how common is the cracked head syndrome?

[another_convert]

Hello all,

I've just ditched my longterm love (aka an r33 skyline)... well she went to better home... and invested some of the cash in a 94 2.4 td ssrx surf. Having owned hilux pickups with the same engine and had no problems, I'm a little worried about the amount of comments about the surfs cylinder head "issues".

so how common is it...... anyone lived with a 2.4 surf and not had the dreaded problem? Is the standard regular change of coolent, oil etc the best way of giving the head a chance?

Cheers!

[MattF]

It sounds worse than it is. Only a proportion have had the head go.
Just see to the basics, i.e: flush the cooling system, replace the rad
cap, thermostat and coolant, and you're minimising the probability
of a problem. It might never happen anyhow. Worst case if it does,
replace with the uprated head, and you have a vehicle that's almost
bombproof.

Welcome to the funny farm, BTW.

[stormforce]

Hello all,

I've just ditched my longterm love (aka an r33 skyline)... well she went to better home... and invested some of the cash in a 94 2.4 td ssrx surf. Having owned hilux pickups with the same engine and had no problems, I'm a little worried about the amount of comments about the surfs cylinder head "issues".

so how common is it...... anyone lived with a 2.4 surf and not had the dreaded problem? Is the standard regular change of coolent, oil etc the best way of giving the head a chance?

Cheers!

hi and welcome to the nut house.I had my 2.4 for 2 years with no problems at all.Unfortunately you mainly hear of the bad things with the 2.4 but never the good.There was a design fault in the earlier 2.4's which were put right on the later ones.The duke on here has had his 2.4 for a few years now with no probs and his is a H reg i think it is.But even if the head does go you get it replaced (i know its easy to say) but you should'nt have any more probs after that
Don't forget to post some pics

[Sancho]

Oh it's tremendously common, all the best sort of people really don't do that sort of thing.

Conventional wisdom is, as Matt says, that you'll probably be OK if you keep it cool and loved.

And welcome aboard.

[another_convert]

cheers!

Cheers for the less pesermistic outlook on the 2.4, I was starting to worry....

So... list of things to do...

new rad cap.
new thermostat
aftermarket temperature guage - with the pickup fixed to the top rad hose
flush the coolent
change the oils

oh almost forgot... must go and pick it up from the dealer before I dop anything else....

and nut farm? after skyline ownership surely I'm cured?

all the best
J

[Sancho]

and nut farm? after skyline ownership surely I'm cured?

Oh, just you wait...

I would have thought moving to a surf after a skyline your main concern would be whether that pedal on the right is actually the accelerator.

It is. Open the window, hang your arm out of it and be glad you couldn't be one of those stress heads flying past you if you tried.

[drew13]

cracked head

hi i have just purchased a 2.4dt ssrx 1994 with 59000 on the clock and i am starting to worry about all this cracked head stuff can someone please advise

[MattF]

hi i have just purchased a 2.4dt ssrx 1994 with 59000 on the clock and i am starting to worry about all this cracked head stuff can someone please advise

Replace the bits listed above, do the flushing, then nowt much
else to do other than enjoy.

[Shep]

3 and a half years of ownership done the above just about to do again. Mines a 1991 so early model. Ive done 37,000 miles in it and its covered 109,000 in total. No problems with head. I think you only hear about the ones that go wrong so it seems worse than it is.

[ALZ]

Mine went today

My turn today,in the last year new rad thermostat housing and stat pipes flush and clean. Doesnt matter what you do Iam looking at two cracks in front of me and its a design error by the looks of it.She ran perfect until today
with no temperature rise on the gauge.So read all the threads on this site and put 2and2 together.Dont be put off by what you read they are a cracking piece of kit.Really

[MattF]

If they are gonna go, they'll go. It's trying to minimise the chances that's
important. A number of heads will have cracked due to neglect of basic
maintenance, however. Sorry to hear about yours going, BTW. At least
you know you tried everything to prevent it. Good thing is that at least
you know she'll be indestructible when you get her back.

[Sancho]

they are a cracking piece of kit.

[goodjazz]

My H plate 2.4 runs me to North Cambridgeshire from Basildon every week with no problems.Also had a holiday to the Nevis range and Glencoe Skiing sleeping in the truck for Two nights. I think the overheating is just down to luck of the draw head wise.I also run a GTR as a second car.I would not part with either

[skyhooked]

mine went. i had to get the combustion gas test to find out for sure though, the truck still drove just the same.

got the new head overnight delivery - new cam, valves etc...and then it was one day in the garage - 5hrs labour time. picked the truck up in the evening and that was the end of it

i got my surf for less than i expected to pay for such a vehicle, and kept a few pennies back for such a situation. if it happens, just get the new head and carry on

i'm sure there are more expensive and ugly things that could go wrong with a truck, and it's only gonna happen once

i've just started getting into taking mine offroad. around cornwall there are some nice green lanes and other interesting places, i love it! think that and the ride height are the best things about the trucks

oh, and perhaps the imperial bonnet emblem too