Warped KA24de head

[gandhi240sx]

Well i got stupid and impatient and drove 12 miles with a bad water pump and ended blowing my head gasket( believe i know it was stupid) Anyways i got it home smoking bad. Took the head off and brought it to my shop teacher to measure it for warpage and he found that it wasn't good(can't remember the measurements) Well he directed me to a machinist and he is gonna see if its salvageable. My question is if it isn't should i just buy another ka or buy a refurbished head? i am not sure how prone ka heads are to cracking but maybe someone could elaborate me. Also what are the chances of my block being cracked or warped, i know that its cast iron but i just wanted to be sure. Before someone replies SEARCH i did and trust me i got some decent info but not enough for my situation so please help me out thanks.

[rioredstang]

Don't start jumping to conclusions. I don't think you hurt the block. Wait till the machine shop checks the head. They need to pressure test, vacuum test valves, and re-machine surface. You didn't say how many miles on motor, might be a good time to do a valve job.

[gandhi240sx]

well i am planning to get an sr so im not ready to dish out money for things that might not be needed so i don't want to spend money on a valve job. I have 136xxx on the engine.

[OutToWinPAHC]

milling the head should cost 35-75 bucks.

[gandhi240sx]

I've considered milling, but i just got done talking with a machinist today and he mentioned that if my head is beyond repair that he could order a re manufactured one for 350 with fresh cams and everything so i might do that.

[rioredstang]

Is the cracked beyond repair or not? Pressure test the head, if its OK, then re-surface and put it back together.

[gandhi240sx]

well i havent gotten a chance to take it down to the shop because their hours are outside of my available time, but the owner said he could do a pressure test and a resurface for 90. He also mentioned a re manufactured head for 350which wouldn't be a bad idea since it could benefit me in the long run. The re manufactured head comes with everything i need besides the new gasket and head bolts. Would i possibly gain horsepower or torque with a re manufactured head?

[OutToWinPAHC]

slight compression increase from milling.

Just have the head milled, and replace the valve seats and stem seals.

Then if your going for performance upgrade the springs, and cams. Make sure to have the lifters shimmed too.

[triple r]

sr's are overrated....keep the ka man.............if you spent the money on your ka instead of swapping for an sr.............it would be hella nice.....and in my opinion would be more reliable.

[tyrodtom]

be aware that when you have a warped head on a OHC, the warp means the cam bearing stands are also warped out of alignment, milling the head just means trues the gasket surface, it does nothing to realign the cam gallery. That is why the FSM sets limits on how much the head can milled, because a cam can only tolerate very little misalignment of it's bearings. It will wear the top of some of the cam bearing stands, and the bottom of others, and you'll lose oil pressure thru the loose cam bearings. Or if the warp is too much the cam will break as you torque the headbolts. Cams don't bend.

[gandhi240sx]

I kinda wondered if that would happen but no one has ever brought that to my attention. How could i bend my cams by torquing my head bolts? I have to have the cams out to get to the head bolts. Would you recommend a remanufactured head or is it possible i would run into the same problem?

[tyrodtom]

At some point you have to put the cam in and tighten the cam bearing straps, if that head was warped way beyound tolerances, guess what you're doing to the cam when you tighten those straps. I have a KA24e, you can R&R the head without removing the cam. A good way to check to see if the head was warped too much and just milled is install a cam, torque the bearing straps, with assembly lube on the bearing journals, no springs installed. The cam should rotate easily.
Modified by tyrodtom at 6:29 PM 2/21/2010

[gandhi240sx]

makes sense, but hopefully the machinist will be able to determine if it is salvageable

[Whoops]

Hmm I'm thinkin the head on my ka might be warped as well. Was revving it up one day and as the engine temp was rising, more and more steam was pouring out of the exhaust. I ordered and installed a new head gasket kit (finished today) and it does the same thing...I don't have an iron level to check the head, so does anyone have any ideas?

[asoomal]

You put on a new gasket without checking it with a straight edge?

[Whoops]

i know...i'm a genius, but i didn't think i had gotten it hot enough to warp the head. was actually the last thing on my mind when i started the process. oh well. if guy on another thread ends up sellin to someone else, just going to have my old head machined and new seals stuck in it. and probably invest in an iron level for future head jobs. lol...
edit: now that i think about it...guess it coulda happened when i was bringing the car home and the radiator got a crack in the top.