Jap car engine problem, caution, may offend!

[mopar_mark]

There was NO oil or water contamination, or any white smoke out the back.

I assume you have checked oil, what does oil smell like, any contamination visible in rocker covers ? white, milky appearance, acrid smell ?

Compression test on both heads indicated that the front cylinders were a little low on compression, rear cylinders were near perfect

How much is a little low, in comparisson to other readings ?

I then removed the front head, skimmed, and replaced gasket. Gasket did not look damaged, although there was definately some surface rust near the top of two cylinders.

What made you choose this head, why not do both head gaskets, especially if motor has got real hot ?

Also, before I removed the timing belt, I noticed the crank pulley timing was about three notches out.

If the cam is too advanced, this will cause engine to run too hot, over heat. Are you 100% sure cam timing is correct ? Had cam belt been changed, prior or recently to problem starting ?

when I drive it, after any sort of load, the temperature rises VERY quickly, the water is expelled out the expansion tank, and all I have left in the engine is steam

I would verify cam & ignition timing, aslo check water pump

[latil]

Water pump,possibly causing pocketing in the water space,which means localised overheating until the water hits it. you then have flash steam trying to get out through the rad cap.

[steveo]

check water pump
by rocking its pully to see if the bearings are worn !
anytime a head gasket goes ..the head really needs checking & skimming especially with ally heads ..

[Anonymous]

obvious one but... radiator. If some / most of the channels are blocked (has someone put rad weld in it at any time in the past?) it won't cool the thing once its moving and under load. check for obstructions/debris leaves on the outside as well as checking all the cores are getting hot, and most importantly the water coming out the bottom back into the engine is relatively cool .