Ka24e head problems

[cmoody2006]

Another ? If i pull the head back off to check things out do I have to go buy new head bolts/studs?

[cmoody2006]

anyone?

[silpena]

mine was milled around 0.0012-0.0014. A shop tried to sell me the shim saying i needed the spacer but i never used it. I think the maxium is 0.0012 you can mill before cam position changes, but u can mill the timing cover down to match it or cut the head gasket. I don't thik u need new head bolts, you just used them. I used my oem head bolts so har 10k miles and holding up great i just torqued them a couple more foot pounds to compheshate for the strecth on them. I don't think its that big of a deal. Hmm your coolant is going somewhere....maybe ur cap is f'ed up and is losing pressure not lettting the coolant convert back to liquid from steam. Idk when i got my car back together i had a clogged radiator(tried to use that bloc seal) so i had it rodded out and then i got a new cap becuase it would over heat after 5 min of driving. I heard a crackling noise coming from it. My best advice is to examine the coolant while the cap is off and rev engine at a constant 2-3 k u should see the flow of coolant be smooth with no gunk or bubbles from the combustion gases.

[Schizo]

well here's what happens... I fill the radiator up all the way and let it run for a good 5 mins... I shut it down and opened the radiator and it was low again.... What you think? Plus its like 45-50 outside right now

If no coolant leaks are apparent then, I'd check the oil to make sure that it's not milky looking. Good luck.

[cmoody2006]

I did this the other day and it looked fishy so i changed the oil in it.... It still smokes with fresh oil. And it doesn't look milky just looks like oil. But it seems to be smoking like a bishhhhhhhhh. I can't figure it out. Anyone wanna trade a good swap for my z32?

[silpena]

are you sure its coolant being burnt??

[cmoody2006]

What else could it be? It is a sweet smell from the exhaust and the coolant just seems to disapear from the radiator

[silpena]

hmm so thast wierd. then it is coolant. I know this sounds odd but have u checked ur radiator cap? All the coolant lines?

[silpena]

i'm starting to think that "spacer" did not seal to the block. I don;t know how those things can seal. I hope he used a copper spray. You should ask the machinist how much he milled it and take off the spacer. I don' t think u warped past 0.0014 of inch. Compression check can tell something and test the cap/ coolant system.

[cmoody2006]

I've changed out radiators and hoses everything is brand new in that sense. I don't think he used a copper spray. Where is that used? I think he milled it to .0012 thats the number that sticks out in my mind. I've been thinking about pulling that spacer off. I think it is my problem. I think i might do that either tonight or tomorrow and see what happens. other than that i took it down the road a little bit ago and it seems to run fine shifting from 1'st to 2'nd. Here's the weird part. I found out my new electric fan wasn't plugged in... I hooked it up temporarily and then fired it up. The smoking settled down a lot but it didn't fix my problem. When i took it for a ride i slid it sideways in the gravel parking lot to see what would happen. Just a little half circle. Well on the way back down the block it started smoking more. but that i think is because the battery shifted in the trunk... forgot to tighten my battery down all the way and my fan wire came undone.

[cmoody2006]

I've also been contemplating whether or not to just bolt on my new header and exhaust tonight

[silpena]

well take off the spacer. you use the copper spray between the head and the block to help with sealing. Mainlt if u use a comestic head gasket you would benifit from this. My shop milled a way that it sealed up great. The machine left a criss cross scratch on the head so it bite more tot he gasket. I trusted them since they build alot of high horsepower race engine and great prices too. Every other other machine shop told me its trashed or tried to sell me a spacer . I'm gonna tell you now, ur gonna have to cut the head gasket on the timing cover it might not line up with the head so the distributor won't line up right but after that it should work perfectly and time and what not. Put your header on might as well while your at it. By the way are you usng the same gasket you should get a new one but go for it if u want. If i taken off heads alot and gotten fast at it i would just do it and put a new on later if that solves the problem.p.s. just use rtv for the gasket on the timing cover, works and no leakes at all.

[cmoody2006]

Ok my i just talked to my g-pa and they milled it down .0020 he remembered it. Would that mess with my motor if i pull out the spacer. Who sells the copper spray stuff? I put the head gasket and spacer on but i didn't use the spray i didn't know you had to. The machine shop i went to has only done one other head like mine and they found out it had a crack in it... i know this b/c my friend is the one who had it done.what do you mean by a comestic head gasket? do you happen to have any pics of what your talking about when you say i'll have to cut off the timing chain part of the gasket? I don't understand that part. I've taken my head off 2 times now this will make the 3rd I hope i can get everything straightend out this time. Whats the fastest way to pull the head off? Leave the intake on and just pull off the exhaust and unbolt the head or pull the intake off as well. I've been pulling the intake off. i'm working without a cherry picker keep that in mind. I'm prolly gonna worry about the exhaust when I get it running good.

[silpena]

you can buy the spray at autozone/ napa/etc. comsmetic is a mutli layer metal gasket. Has a hard time sealing but used for boosted motors so yeah idk. Uhh i'm not sure the fastest way buti say having the intake manifold and exhuast manifold loose and unbolted would be the fasted but hard to pull the head unless ur hella strong and got super forarm strength lol. Damn thats alot of milling. I don't think it'll mess with ur engine its a non piston/ valve engine. what do you have to lose?? Your head so far seem F'ed. WEll you knoe how the head gasket goes under the timing cover too? well since you won't have the spacer u'll be taking off that thickness too(head) and cam hieght/ alignment will be off. THis is ok if ur runing high profile cams but this is not case. So the timing cover won't line up right to the head. The distributor won't line up to the idler pully so u have to cut the head gasket and use rtv silicone to seal it like if it was head gasket you know? i'm bad at explaining stuff sry. i don't know how to post pics sorry but all i say mine was around 0.0013-0.0014 and it worked perfectly no timing issues or anything even passed smog with flying colors. milling will increase compression but not too much. More compression is better huh My head also warped with a crack in the gasket near #3 clyinder. Just try it, you have nothing to lose right?

[cmoody2006]

i'll check the shop tomorrow morning and see what the real number was I should have wrote it down but eh oh well. I'm off 2 bed now so i'll chat more tomorrow about what goes down.

[silpena]

cool, i need to sleep too

[cmoody2006]

ok well i went to the machine shop and they were like yea heres the copper spray. They forgot to tell me about it they said thats where my problem could possibly be.

[silpena]

are you serious? They "forgot" now that i remember i think those spacers are made of copper so u need the spray. Well hope its works u could alllways take off the spacer.

[cmoody2006]

OK update time. Heres what happened today. I pulled the head back off. The metal gasket spacer was the culprit. I pulled it off and got some of that spray copper stuff. Coated the @($# outta it it and threw it all back together. It no longer smokes bad. There is a little bit of smoke when i rev it up but i'll figure that out soon. Right now it runs and drives but it doesn't like to idle right. When it was smoking bad it would idle fine but now i can't see why it won't I must be missing something. I'm over it for the night. Time to celebrate and get drunk. lol Thanks silpena that copper stuff fixed the smoking.

[silpena]

no problem man, i was gonna use that stuff but i never needed becuase i didn't use a spacer. Maybe your o2 sensor or ur plugs might be coated with anit freeze?? cuasing ur bad ifdle but hey a bad idle is better than oil/ coolant mixing.

[cmoody2006]

Yea its a lot better than smoking up the place. I took it for a ride with the bad idle yesterday and she drives fine but when you come to a stop she wants to die. I have a leakin the the water pump gasket right now that i just noticed yesterday thats also where my coolant is going. It was on the underside of the pump where you can't see it but i had it on dry pavement and moved it after i had it running for a little while and noticed the puddle. As for the idling idk yet i haven't tinkered with it. I know last time i pulled the head off for somer reason the spark plugs came loose and i just tightened them down and it fixed it. So i'm going to go check that and go get a timing light to set my distributor. I know its off by a little bit. What would cause the starter not to engage right away and just click? Mine does this on a fully charged battery. If it clicks then i turn the ignition off and turn it back on and it works. well i'm off to go tinker with the 240 later

[silpena]

you know dude my car does the same thing with the starter. i mess with key in the ingnitiom switch untill it finally cranks. I don't mind it. NIce to know u found the leak. Get it fixed asap. I blew my head gasket that way i held off my new pump. Started from a slight leak to majoy leaking almost a gallon of coolan like 1 min of driving...yeah i'm stupid.

[cmoody2006]

Yea mines like that right now. It is also burning oil off the intake manifold i need to put new bigger bolts in the valve cover to make it snug again its loose above the intake mani and when it gets hot the oil leaks out and starts smoking making my car look like there is something major wrong with it. I'll get on it later i don't feel like messing with it today. I'm prolly gonna get the itch to do it later on tonight or tomorrow. Right now i'm just glad it runs and i can move the bastard w/o having to push it.