1996 unused for 4 years

That's exactly what I found, what a relief.

 

I checked for cracks, but can't I just slide the heads in figure eights across the concrete sidewalk until it gets the heads flat? (Trolling)

I highly considered a machine shop but in the end I have to much happening right now to drag this out. I followed the FSM on this one, if the HG job is a failure well that's what I get. Thanks for the link. I considered doing this with a piece of glass and glued on sandpaper, maybe.

 

I used to lap processor heat shields with sandpaper and glass and it worked beautifully, I would go from 300 grit to 4000 grit until I could clearly see myself in the copper (no polish or other compounds required to get a beautiful shine if your surface is perfect). Overclocking was way too expensive a hobby... that's a topic for another time. That said, don't use thick glue, it will make the surface of the sandpaper uneven, you could edge tape it or maybe use a really thin glue to hold it on though.

Not one of my personal works of art, but you get the idea (the sandpaper and glass method of surface smoothing is super effective)

 

I figured I'd use a spray on adhesive, nice thin layer.

 

You are not equipped to say that the heads do not have warpage or microcracks. You need to take them to a shop and have them pressure tested and measured. You're tripping over a dollar to pick up a nickel.

What?!?!?!?!

You're going to ruin the surface by doing this. A flat clean surface is all that is needed. The most complex tool used would be a rotary brush or scuff pad.

 

I doubt it would ruin it, if done carefully to achieve a flat surface. However I would just take it to be pressure tested and fly milled because it is easier. But the sandpaper method will work and be perfectly flat, just not worth the effort.

 

there are certain "roughness" parameters that need to be maintained, too smooth the gasket will not seal, too rough and it won't allow for the expansion differential between the cast iron block and the aluminum head.

having .010 taken off the heads to square and clean them up is recommended, you'll never get them clean enough to seal for the long haul.


if you drag a fingernail you can feel the cut

 

Theres nothing more purty like a freshly surfaced and dipped head.

I would add, if youre installing a valvetrain into an engine, be sure to put good amounts of assembly lube onto all friction surfaces. It will be a few to tens of seconds of metal on metal bearings without lubercation on your first start. Regular oil wont cut it. As seen on this BMW S52 engine.

 

I used the FSM, starrett no.380 straight edge and 0.10mm feeler gauge, no warpage per my assessment.

I didn't do a dye penetrate though, that might bite me in the ass later.

 

Well the head gasket job is done, and the engine no longer overheats. I've checked for leaks, drove it down the highway, checked for leaks again and it appears to be good. We'll see if it can stand the test of time. I am sure, since I am a novice, that I have overlooked a great many details. But I did my best, three days worth of blood, sweat and tears - I hope my efforts are not entirely in vain. We shall see, tell you what if I remember I'll update this thread when (if?) it fails.

I wished I could have pulled the engine, rebuilt it and lovingly cleaned and replaced all her bits and pieces but it wasn't in the budget at this time. All the suggestions I received here were great, I just couldn't follow through with them for various reasons. Most importantly I did not have the heads surfaced and pressure checked. The reasons are my own but it was a personal decision based mostly on my limited resources. I made sure to clean the head surfaces with plastic gasket scrapers, acetone and soft brushes. The deck got the razor blade treatment with more acetone.

I did follow the FSM and checked for warpage, I did not check for cracks with a dye. I did nothing with valves except check the clearances. I found one exhaust valve was tight and one intake valve was tight. They were both just out of spec. So a valve adjustment is in my near future.

I was also very nervous about reinstalling the cams. I followed the FSM but it doesn't go into a lot of detail and they fit into the head snugly. I made sure they were not pinched or bound up before I torqued them down. And, the FSM says to only add motor oil to them when reinstalling. But, I am still extremely anxious about their condition and the anxiety will likely have me going back in to inspect them and service the clearances at the same time. Mostly I am concerned about debris that entered the engine head because I opened up the engine and did this job in my driveway.

I want to thank you all for the time you've spent replying to this thread. This whole experience has been very educational and even if it's a total failure I still find it very rewarding. Look for my next thread titled "just replaced a freeze plug and it's still weeping WTH?".

Questions?

 

Congrats OP. Glad you figured out the issue.

 

Thanks. Feels good man. Now on to the next issue.

 

that great news, I know you feel a lot of pride now and you should

what you learned is only the start and the best lesson of all was you realized you may not be a professional mechanic but you are certainly capable of doing all your own repairs

 

Keep em rollin'

You ever really heat the piss out of it?. Redline and held for a significant time? Radiator cap hard vent overheat after shutdown?

If not, you might get away with this. If you do,,,Congrats.

Glad to hear the valve adj came back after reassemble,,with 2 tight ones?. Those shims didn't get swapped did they?.

Don't forget what you learned,,you might be right back there dealing with adjustments after you put some careful time on it.

 

The truck never red lined in its life. Actually it never red lined as far as I know.

The smallest feeler gauge the FSM allowed went into the gap with significant resistance on those tight valves. Shim swap is a possibility. Anything can happen. I planned to reinspect them after a bit of driving around. Thanks for the tip.

 

That's really tight then. A very minimal setting.

Now you COULD use your sheet glass and sandpaper/lapping compound/figure 8 trick,,to thin the shims on the two tight ones. A good set of Starrett calipers to check thickness as you thin them and go slow. They are thru-hardened as per the local Cert Toy mechanic so it might take a bit, But you will learn something if you feel up to that or just enjoyed the overall experience somewhat.

The easy way out is burning gas/or shipping, and going to the dealer and buying shims, but that turns you into a parts re-placer, instead of a parts fixer/money saver. It's much better going to the dealer for parts for some of us and understanding that they are not very expensive shims on the average, but if you can fix it yourself as you go, you will be way ahead later in life.

 

On time I backed into tree, shattered my tail light plastic cover. I picked up the pieces, and using packing tape, glue and high strength waxed cord puzzle pieced it back together. It wasn't pretty but it got me by for the next year until I parked it. A tree limb fell on the truck later and took out both rear tail lights, so now I am a parts replacer, but if I don't have to, I won't.

Your encouragement is appreciated. When toyota adjusted the valve clearances at 100k they told me they try to move the shims around. That way they only have to replace a few, if any. I figure I'll try this (swap wide gap with narrow) and see where I end up. Good to know I can work them down a bit though.