Hillynath

The head was fine so if anything is cracked it could be the block.. I rang the Machinist this morning just to see what they think. He said that it could just be from using coolant on the first start up as it can just "slip" under the gasket. Said I should drain the coolant and put just water in there to start with and also re check the torque's. I don't know how this will go but it sure beats pulling the head off again. Will give it a go tonight after work and keep my finger's crossed. If that doesn't work then I'm thinking the block might be cracked as there aren't many other option's really. That's certainly quite the feat ! Something to be proud of I think. I'm proud I got the head off of a damn 4ac! haha. When the Corolla started I was quite relieved myself :cool:

New head was skimmed and pressure tested yeah. The block I thought was good. Went over it all with a scraper and got all the old gasket shit off and any carbon and whatnot. Gave it a clean with some no oily residue stuff. Torqued the head in 3 stages in the right sequence, blah blah blah. and yep :( through the gasket right under number 1 spark plug. I reckon now I have done it that I could get it out and back together again in a day which is good, but I really don't want to. And then what? how am I going to know what the problem is. I also think it might be leaking inside there somewhere into the oil as after only 30 seconds of it running (Yay the only good news, it started!) the oil under the valve cover was getting quite milky. Which is either 1, its leaking into the oil, or 2, i didnt drain and flush it enough to get the old milky stuff out of the sump. I'm thinking number 1. :(

Got it back together tonight. Fill it up with coolant, only to find it want's to drop it back out again at cylinder 1. Between the head and the block. freaking great :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash:

I don't think I'll have time at the moment. I really need it back on the road :( I know how to pull it all out quite easily now so when the time comes it should just be a 2 day job really. You think it's worth raising the compression and porting the head?

Got another engine today (just for the head) but I'll use the waterpump housing's and in/outlet pipes as they're great still. Heads heaps better than mine :D

I'll see if anything else comes up before I throw this one out, there has to be a few 4ac head's around my area.. I hope :glare: I'm going to take it to the machinist in the morning and get their opinion.. I'm a little concerned not only about the crack, but the water channel's in the head being blocked.. I can barely dig the shit out of there with a screwdriver. I had a poke and prod at the block and it doesn't seem too bad... It's not corroded like the head is. Also the channel's aren't blocked. However I can feel rusty flakey shit at the bottom of them when I stick a screwdriver down there :( I don't really want to pull the block out.. I mean part of me is saying just do it while you have it apart then you don't have to worry about it. The other half of me is saying, bugger it. She'll be right :P I'm going to see how much I can flush out with the hose first I think :yes: .. Even though I would like to do the bearings.. :hmm:

Do I have to say anything? :( :( Cracked anyone? The block will clean up alright Gasket

Yeah most likely one of the things... Along with a blocked radiator, blocked heater core, blocked thermostat etc etc haha.. The condition of the water that was in there :bash: I'll be surprised if the channel's in the head are still clear. Will know shortly, breakfast first then time to get head. Errrr, cylinder head off the vehicle. :cool:

I'm almost tempted to go and rip the head off it now as it's so darn close :yes: haha. I'm only planning on having it off the road no longer than a week so there wont be any special mod's at the moment :( However I do have a list of things, timing belt, gaskets, seals, bearings, vacuum hoses, blah blah blah the list is never ending :laff: Do you or would anyone else who happen's to read this know how the waterpump housing is supposed to join via that small pipe to the upper radiator hose outlet on the head? as the piece i have was just smashed in there with some silicone around it. Is it all 1 piece or it's actually meant to be in 2 pieces. (The housing between the pump and the block, you can see the hole directly under the in/outlet in the head)

Getting there

Since I have owned it (around a month or so) I have been having dramas with overheating.. Only up big hills and on the highway. I never let it get hot enough to cause any damage. When I got the car the water in it was terrible, worst I have ever seen. So I have no doubt that it had overheating issues in the past which have caused the gasket to go. In the time I have had it I have been losing very small amounts of water which maybe was being burnt up and not getting into the oil. Now the gasket has completely gone :( Just put a brand new radiator in it a couple of days ago, and the coolant in it is still good. I'd be a little annoyed if I had to clean milky shit out of a new radiator :rolls: Ill grab a vrs set and a few other bits and pieces to change over while I have the head off. May as well do the timing belt while I'm there.. Should be a good car for a while after this. Fingers crossed anyway.

Something I didn't think of... The missus' Ae82 4ac ! Could compare what I have to what she has, assuming they've got the same vacuum layout... I'm sure it wouldn't be much different

Well I found the rough running problem :( Oil is all milky now.. :( I suspected the head had to come off but now I know for sure. Has only just happened :( Damn it :bash:

Okay, Damn car. It's playing trick's on me now.. When i start it cold it run's really rough for about 5 seconds, like it's on 2 cylinders. Also does it after the 6 second cranking trick which i explained higher up in the thread. I took some photos of a couple of things which I was unsure about. I hope someone can shed some light on this for me, especially the short rough running. Photo 1 - Yellow - This line going to the Air cleaner housing was blocked with what seemed to be a rusty ball bearing. I cut it out and re attached. Red - Does this spot require a vacuum line? as this is currently how it sits. Green - An adjustment screw of some kind, completely undone so it is not doing anything at all.. Unsure on this or how it should be Blue - Missing an adjustment screw? Photo 2 Red - A blocked off vacuum source? Blue - Another blocked off source with what seems like another ball bearing. I forgot to circle it but down by the fuel pump you can see 2 steel vacuum lines however 1 is missing a hose..... I really hope someone might be able to explain some of these things to me and maybe they have something to do with it running weirdly. The strange starting has only occured since I stuffed around with it :bash:

Is the choke controlled somewhat by vacuum? Did some work on the 71 today and noticed a couple of strange Vac lines, 2 were plugged up with what looked like ball bearing's. Some sort of vacuum actuator on the driver's side of the carby, right down low, the underside has what looks like a vacuum fitting on it but not connected to a hose. Also another is just plugged off. I'm going to leave my explanations at that until I get my camera sorted and get a couple of photo's as I know how hard this must be for someone to understand :lolcry:

Yeah it's an automatic choke. What it run's off I don't know.. If the choke was playing up, that would cause it to be hard to start whenever it's hot? Correct me if I'm wrong here. But it's only after it's sat for a short amount of time.. Which lead's me to think about the first thing you said, about the fuel entering the intake manifold. :bash:

Well there's a theory I wouldn't have thought of :hmm: Yeah it's completely stock. Have you heard of similar thing's before with these? The engine isn't getting overly hot (half way on the gauge).

The Ae71 is running superb and not giving me any hassles which is great :yes: However I'm having a little trouble, (more of an annoyance really) when it come's to starting it. Cold, starts fine, hot also starts fine. If I get out of the car and leave it for a few minutes it's fine but if I leave it for 20 minute's or so it's a bastard to start. I have to hold my foot to the floor which seem's to get it to fire after maybe 6 second's of cranking. If anyone could shed a little light on this that would be great.. I mean sure if it was hard to start all the time I'd have places to look, but its only once its hot and has been sitting for a short period of time... Also while I'm here, can someone confirm that an Ae71 tank capacity is 50 litres? Thanks Nathan

Well it's been over a month since my last post... I'm always checking out what I can and reading everything of interest on here. Just little posting. The Corolla is going great, for a 29 year old car that is.. Been driving it everyday without any hassles. About a week ago I noticed a strong fuel smell start to emerge, turned out to be the fuel pump. It was leaking out the inspection ports on the underside as the internals of it were stuffed (Assumed). Picked up a new Goss one for $100 with gasket's and the spacer which I was happy about. My boot seal arrived but I'm yet to do much about that.. Over the next week or so I might start cutting away at the small rust spot's and get a start with it. I bought a standard rear swaybar from an Ra60 celica which I'll put in once it arrives, Should make driving it a little more fun :wink: I'm also on the lookout for a towbar setup.. The missus has one on her Ae82 hatch which she doesn't need which I might pinch. I'll have to measure it up first to make sure it'll work. Apart from these few things that's all I have to report with. Ill have to get some more photo's soon too! :)

Update.. Have been driving it for the last few day's. Radiator cap on safety rather than on completely. I find that it uses a little water with the cap on rather than having it on safety. Hasn't overheated on me and is running great! I'm waiting on a new Boot seal to arrive so I can fix up the small rust spots around the seal area and fit the new seal so my boot stay's dry :happy:

How did you go with your bumpers?

Update. Decided to completely bypass the heater assembly (Heater core and tap) and just ran a length of heater hose from outlet to outlet. (Or outlet to inlet, whatever) Also thought I'd look into the ticking, got the ole feeler gauge out and checked the valve clearances and a couple of the intake valves were about .05 out so tightened up the gap and loosened up one that didn't have any play at all. Nice quiet engine now :cool: Didn't get to test drive it and check how the cooling situation was going so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Edit to my last post. Unblocked whatever shit was in there and now the heater hoses produce water. Going to bypass them with 1 single hose and hope for happy days. Who need's a heater anyway right? I have taken the assumption that my bottom hose was cold due to the thermostat not opening yet... Which it wouldn't have been far away from.

Okay..... So trying to sort out this cooling system. Can someone give me an idea on how it work's, a diagram perhaps? I replaced the thermostat. The old one was easily cactus.. and lot's of shit in the housing. Cleaned it out, drove it a few times over the course of the day and didn't lose any water.. Seem's to be going okay but as soon as you start to speed up a bit (over 70ish) Or come to hill's and such, it want's to overheat. Pulled out the radiator today, gave it the best of a flush I could do... Then the bad part happened. Pulling one of the heater hoses off the copper pipe from the heater core. SNAP! F&*K!!! :bash: :bash: So I used this opportunity now I had both heater hoses free.. So I started the car and no water comes out of the 2 hoses. I put the heater and fans on, Still no water coming out. Also my top radiator hose is coming up to temp and the bottom isn't now... (just from having it idling in the driveway for 15 minutes whilst i top it up and check things and whatnot. If anyone could throw a few idea's my way that would be awesome. Also what do I do about the broken heater core pipe now? Ugh....

Update... Checked the compression today and was happy with the result. 150 across all 4, give or take 1 or 2 psi but 150 on all 4 is all I need to see :happy: My assistant Wasn't getting any water droplet's from the bores either. Everything seem's Good! :y: I took it for a 15 minute drive today. Only lost a little bit of water and it didn't overheat. I also kept the radiator cap on half way (on the safety catch) Will change the thermostat tomorrow and have a look at the water pump (I cannot see any leak's around the area, could be very minor though I guess). Damn cooling issues :bash: Any input is much appreciated