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What the cylinder head looks like. Found a spring from one of the exhaust valve seals. This happened last year on the drivers side. Is it possible the MS4 cam im running is causing the retainer to hit the seal??
Hi guys,
removed my pass side head today. Is it normal to have coolant in the piston bores? It seems that as I loosened the bolts coolant started to seep into the bores.
Am I thinking this out correctly?
Also, when i removed the head some debris fell into the lifter buckets. What should I do?
I cant wait to rip my heads off and see how bad they really look. I assume the pistons would look the same or if not worse than yours as im swapping plugs 2-3 times a year due to carbon deposits.
Yea the coolant is normal and just clean out the trash and coolant you'll be fine.
Ive done this many time with cast iron heads that are least 3x heavier than the aluminium.
That's a lot of coolant. The coolant should have been drained it before removing the heads and then any that got into the cylinders should have been mopped up with paper towels as soon as the head was off. It's difficult to get all of the coolant out of the engine block but there shouldn't be much left in the heads when they are removed. Coolant mixed with oil makes a thick, gooey substance that can't be pumped through the oil passages. Pull the lifters and clean everything a best you can. Lifters can be dissassembled and cleaned before putting them back into the engine. Do them one at a time so you don't interchange parts. It would be a good idea to drain the oil ASAP and see what it looks like. When you have the car running again, put new oil in the car and change the it immediately after just a few minutes of run time. I'd be pretty concerned about coolant leaking into the oil pan.
i agree...the dipstick tube was off the car. to make things worse i rinsed the coolant off the starter, ac and cradle area. can i drain the oil and leave it drained for a week or so until i finishe the head gasket job?
That's a lot of coolant. The coolant should have been drained it before removing the heads and then any that got into the cylinders should have been mopped up with paper towels as soon as the head was off. It's difficult to get all of the coolant out of the engine block but there shouldn't be much left in the heads when they are removed. Coolant mixed with oil makes a thick, gooey substance that can't be pumped through the oil passages. Pull the lifters and clean everything a best you can. Lifters can be dissassembled and cleaned before putting them back into the engine. Do them one at a time so you don't interchange parts. It would be a good idea to drain the oil ASAP and see what it looks like. When you have the car running again, put new oil in the car and change the it immediately after just a few minutes of run time. I'd be pretty concerned about coolant leaking into the oil pan.
Damn i could have avoided this. I followed junkmans DIY.. it didnt say to drain coolant... fml
Once I removed the water pump, I put a small tube into the block on each side and suck out as much coolant as possible. It minimizes the mess when the heads are removed.
The original MS4 had low PTV and has caused a number of issues. Did you check the clearances at full open to ensure the seals were clear?
Yes, you can drain the oil and leave it drained until you're ready to start the car - just remember to add the oil before startup. Make sure the head and block surfaces are really clean before you put it back together. Take your time and do it right the first time.
Last edited by tbrowne; May 1, 2019 at 07:12 PM.
Reason: Fixed spelling.
Once I removed the water pump, I put a small tube into the block on each side and suck out as much coolant as possible. It minimizes the mess when the heads are removed.
The original MS4 had low PTV and has caused a number of issues. Did you check the clearances at full open to ensure the seals were clear?
Thanks for the advice. Next time i will definitely drain coolant first. What a mistake!!!
No i did not check, the driver side head is still on the car. How would i go about checking?
Thanks for the advice. Next time i will definitely drain coolant first. What a mistake!!!
No i did not check, the driver side head is still on the car. How would i go about checking?
Well, it won't be completely accurate but rotate the motor through with the rockers in place and check for clearance between the bottom of the valve spring retainer and the top of the valve seal. The other potential cause may be the seal itself came off the valve guide on that cylinder. See if you can determine the cause prior to moving forward with reassembly, hopefully you can avoid future issues.
As for the lifter buckets, you must get them absolutely clean. Have you removed the lifters yet? Get in there and clean any debris you can find prior to lifter removal. Once the lifters are out, take absolute clean rags and stuff them in the block where the lifters are located. Any dirt in there has the potential to block a lifter oil port causing a tick and poor pumping.
Ok guys made some progress using Vettnuts advice. Vacuumed out any **** that was in the lifter valleys befor pulling out the lifters. Found some debris of a valve seal.
Im wondering if some light porting might be worth the hassle? I do plan on some forced induction later on.
Does anyone have a write up on how to check valve guides and how to change them??
Since i have the heads off Id like to do a full check up and replace any problematic parts.
Possibly, you need specific tools to drive out the old and install the new ones, than they need to be cut to fit. I think a machine shop charges about $100 to do it
Last edited by feeder82; May 10, 2019 at 10:49 AM.
Cleaned up the passenger side. Waiting to receive the ARP chasers in m12 x2.0 and m8x1.25.
I brought each piston up to tdc and cleaned with acetone and a soft brass brush. Most of the **** came off easy except for carbon build up around the piston edges facing the front of the car. I had to gently scrape some of it off so the brass brush could work. I then blasted the groove between the bore and piston with an aceton spot cleaning gun. Then used air/vaccume to get whatever was left.
Everytime i turned the crank id put some turbine oil on the walls first. Once stoped id wipe each cylinder with a clean towel. Took a long time but i think i did a good job.
Why would the pistons be soo dirty with only 20k miles??
Im gonna get on the drivers side today.
Last edited by Georgies; May 12, 2019 at 08:44 AM.
Hey guys made some more progress. Finished cleaning the block and all the bigger bolt holes. Still waiting on Amazon to ship the smaller clean out tap. So everything except the small head bolt holes are all cleaned up and taped off while i take care of the heads.
I've spend a lot of hours cleaning the heads as best as I could with a brass brush and acetone. I'm at the point of cleaning the valves with the use of a bench top grinder and a soft brass wire wheel. Before i start cleaning i did some measuring and almost all my valve stems measure 7.91mm. Some of them are 7.92 but closer down to the valve face. That might be due to them still not being clean?
I'm wondering how can i measure the valve guides??
Its the 3rd time i found out some of my valve stem seals are lifted. Is this possible with worn inner valve guids??
Maybe its causing the valve stem to rub in an unorthodox way causing the valve stem seals to unseat??
Anyways. Im stuck here and im thinking of ordering Morel 5290 lifters since "im in there"
Here's some pics for those of you who enjoy them.
Last edited by Georgies; May 21, 2019 at 06:58 PM.
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Cylinder head removal questions.
