Another head gasket

[Wallio]

I have a bone stock 87 GN with 25Kmiles. I blew a head gasket last year on the left hand bank. Prior to the head gasket blowing I had alot of detonation for some reason which I still did not find. It would pull strong but then I would hear it pinging and sputtering. I thought the the hose off the intercooler blew off because last this happened that was the problem but not this time. I did a compression check and all cylinders had around 150 except for one which was at 0. I pulled off the head and on the drivers side and sure enough the head gasket was blown at the middle cylinder.
I had the head verfied and it checked ok. I replaced the head gasket and I think this is where I went wrong I replaced with a jobber and I don't think it was meant for a turbocharged.

This year while I was trying to figure out what was wrong while driving under accelaration the head gasket blew again. Like I said the car is bone stock I have no gauges or tools to verify any codes. I'd like to know what could be the causes of this detonation I never had this before. Any ideas?

[Keller]

Um...severe detonation might do it.

Any idea what boost you are running at full throttle? Does the car have an aftermarket chip? It is critical to:

1: Control the boost and insure it does not go too high.
2: Monitor the boost level at all times. It may register higher than the stock gauge. This is a Bad Thing on pump gas, generally. An aftermarket gauge is more accurate and will allow you to keep a better eye on things.
3: Use a scan tool. Monitor your amount of detonation. If it is excessive (i.e. much at all) then find out why and fix it.
4: Always use premium fuel. No low-grade 87 octane in these cars.
5: Use the stock type turbo car head gaskets or an improved type. Ones for the normally aspirated cars just guarantee more trips inside your motor.

A simple wastegate control host failure can cause overboost. They don't last forever.

My car has 70K plus on it, hundreds of 1/4 mile passes, and sees 25 PSI at times (with proper fuel and tuning). It has never blown a head gasket. (*knock on polished aluminum*)

[Wallio]

Hi Scott

Should I go with the original head gaskets from GM or should I go with something like felpro? I think I had used ROL head gasket. I bought from an engine rebuilder place but there was a big price difference compared to the original. That should of made me think twice. Are the 3.8 head gaskets made all the same or is the turbocharged different? Should I use new head bolts?

As for the after market chip....yes I was running one. I've always ran the highest octane pump gas I could find. With the after market chip very little detonation on hard acceleration. I'm running the 160 thermostat and test pipe also. The next thing I wanted to try was the stock chip but the gasket blew before.

I'm trying to find courage to start my work again and thanks for your help.