Had to bring this back because Robert had a very good point. If it isn't the gasket, it will be a piston soon enough. I don't think I've ever seen someone blow a head gasket with 4 PSI of boost that quickly.

Meh, my ADD kicked in as I got bored and I skipped alot of pages. :-p

There is absolutely no way it was a detonation problem this time. AFR was 11.5 and I retarded timing 5 degrees across the entire map above 100kpa. The fact that a gasket went again leads me to believe that maybe they just can't handle boost?

We'll see what a teardown reveals. Hopefully I won't have any issues towing my car home tomorrow, like it won't be there when I get there :O

I'm dumbfounded at this point. I have no idea why it blew again, or why this time it'* not mixing coolant into the oil, or how I'm loosing oil but not on the ground.

Maybe a piston ring causing severe blow by and oil burn?

If it wasn't something wrong with your tune, you need to seriously consider a 3800 or another TGP motor. I know you don't want to hear it, and I know you <3 the 3500 or similar 60*V6 engines, but this is ridiculous. WRX and DSM guys don't blow head gaskets this fast.

If the piston rings couldn't hold the boost, this engine should not be boosted.

I like giving you a hard time about this but at this point I genuinely want to see this car on the road. I know what it feels like to put a lot of work into a car and have it epically fail on you (remember the Jag XJS thread?) right when you thought you were done.

This is a natural part of a build like this. Find the weakest link and build it stronger, break it again, fix it again.

NONE of the other turbo 3500s are having nearly as much trouble as I am. It makes me wonder what I'm doing differently than them. Should I assume that everyone else who turbo'd their 3500 bought MLS gaskets?

And what'* this crap about the 07+ 3500s getting MLS gaskets from the factory. Did GM know something that I'm just now figuring out?

I'm going to guess that you're doing something differently. I don't know of anyone who blew a head gaskets on 4psi. Not even that guy we had on w-body with the turbo Geo Metro blew as many head gaskets as you have. Go over all of your settings and sensors with a fine toothed comb before putting it back together. I can't imagine replacing replacing these gaskets being cheap.

you check the block to make sure you didnt warp them, and check the block for trueness

You need to look things over real close and figure out what failed. IF it was a head gasket, you may have simply messed up installing them. If the head gasket blew between 2 cylinders, you will loose no coolant, just compression. Did the engine run rough after the opps? If so, and loosing oil has me thinking you may have bent a valve. We can guess all day, but only a tear down will show what it is. And you do know that means lots of pictures.

Yeah, I plan to tear it down soon. But first I need to figure out how to get it home. It'* an hour away right now. I want to tow it with Sarahs truck, but I've never towed a car before so I'm a little scared of doing it.

If it'* on a tow dolly, it'* just like pulling a trailer. Nothing to worry about. Be sure to strap the tires down tight, and anchor it to the dolly. However, U haul has a weight limit on the dollies, like 3500 pounds I think. So be sure to say your pulling a Neon or something small.