1kz head - cracked pre-combustion chambers

[fazLN130]

Hello friends,

Just pulled the head from a 3.0 1kz as it was smoking grey/white and pumping water out of the expansion tank, the car is a Regius. I bought it like this after previous owner overheated on the motorway and found blown radiator, they had a new radiator imported from Japan (costing £550 apparently) anyway I bought it expecting headgasket/head failure.

Having removed the head I cannot see any obvious cracks in the head itself but there are cracks in all 4 pre combustion chambers, how can I remove the chambers without the "special tool"? Where can I buy replacement chambers and how much?

Can they be left as they are and just fit a new head gasket to going again?

Of course I will have it pressure tested and skimmed before re-fitting.

I have uploaded many pictures to photobucket and you can see them here : http://s999.photobucket.com/user/faz...giusheadgasket

[MadScott]

I can't answer your question re the special tool or head parts, 'cept maybe the dealer, sorry.

Waiting for the missus to get back though and having a good look at your photobucket pics (ref #18 in the slide show), that sure looks like a crack, in #3 it appears...? Chamber on the right at the 6:00 position:



Or just a trick of the light maybe, hard to tell for sure.

Good luck getting it sorted.

[fazLN130]

@MadScott,
That's a scratch as I caught it on something trying to lift it out of the engine bay, it's a awkward fit in a Regius bay.

Have phoned around a few places and they reckon it's quite normal for the chambers to crack, usually left as they are.

Has anyone else come across this before?

[Dobbslc]

I had 4 cracks in each of my chambers and 4 across the bridge between the valves.
Not sure just having cracks in the inserts would cause cooling problems though.

[fazLN130]

Gonna have it pressure tested tomorrow and see what comes up.

Spoken to a few people including those who skim heads, they say it's common for pre chambers to crack but most people leave them in as they are and refit head after skimmed and pressure tested.

Has anyone else any thoughts on this?

Is the gasket telling anything as to why the system was pressurising?

[fazLN130]

The head is cracked in the #4 pre chamber hole :-(

[fazLN130]

Are A-Z autoparts heads any good?