When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hello, I pulled the heads from my 89 6 spd today. Here is a [picture of each head. I think the drivers side did have a water leak. Drivers side Drivers side Passenger side Head Passenger side
It doesn't look too bad... Scrape off what's left of the head gaskets and look for cracking between the cylinders. The antifreeze you see is nothing to worry about. That happens with a head removal. But the rust is another story. Clean it up as best as you can with a scotch-brite pad, and rotate the crank to expose more of the cylinder that may need to be cleaned. Have the heads resurfaced at a machine shop to make sure everything is flat, and put it back together with a new head gasket. You should be OK with that, but do a compression test once you get it running again. Have fun!
Livewire1, Thank you. When I took it apart my first thought was they don't look too bad. With respect to the rust. I bought this car 5 years ago. It sat for 11 years. The pistons were rusted in place. Two weeks of Marvel Mystery oil C5R and gentle tugs on a breaker bar and the engine rotated, OH Yeah. This is the first time this engine has been apart. And, last year I did a compression test. All the cylinders were about 180 psi, on my gauge.
I needed to use a universal on an extension to remove the head bolts on the passenger side of the engine near the exhaust manifolds. I am worried about torqueing the heads down.
Thank you
If there's a lucky engine, this one is it! Probably your entire coolant problem can be blamed on bad head gaskets, and you'll enjoy many more miles in your C4! Good luck!
and there off
