Newbie here

[90FestivaL]

hey guys. I signed up to learn more about these cars for my friend. he isn't a mechanic but my brother and i are.

i went to change his sparkplugs the other month because he was having a bad misfire, and every one of them broke off in the cylinder head, so we pulled the head and brought it to a machine shop. they washed it, pulled the plugs out, and heli coiled it but the new spark plugs wouldn't go in so we bought a tap from autozone. The valve cover gasket was blown so the whole block was covered in oil, it had an exhaust leak, and was burning coolant, so it was pretty due for maintenance, anyways. When putting it back together, we replaced gaskets, but did not install new hardware (studs, ETC) Had a little misunderstanding with the timing, but after buying the Haynes manual, we got it at 3* BTDC and it fired right up.

All was well until a couple weeks ago. It started pouring coolant again. The head gasket blew..I don't know if it's because we installed it incorrectly, or if it is because we did not replace the hardware. I know for a fact that while i was at work, my brother "torqued" the head bolts - We don't have a torque wrench yet. So anyways, this kid is dead broke and doesn't have the money to fix his car, so it's been sitting in his driveway since. I want to get it fixed once he has the money, but i was wondering what we need to buy in order to fix this thing and not have to worry about it again.

by the way, i think it has 142,000 miles on it. and it seems as if the head had been pulled before in the past.

[NovaSS]

With everything you stated so far it soundslike the engine was run hot at one point in its life. These engines tend to live long healthy lives, getting past 200,000 with just tune up parts.



The hardware is nothing special , should last several rebuilds. Bolting a head on WITHOUT a torque wrench is a waste of time. You may want to try ONE MORE time, its only wasting a gasket but I wouldnt bet money on it lasting long, everything may be wrapped. Pull out a staight edge and feeler gauge and check before wasting anymore money on it. If the plugs were frozen in place , has had it head pulled before, exhaust leak at manifold/ head I would almost start looking for another motor out a wrecked car or look in the classified section for one that was pulled for a swap.

[nonamekid]

Check the head and the block to make sure they are not warped or need to be planed. Did you follow the correct pattern for bolting down the head? Did you bolt down the head in steps, or all at once? Like Nova said, WITHOUT a torque wrench it is a waste of time. Try to find someone you know who has one and see if you can't borrow it for a couple of hours or something. Nova is probably right about needing a new motor. You never know what the previous owner did, why he did it, or how he did it.

[scitzz]

Sounds like the head is warped to me. I was taught way back when, that shaving a warped head would not help, once it heats up, it will warp again. I have heard of others since that shaving DID work, sooooo.....
The head bolts are not torque to yield, so you do not have to replace them.....
The guys above are spot on, no torque wrench, no workey.....
You MUST use the proper sequence, shown in the haynes, when both removing the head, and when replacing it. Read your haynes very carefully. Remove the head, clean the mating surfaces, and check for warpage. It may be possible to just replace the head. If you get a JY head, have it shaved just a bit to ensure a good seal.

[juryrigger007]

Although you normally do not have to re-tourque the head bolts, you might consider it, in this case. Definately have the head milled, at a good machine shop. Beg/borrow a torque wrench, and follow the tightening patteren. Run/Drive it for a short while, and re-torque the head bolts.

This very same thing happened to me, with a Honda Civic. It was a mix-n-match combination, of two different motors. Did not re-torque, and the head gasket blew out, several months later, without warning.

Just my opinion, but that is what I'd do...Since you're on a tight budget.

Good Luck

Scott

[90FestivaL]

It happened on a friday night. we had it running sunday morning.

I'm from connecticut and the JY's suck around here. They don't carry much stuff and we can't even browse through their inventory. they have greasy lemmings that barely know how to use a computer to check their inventory and then they take hours out in the yard trying to find what you're asking for. Plus, their prices are high.

Quite honestly, i didn't tighten the head bolts - my brother did it while i was at work. I don't know if he followed the tightening pattern, but i'll ask him tomorrow. I will be pissed if he didn't because we own the haynes manual, so he should have followed the directions. I need to buy a torque wrench, anyways. I own a 1979 toyota hilux, 1987 toyota pickup, and 1984 toyota celica, all with the same type engine (22r block), and i'm going to need a torque wrench eventually.

I havent seen the leak yet. It was dark out when i went to his car in a parking lot. I found coolant under it, and no coolant in the radiator. He didn't even know how to check his coolant level..My brother went and got it running a couple days ago, discovered that the HG was blown, and the kid owes my brother money too, so i haven't been hearing from him much. He doesn't ask me for rides anymore cuz he wore out his welcome plus he lives 20 miles away. I want to help him because he is my friend and we think his festiva is awesome, but money is an issue seeing how he still owes us for the last job and this next job might even be more money if his head is warped.
P.S the #1 spark plug thread was already heli coiled previously.

we're both thinking about bargaining with him and trying to get the car. He doesn't deserve it and we would take care of it.

So, this head gasket will cost like 100$ from vatozone..is it possible to put something on the gasket and reuse it, or is it a crush type? I think it was "felpro"

Oh, by the way, i said it was originally burning coolant, but that is false. I remember that he was only missing 8oz a month after he bought it, and he never checked the level.

[scitzz]

The gasket cannot be reused. Considering all the other problems with the head, I would personally ditch it as well.....

[90FestivaL]

I'll post back once we have the festiva in my bay and have taken the head off. do i have to replace the intake and exhaust manifold gaskets?

[scitzz]

I'll post back once we have the festiva in my bay and have taken the head off. do i have to replace the intake and exhaust manifold gaskets?

It is best, however, I have reused the exhaust mani gasket a few times with no trouble, but the intake mani you really don't want any air leaking in there! It is really cheap to buy....If you get the exhaust one out with no tears, you MAY be able to reuse it