cylinder head is off

nynor · 03-05-2007, 06:12 AM

and i found some interesting stuff.

the head gasket failure is not obvious at all. the cylinder walls look great. the valves, et al, look great. it probably needs new rollers. the oil seals look great. no oil in the coolant, nor vice versa.

the cylinder head is the most interesting. it has stainless rings, raised about half a millimeter, around each of the combustion chambers. i also found that one of the hoses was completely popped off of the CV.

pozican · 03-05-2007, 08:07 AM

Interesting, nothing different in any of the cylinders?

I dont' think symptoms of a hose popped off the CV would be similar to a head gasket failure...

At least go and have it checked for warping. I know the machine shop in my area did it for free (Albeit they did end up servicing it... But I saw them find out it was .004 off)

many944s · 03-05-2007, 10:07 AM

Let me see if I understand....
Is there a raised "lip" around the edge of each cumbustion chamber, protruding from the underside of the head? In in other words, you can not lay a flat edge on the mating surface of the head?

nynor · 03-05-2007, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pozican
Interesting, nothing different in any of the cylinders?

I dont' think symptoms of a hose popped off the CV would be similar to a head gasket failure...

At least go and have it checked for warping. I know the machine shop in my area did it for free (Albeit they did end up servicing it... But I saw them find out it was .004 off)

getting it checked tomorrow. it was just interesting that the car was running fine with a hose popped off, nothing to do with the gasket.

Quote:

Originally posted by many944s
Let me see if I understand....
Is there a raised "lip" around the edge of each cumbustion chamber, protruding from the underside of the head? In in other words, you can not lay a flat edge on the mating surface of the head?

that's right, a raised edge (actually, an embedded stainless ring), can not lay a flat edge across the combustion areas. i'll post a picture.

fast924S · fast924S's Garage

Thats odd, Why would you install a stainless ring into the head????? How does it sit flush to seal on the head gasket???

ae1969 · 03-05-2007, 07:36 PM

The head is o-ringed.

They use stainless wire. Can get it at aviation supply stores.

You can make your own rings when you put it back on. You will need a wide fire gasket as well.

The rings can be held in place with crazy glue. There is an orientation that the ring gap should be pointing.

nynor · 03-05-2007, 07:55 PM

i looked at it pretty close and talked to the shop i bought the car from.

ae1969 is correct. however, this one is embedded in the head. there is no gap in the ring. its a perfect circle.

fast924S · fast924S's Garage

Wow I didnt know that how they did it, I thought they machine a groove in the head so you could install a O-ring to help seal, I didnt know it was metal

nynor · 06:42 PM

pictures are coming.

almost forgot: checked the head with a straight edge. no gap at all. maybe .001 in some places, tolerance is .005 i read in the manual. so i am going to clean it up and install it again. the valves look real nice, as well as the mating surface. only cylinder #2 had any scoring at all, and it was VERY minor, i was really happy actually.

turns out THREE of the studs had coolant issues. figure that one out...

ae1969 · 03-06-2007, 07:15 PM

Uhmmm I think you will find that when you pry those rings out.....they are stainless wire. Nothing to high tech about them.

You may not be able to see the gap. They are usually filed down so they look continous.

FYI....Normally you replace the rings after a head gasket swap.

Whats this about coolant issues on the head studs?

Razorback1980 · Razorback1980's Garage

Nynor...sorry for the highjack but Alex, is this procedure to use a head if it can't be surfaced or to provide a better seal or something totally different? Do you know what the orientation is and why you do that? Do you match the wire size with the size of the groove? The ends I'm guessing would be filed at a slant to improve the seal or are they just filed flat like cylinder rings? Sorry for all the questions, but I just haven't seen this before.

nynor · 03-06-2007, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ae1969
Uhmmm I think you will find that when you pry those rings out.....they are stainless wire. Nothing to high tech about them.

You may not be able to see the gap. They are usually filed down so they look continous.

FYI....Normally you replace the rings after a head gasket swap.

Whats this about coolant issues on the head studs?

i am not prying them out, as the head is well within spec. i am also sure there is nothing high tech about them. i will post pictures, there is no gap that i can see.

why replace them if they are good?

i had coolant coming out of the head studs. the gasket failed. see the pictures in my earlier posts.

Mike Markota · 03-07-2007, 06:56 PM

I have the same thing done with my head, i will be following this..

John_AZ · 03-08-2007, 06:53 AM

Are the head rings used if the head was machined to improve the compression ratio? A machined head will cause early head gasket failure and thus the coolant out the head studs.

John_AZ

nynor · 03-08-2007, 08:44 AM

no. it is used to clamp the gasket better to hold higher boost and prevent the tops of the the cylinders from 'walking'.