Soooooo after everything I tried.....IT WAS A HEAD GASKET!!

[SRTLUVR]

After everyone I talked to, that walked me through everything, and after all the changed parts, it really was a head gasket. And from what I've been told, this is very atypical in how this head gasket blew, for the modern Hemi. Meaning I didn't have any coolant in my exhaust, simply blowing coolant out the gasket.

Walker took these shots for me, as I was in Chicago when the repairs began. You can see in these pictures, where the coolant was leaking, as the gasket is clean as a whistle, where the coolant was blowing out.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o111/tubbs0917/7d3896ef.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o111/tubbs0917/1725dddb.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o111/tubbs0917/b30a61e5.jpg

In these following shots, you can see parts of the block and pistons that were cleaned by the leaking coolant as well.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o111/tubbs0917/2e2bc967.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o111/tubbs0917/f20344a1.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o111/tubbs0917/7a520a0d.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o111/tubbs0917/4a5e09b9.jpg

So the following has been done:
Valve seats repaired to leak-free, heads re-surfaced & decked (only fractions of millimeters), new header gaskets, new head gaskets, new ARP head studs.

This HAS NOT been a fun $1700 to spend, but I was probably loosing substantial horsepower from this, as it's plagued my baby for almost two years now!!! And I feel GREAT knowing that the culprit has been found, and the Charger will be back to 120% working order when this is all done. WHEW!! SHEESH!!

I should have the car back by mid-week next week. :)

[HEMISFEAR]

Congrats Chase...that would be killing me inside too. All that time without an answer and to finally realize it, is a relief plain and simple. Although it was pricey, I bet part of you knows it was worth it for the comfort you're feeling now. Question...is it because the gasket was installed incorrectly or...?? I mean, what was it that caused the gasket failure? I know the gasket failure caused the cooling issues. Either way, sounds like it's all taken care of now.

[SRTLUVR]

Well when Walker was removing the heads, as he removed the studs, from the inner bolts, working his way outward, the head studs were loose as hell......after we get everything installed this time, after a few hundred miles, we're gonna go back in and re-tighten to torque specs, make sure everything "settles" fine and re-torque the studs.

[Kasser]

Use torque wrench and torque the studs as per the torquing values giving by MOPAR. Also you need to do hot torquing, that is after the engine reaches it's normal operating temperature, you will have to torque it while it is hot.

When fixing the heads back, torque the studs for 80% of the torquing values. Then after all the studs are in, go for 100% of the torquing values, so that the pressure on the gasket will be distributed equally.

Hope that helps :), also you can check this site for torquing order: http://www.sequentialtaillights.com/dodge/100%20Challenger%20Tips%20and%20Tricks.htm#ChallTi p1

[NYCSRTATE]

Awesome bro trust me I know how you feel.