Howdy ya'll. Time for a H/G change on my 1985 pickup, 22REC. Its got a sweet/buttugly (depends on your taste!) fiberglass camper shell directly on the chassis, so this poor truck has been working damn hard its whole life.

Sadly the truck broke 2,000 miles from home, I'm staying with my friend's dad while I fix this, and he's getting grumpy (he's been very nice to let me work on it, and I'm appreciative and don't want to impose more than I have to) ;-)

I've got all the wires/hoses and the intake chamber pulled, so tomorrow I'll probably get the head itself off. I'm looking for guidance on what I'd be crazy to do / not do once I've got the head pulled, given this time pressure.

The most obvious problem is a an external coolant leak below the exhaust manifold between the head and the block. You can see the gasket bulged out here, so clearly the gasket needs to be changed at a minimum. Other symtoms are reduced gas mileage for the past 800 miles, and sometimes when I've started it this month, its like one of the cylinders doesn't start. Turn off, crank again, and everything is at least relatively smooth.

I did a compression test, and got 145/145/145/90 (the compression tester wouldn't hold its needle until read, so the values might be a little higher on these others, but at least 145). Its weird that cylinder 4 is funny since its not near the coolant leak, maybe I've got a separate burned valve or something?

So given all that... would I be crazy not to:

1) Get the fuel injectors cleaned by witchhunter (4 days :-P if mail is quick)
2) Take the head to be milled/checked by a machine shop. What's a good expectation for how much this should cost? How long it would usually take? How you find a machine shop that does this sort of thing? etc...
3) Take the head apart and service all the bits (esp valves)?

ESPECIALLY: Is there a way I can check if the valves are ok without disassembling the whole head (I'm definitely taking it out to fix the H/G, but not definitely takin gthe head apart)?

The previous owner says he had a mechanic replace the timing chain guides when they went south (bet he had to replace the cover too, but I can't verify until I'm in there). So that bit /might/ already be done. AFAIK the engine has never overheated, and its been running very smoothly for the past 5000 miles I've owned it this summer.

Anything I'm missing I should consider doing?

Thanks a ton,

-Seth

 

I should mention, no oil in water, no water in oil, and no blowback I can feel by putting my hand over the oil cap.

 

Your injectors can be cleaned at any time. Having your head off will just make it a bit easier. If your worried about them go pick up a bottle of fuel system/injector cleaner from an automotive shop. Judging by your time contraints I wouldn't bother having them shipped off.

Being as it has an aluminum head on a cast block the head shouldn't be the one to warp. your block would warp first. And the head is more flexible, so if it is out a bit, when you torque down your head it will flex to the shape of the block. Seeing as it was never overheated you should be fine.

In a perfect world you would take the head competely apart and get the valves ground and make sure everything is in good shape but your in a bit of a time crunch. If it were me I would just replace the gasket and put it all back together as is. If it worked fine before it should work fine afterwards too.

 

thanks nothingbetter, given some of the "could be better" things I've seen tearing into the engine, I'll just do the gasket job, and do a more complete rebuild some other time, adding fuel injectors to the list for later.

 

how is an aluminum head more prone to warping than a iron block?

 

He is saying the aluminum is easier to flex and move. So if its slightly warped, when you tighten the head down, it will conform to the shape of the block.

I'm not saying I agree with this entirely, but I understand the logic. I've seen many aluminum heads that were warped on blocks that were still straight. But that's just me. I always have the heads milled on a head gasket job. Even if its minuscule. And straight edge the block to be sure it's good.

 

ah, gotcha. not sure i like the way he worded it though lol. thanks rok.