my narrow band stays over in the lean area. it moves a little but never goes up to stoich. i know obviously im not gettin enough fuel to my 2.4L turbo. not only in boost but in vacuum too still not gettin enough. even with 24 lb injectors AND the 58 psi regulator. but anyway i just replaced my head gasket last night and i was wondering if it blew cuz of the lean running condition.

i have a few other potential reasons why it blew. the thermostat was slightly sticking and wouldnt open up until the temp gauge got almost all the way up then when it finally opened, the temp went back down to normal operating temp. i figured by doing this so much that it weakened the head gasket. also when i put that gasket on i used the 2.0L torqueing specs and the outside 4 bolts only got like 25lbs i think i dont remember for sure. also i didnt use any copper spray gasket that last time. i also reused the stock head bolts.

but anyway this time it did it 100% correct i got the extra thick gasket from autozone the felpro mls. i think its like 4 or 5 layers. i cleaned the hell out of the head and block. way better than i did last time. and i really coated the gasket with the copper spray. and i bought new head bolts and used a good torque wrench. i torqued them all down the proper way and took them all back out and redid them. im also running no thermostat cuz i officially hate thermostats now and will no longer use them.

however im still waiting on parts to get here so i can do the spool boy mod so i can properly quench the motors thirst for fuel. my question is will it be ok for me drive it as long as i dont get into boost until my parts get here. could it potentially blow the head gasket again if it continue to drive it so lean. i dont hear pinging so i guess its not detonating.

 

when you torque your head bolts they strech, so you can only torque then once and get a proper seal.
you should also be using a angle gauge for the last step in the torquing process
http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDi...lookup=OTC4554

running lean can cause ping and that can trash the HG.

 

the lean condition could have caused it but i have a feeling that it had something to due with your cooling issues... but also something to consider i'm pretty sure they make a set of headstuds for these engines that would deff be worth the upgrade... but not running a thermostat isn't exactly good either cause the engine will never warm up properly... i mean it will get to operating temp but it will take forever and that isn't good for the engine... your ecu is going to spend a lot of time in warm up mode means its not using the sensors to control the engine its going of maps programed on the pcm for engine warmup... neither good for performance or economy... also your going to have a lot more issues with carbon build up in the engine... and even though your turbo and not worried about it you will never meet emissions.... buy a high quality thermostat and install it trust me you will save yourself a ton of issues down the road....

 

Did you check the head surface for flatness? How are you going about cleaning the head? Are your injectors all in working order, and have they been individually tested to confirm? What does your FPR read under operating conditions? Felpro head gaskes are not ideal for a neon IIRC. They were used back when neons were tossing head gaskets too often. If this one hold great. If not, mopar only.