Head Ache !!!

[valarius]

some advice from the wise please got a 92 2.4 and i am thinking that i have to face the inevitable

today i had what looked like white steam / smoke from exhaust on idle drove approx 200 yards and no more , when i got back home checked levels and the header tank had been pumped nearly full so i let it cool down and refilled started up and again it refilled into header tank along with a top rad hose that was pressurised and ( v/hot ) and a bottom hose that was cool so removed thermostat and tried again and again within a few minutes it had pressurised and started to pump out again,

approx a month ago did the usual drain flush and antifreeze all has been spot on since untill today !!!

so i am off the opinion that my head is starting to let go , if i get a pressure test on water system and compression test on cylinders will this show if i have real problems ???

any advice would be greatly recieved and appriciated ( only saving grace is that i only live 5 mins from uk cylinder heads so no worry about getting lost in post )

[Koi]

It very much sounds as if though the head has let go, only saving grace might be a blocked rad. When my head went the rad was still hot all over including top and bottom hoses you say yours isn't may be a blockage. But I have that niggly feeling that its the head, get the rad checked anyway, cause if it is the head the rad needs to be pressure tested for the warranty on the new head so it won't be a waste of time getting it checked.

[Pete]

Your head or gasket has gone. The exhaust sauna is the sure sign of that. Have you got any warranty?
Pete

[valarius]

thanks koi thats what i thought so off to garage tomorrow to get it checked over, i am an average diy mechanic is it a diy able job ? cam belt timing is only thing that bothers me


cheers

[valarius]

no warranty, private import but i paid a lot less than market value so i am still quids in at mo just got to convince her indoors of that , at least when done i know i got no more problems


ah well thats life

confusus say , to enjoy mud , things may go wrong

[Pete]

no warranty, private import but i paid a lot less than market value so i am still quids in at mo just got to convince her indoors of that , at least when done i know i got no more problems


ah well thats life

confusus say , to enjoy mud , things may go wrong

Thats the spirit. Mine went after 3 months, exact symptoms. Dealers warranty covered it, but I probably paid top money to start with, but as I am no mechanic, it turned out to be money well spent. I would have had to fork out the best part of £1500. They loaned me a car while they did the job too. New head = peace of mind (touching wood, lol )
Pete

[valarius]

only paid 3.5k for k reg ssr-x all vat'd and registered so cant realy complain i am an average home mechanic so hope for the best time but i am going to do lots of photos and write up so hopefully might help others,

even after the couple of days it looks like it will take i will still be in happy with what i have well untill i can afford to import the new 2004 v8 mwahahaha

[JimL]

A hot top hose and a cold bottom hose with the thermostat out suggests to me a blockage for definite no?

And with the freezing weather last Friday morning I had lots of steam from the exhaust until I got out of the housing estate I live in. It cleared as soon as everything got warmed up.

[valarius]

i thought about condensation but it was in middle of the day and the motor had been running for about an hour on and off so not sure but you never know maybe the patron saint of surfers might help me and it is only a blocked rad , i like the idea of a diy £ 300 job as apposed to about a £1000

but heyho i'll keep surfing

[Koi]

thanks koi thats what i thought so off to garage tomorrow to get it checked over, i am an average diy mechanic is it a diy able job ? cam belt timing is only thing that bothers me


cheers

Yes its a diyable job, see main site under tech for pictures and write up for when I did my head.
Took about 4 hours to strip down and about 6 and a bit hours to rebuild, that was me and Andy (Lucky) but to be honest it won't take much longer on your own. A lot of the time one was watching the other as you couldn't both get in there and work on it.
If you decide to tackle it yourself then just make sure you mark up all the vacuum hoses etc.

[valarius]

well had it checked over today and have been advised the head might only be warped front off side corner of head is weeping at the gasket never been so happy to be told that i think!!, so tomorrow its all off and hope for the best, at least living this close to uk heads its a bit easier to get things sorted if it is warped they can skim it but not sure about this idea ??? any experiences ???
thanks for all the support and help so far also is there a set sequence for tightening up the head bolts on refit eg order etc etc

thanks to all

[NiftyNev]

well had it checked over today and have been advised the head might only be warped front off side corner of head is weeping at the gasket never been so happy to be told that i think!!, so tomorrow its all off and hope for the best, at least living this close to uk heads its a bit easier to get things sorted if it is warped they can skim it but not sure about this idea ??? any experiences ???
thanks for all the support and help so far also is there a set sequence for tightening up the head bolts on refit eg order etc etc

thanks to all

This is just my opinion but if it is warped as they say (how do they know if still on engine?) I would go for a new head.

Neville

[valarius]

front near side corner, by engine number has a little weep of fluid and occasionally you can see bubbles formed if you spray wd40 on it , any way started to create a toyota jigsaw puzzle today worst part was getting rad out for flush and check slipped on way out and hit power steering pipe , put a hole right through it .... doh so got to get a new one now found one for £165 + vat at a local rad place ,
the worst so far has to be disconnecting the auto fluid pipes from rad has to be original as all clips were facing down , and cos i got auto i had to release air con rad ,
so tomorrow head is going to uk cylinder heads for check if i cant see any cracks

[Koi]

Hmmmmmm be surprised if the cast head has warped. If it turned out it is just warped me personaly would still replace it with a new head unless you know for sure it already has had a new head.
More peace of mind that once ite got a new redesigned head on it aint going again, you could get it skimmed now ans two monthe later it could crack all this hassle again. At the end of the day the choice is yours, but I know what i would do.

[valarius]

yeah i was thinking the same, well i have this feeling that its cracked just a gut feeling , koi any luck in finding the tightening sequence for the head bolts ???

cheers