Alk-3
12-11-2011, 08:06 PM
I was on my way home and about 50km's into a 300km trip the heat stopped working, so I pulled over, and sure enough, there was very little coolant in the rad. I noticed there was a bit of moisture around the engine bay, and when I checked under the valve cover breather, there was foamy oil. yup coolant in the oil.
I added what coolant I had to the rad, and limped to a service centre to assess the damage. under proper lighting I could see the crankcase was taking on a lot of coolant. The oil pressure was still fine, didn't change at all. the temperature gauge stopped working when I did the valves/gasket last week. I assumed I had damaged the mechanical (non electrical) sensor while I was woking on it, but now I wonder if that's the case at all. I will have to test it to see is I get a reading in boiling water.
I had enough supplies to do a full oil change, and could have purchased enough oil to do another if I wanted to limp home, doing oil changes along the way, but I decided I'd rather not risk a spun bearing. So my wife, myself, our two dogs all piled into a tow truck for a $440 ride home.
So, I'm going to drain the engine of coolant, and do an oil change tomorrow to flush out the water from the crank case.
Last week I replaced the head gasket while doing a valve job. When I had the head off I foolishly didn't even check it for flatness, and just put it back on. there is coolant seeping out from between the head and block near the front of the engine.
I did retorque the head bolts to 65 foot lbs, after warming up the truck when I did the head gasket, and assumed everything was fine.
so, by the time a remove the head again, and refit another set of new valves, and install new guides, and ream them to fit.. which I have never done before, so I don't even know that I could do it, and I'm sure I don't have the required tools to do the job. Then I still have to get the head machined flat again, and hope that it didn't over heat enough to cause any serious damage..
I think at this point I would be ahead of the game to remove the old head, set it aside and buy a new turner high performance head complete ready to drop onto the engine. (about $950 CAD to my door).
I know it will cost more money to do it this way, but I know it will be done right, and done faster than I could otherwise do it, if I tried to rebuild the old head…
Anyway, it's been a frustrating ordeal, and this is the first time the truck has ever let me down. but in the end, I will not have to go through the trouble and time of rebuilding the head on my only vehicle.
now for a follow up question.. should I replace the head bolts while I'm at it? I will be ordering what I need tomorrow, and my shopping list is as follows:
turner HP head
head gasket
intake and exhaust manifold gaskets
intake and exhaust studs
anything else I might need?
Does Rovers North sell the mechanical temperature sensor that fits into the head?
I added what coolant I had to the rad, and limped to a service centre to assess the damage. under proper lighting I could see the crankcase was taking on a lot of coolant. The oil pressure was still fine, didn't change at all. the temperature gauge stopped working when I did the valves/gasket last week. I assumed I had damaged the mechanical (non electrical) sensor while I was woking on it, but now I wonder if that's the case at all. I will have to test it to see is I get a reading in boiling water.
I had enough supplies to do a full oil change, and could have purchased enough oil to do another if I wanted to limp home, doing oil changes along the way, but I decided I'd rather not risk a spun bearing. So my wife, myself, our two dogs all piled into a tow truck for a $440 ride home.
So, I'm going to drain the engine of coolant, and do an oil change tomorrow to flush out the water from the crank case.
Last week I replaced the head gasket while doing a valve job. When I had the head off I foolishly didn't even check it for flatness, and just put it back on. there is coolant seeping out from between the head and block near the front of the engine.
I did retorque the head bolts to 65 foot lbs, after warming up the truck when I did the head gasket, and assumed everything was fine.
so, by the time a remove the head again, and refit another set of new valves, and install new guides, and ream them to fit.. which I have never done before, so I don't even know that I could do it, and I'm sure I don't have the required tools to do the job. Then I still have to get the head machined flat again, and hope that it didn't over heat enough to cause any serious damage..
I think at this point I would be ahead of the game to remove the old head, set it aside and buy a new turner high performance head complete ready to drop onto the engine. (about $950 CAD to my door).
I know it will cost more money to do it this way, but I know it will be done right, and done faster than I could otherwise do it, if I tried to rebuild the old head…
Anyway, it's been a frustrating ordeal, and this is the first time the truck has ever let me down. but in the end, I will not have to go through the trouble and time of rebuilding the head on my only vehicle.
now for a follow up question.. should I replace the head bolts while I'm at it? I will be ordering what I need tomorrow, and my shopping list is as follows:
turner HP head
head gasket
intake and exhaust manifold gaskets
intake and exhaust studs
anything else I might need?
Does Rovers North sell the mechanical temperature sensor that fits into the head?