, actually. I think the root cause was a faulty injector wire, which led to some detonation.
Assuming you're getting a valve job while you have it apart, just have them clean up the heads and the cylinders. Min were good after taking .13mm off. Just get a thicker base gasket and you're good to go.

[Jcslocum]

There are no head gaskets on a 3.2, just a metal to metal seal. The 3.2 has 2 weak points that should/could be addressed while the engine is out. First, they break head studs. Usually on the bottom due to the Dilivar material used. Do a search as there is massive amounts of info on here about it. You should check all headatuds with a torque wrench to see if any turn.they may be failing or broken.

Second, they all seem to have very weak and soft valve guides and its when, not if they will need changing. I have a 3.2 just apart and the guides were completely shot at 100k. I have read of others gone bad at 60k. So you are definitely within the window of a valve job.

Or, put it in and run it. Watch oil consumption and see how it goes. A few pictures would be a big help.

[Trackrash]

Post some pictures of the heads and cylinders in the Engine rebuilding forum.