Can backfires really blow your head gasket?

When I replaced the head gasket on my truck I was 180 off on the distributor and it made many back fires before I could get it running correctly now that I have it running again I am finding water in my oil which makes me red hot because thats why I busted my balls the first time to change the head gasket but could it have been because when I pulled the intake manifold off all the coolant went into the block would that be the cause of water in my oil or would it be all the back fires blew the head gasket again? Oh and also I changed the oil to try and get rid of all the water in the oil and when I took it for a 4 minute drive when I came back I saw there was still some water in the oil would it be just left overs from the old oil that had all the water in it?Can backfires really blow your head gasket?1.No backfiring won't blow a head gasket.



2.YES, absolutely when you took the intake off, (Which has water jackets going through it), your coolant went down into the block.



3.Did you use a non-retorquing head gasket? You know, like a Fel-Pro blue? If not, did you re-torque the heads after the engine had warmed up good? If not, you get to clean the block and heads, buy new head gasket/s, and start over.



4.Drain all the oil, and make sure you leave the drain plug out for an hour or so. Change the filter. Replace the oil.



5.If you don't get the intake sealed properly, you will have water going down inside the block, and the combustion chambers. Gasket compound is used in the corners where the intake gaskets meet the intake valley gaskets.



The area on the block needs to be CLEAN! Make sure there is absolutely no garbage on the block sealing surface area. Make sure there is no garbage on the intake sealing surfaces. (Gasket scraper until you see shiny metal. NO nothing, on either block, or intake surfaces!)



Take clean rags, and use isopropyl alcohol, and wipe these areas down. If antifreeze is left behind, it won't let gasket compound stick. Antifreeze contains lubricant. It lubricates the water pump.



Edit:

When torquing the head/s, did you follow the torque sequence? Did you tighten all the bolts to a certain torque, then go around the bolts again, and again?

Example: Heads require 65 foot pounds of torque. They should be tightened down in three stages. 20lbs, then 40lbs, then the final torque of 65lbs. You MUST follow the torque pattern for THESE heads. Rule of Thumb, is to start from the center, and spiral out.



If the intake wasn't absolutely clean, and the block surface, plus gasket goop applied in the corners, you're going to keep seeing water in the oil. If the head gasket was the re-torque kind, and you didn't re-torque it, you're going to see bubbles coming up in your radiator. Blown head gasket again!
Can backfires really blow your head gasket?
Backfires occur in either the intake or exhaust (and given your situation almost assuredly it was in the exhaust) so the likelihood of it causing a head gasket issue seems pretty low. If it did occur in the intake, it could I suppose have damaged the intake manifold gasket which would cause oil and water to mix.



Are you sure it's water in the oil and not gasoline? If you had the timing so far off, the cylinders were probably filling with gasoline which eventually will end up in the oil pan. Are you seeing oil in the coolant as well? I could see possibly not getting all of the foreign fluid out of the oil just by changing the oil, but it would depend on how long the car sat before drained it and whether or not you changed the filter too.
Can backfires really blow your head gasket?
no a backfire will not blow your head gasket, it is designed to hold the combustion in the chamber. when a backfire happens it it is escaping into the intake or exhaust (less combustion). it sounds to me like something wasnt torqued correctly or is miss aligned or maybe a crack somewhere. if you already changed your oil then all the coolant should be out of your oil pan. how does the truck run? any smoke? noises, overheating?



the best way to tell if it is fuel is to smell it. sounds like it needs to be taken back apart to me though
Did you Magna flux heads to look for cracks?Did you seal head gaskets and are they correct?Check to make sure heads are true?Did you put new head bolts in and re-torque heads after running engine?Steel is crystiline and can stretch.You didn't mention year/make of your truck.