4Ac Gremlin'S.

[altezzaclub]

hmm.. check a wrecker if they have one, unless an AE71 owner reads this. I wonder if that was the start of the overheating problems that blew the gasket.

[Hillynath]

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:

[Hillynath]

Do I have to say anything? :( :(

 

 

Cracked anyone?

 

The block will clean up alright

 

Gasket

[altezzaclub]

Ouch!

 

Throw-out you reckon? I suppose it can be welded if you can find the right guy.

 

Are you going to pull the block out and flush all the rust flakes out of it?? When I did that to my 4K I was amazed at how much there was in the channels of the block. I replaced the bearings but never took the pistons out.

[Hillynath]

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:

[Hillynath]

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

[altezzaclub]

Even though I would like to do the bearings..

 

Sadly, now is the time! Easy to get out seeing its half stripped, whip off the sump, have crank cleaned, check clutch, lighten flywheel, do bearings, check oil pump, clean rust out, put it back together.

 

This is the time to decide if porting the head will help & take 20thou off to raise the compression.

[Hillynath]

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?

[altezzaclub]

A compression skim will always make it more thermally efficient, so I do it. The porting just depends on the factory product, and I don't know enough about 4As to tell you if that's a weakness or not.

 

I took my 4K ports out to match the manifolds & gasket, but that was fitting twin SUs and extractors. The ports narrowed down to stock diameter by the time they got to the valve stems as I never expected to use over 6000rpm & it gets there very well.

 

The advantage in doing it now is to clear the crap out of the water channels in the block, but if you don't have time it will wait. Certainly you have solved your over-heating problem!

[Hillynath]

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:

[altezzaclub]

nooo...!! :(

 

Did you skim the new head?

 

Block was scraped dead clean??

 

Is that literally coming out where the gasket is between the block and the head, not some little bypass tube or something??

[Hillynath]

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.

 

:(

[altezzaclub]

hmmm... if the milky oil is related to the new problem then its leaking water into the oil drain areas and out through the gasket... That's only likely if he head didn't go down properly.

 

So its quite likely the water in the oil is there from the last time. It would be pretty near impossible to get it all out without stripping everything and flushing the block. What is in there should evaporate out on a good long run.

 

What are the options? Block cracked? Head cracked? Head gasket sitting on a bit of shit?

 

Anyway- head off again for sure and just take a look. At least you know you can do it all and it will run afterwards. I've just had to do the Altezza after some crap problem caused soot in the cylinders and jammed the exhaust valves open. I'd never touched a modern 16valve injected luxury car, and was quite thankful when it all ran smoothly afterwards!

[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:

[Hillynath]

Well!

 

 

Rather than pulling the cam out to check the torque on the headbolts, I just changed the coolant to water.

 

It seeped still after I changed it which I was sad about :( However I hadn't really ran the car for a period longer then 30 seconds or so.

 

 

So I fired it up, was running a little funny. Had to adjust the idle speed on the carb and adjust the dizzy timing but that was no drama.

 

After getting it up to operating temp (Just idling, not driving) the cooling system was holding pressure and I couldn't see any sign of water :D :D

 

Thinking it may have just been because it was hot it was evaporating before I could see it I let it cool down again. No water! :happy: :happy: :happy:

 

 

 

Done about 120k's in it so far (distance not speed) and not had a problem at all! I did however have to re do the valve clearances as I set them cold rather than hot :bash:

 

 

It's great driving the Corolla around again :)

 

 

Next job is the diff :( Pinion bearing is buggered. I'll be damned if I'm going to be overhauling it. Going to get a couple of quotes first. I'm sick of pulling it apart for now.