EA82 small crack in head, opinions please.

Bennyg · Post by **Bennyg** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:41 am

hi everyone,

I bought a 91 GL for cheap the owner said that said it was overheating and using water.

He had it tested and found it was loosing compression on cylinder 3 (driver side rear) he believed it was a head gasket.

I have pulled it apart and found a crack between the valves on the head in cylinder 3.

When I drove the car it did not get THAT hot in my opinion (half way on guage with heater on).

My questions for the forum
[INDENT]
Could this crack be causing the lack of compression?

Could the head [quote][/QUOTE]be fixed or will I need a new head?

If I were to just run the engine with the crack would it get worse/how long would it last?[/INDENT]

thanks in advance.

-Ben

[ATTACH]1665[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]1666[/ATTACH]

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:38 am

A crach between the valves aint a big deal, nearly all EA82 heads have cracks between the valves.

Were you loosing coolant out the exhaust pipe?

justincase41 · Post by **justincase41** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:33 am

Take the head into a engine reconditioner and have it pressure and vacume tested. If it passes, it is fine to use, if it fails need to find a replacement. Cracks are typical and aren't an issue unless the crack is severe enough to cause cooland loss, over heating, compression in cooling system...ect. What does the bore and piston look like on cylinder 3. Check if it looks like coolant has been burning there

phillatdarwin · Post by **phillatdarwin** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:23 pm

You can get recon heads out of the US for around $125 as I posted the link up last week. Cheaper then here in Aus.

Bennyg · Post by **Bennyg** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:13 pm

Suparoo wrote:A crach between the valves aint a big deal, nearly all EA82 heads have cracks between the valves.

Were you loosing coolant out the exhaust pipe?

to be honest i only drove it for one day and didnt check, I had a look at the exhaust pipe gasket and inside. it was black and sooty (obviously) but seemed quite dry and powdery. In my oponion there hasnt been coolant in there.

Is it common for Ea82's to leak coolant into the exhaust and if so where does the leak usually form? I will check it out

Thanks

Bennyg · Post by **Bennyg** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:18 pm

justincase41 wrote:Take the head into a engine reconditioner and have it pressure and vacume tested. If it passes, it is fine to use, if it fails need to find a replacement. Cracks are typical and aren't an issue unless the crack is severe enough to cause cooland loss, over heating, compression in cooling system...ect. What does the bore and piston look like on cylinder 3. Check if it looks like coolant has been burning there

funnily enough cylinder 3 was the cleanest of them all

Im gonna take it in for check tomorrow

thanks for help

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:19 pm

Bennyg wrote:
[ATTACH]1665[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]1666[/ATTACH]

HI Ben,

As mentioned earlier, I'd get the heads pressure checked and go from there but looking at your first 2 pictures, I'd say the engine was losing compression near the water jacket on #3 down near the bottom and this would cause over pressuring in the water system in which you would lose coolant. In the case of a good sealing head gasket, the clear ring around the combustion chamber should be the same all the way around. You can also see signs of water entering the combustion chamber (you'll notice that #1 looks blacker from carbon build up).

I have use many cylinder heads on EA82 engines that have had the same size cracks as yours but I'd still have them tested. It's small insurance to pay when paying for a engine build.

If your bores look good then all you'll need to buy is a Valve Regrind Kit (gives you everything from Head Gaskets outwards) and make sure you get the radiator flush out.

Good luck and let us know how it all turns out

Bennyg · Post by **Bennyg** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:49 am

hey guys,

took it to engine reconditioner today and they told me that they would have to recondition it, and that they had to do both heads and that it would cost about $900

I don't know if this is about right or if they are just having me on..

any experience guys?

by the looks of things buying new heads are the go!!!

GOD · Post by **GOD** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:24 pm

Sounds a bit steep. I've got a pair of EJ22 heads at a head shop at the moment, and they said max $900, and that's dealing with twice as many ports and valves as on an EA82.

Shop around - you should be able to get recond exchange heads off someone's shelf for less than that, or maybe some serviceable ones from a wrecker (only if they've got a warranty though).

Dane.

the gumbi brumby · Post by **the gumbi brumby** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:33 am

i have ea82 here that i dont need
whats it worth?
little under 300 000, from 88 L wagon, regular servicing was owned by an old man

phillatdarwin · Post by **phillatdarwin** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 6:14 pm

i have fond some heads up hear in darwin at the wreckers i see that the car is complet it is a late L with mpfi engine in it so the heads wood fit your car and the price he gave me for the complet heads was cheper then thay want for the repear job price u got .
if u need more info pm me and i will pass the info to u.

GOD · Post by **GOD** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 7:33 pm

phillatdarwin wrote:i have fond some heads up hear in darwin at the wreckers i see that the car is complet it is a late L with mpfi engine in it so the heads wood fit your car and the price he gave me for the complet heads was cheper then thay want for the repear job price u got .
if u need more info pm me and i will pass the info to u.

Bennyg wrote:hi everyone,

I bought a 91 GL for cheap the owner said that said it was overheating and using water.

1991 GL would be carbied. MPFI heads are significantly different aren't they?

Dane.

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 7:47 pm

GOD wrote: MPFI heads are significantly different aren't they?

Ohhhh Yeaaahhhh!

MPFI heads have dual inlet ports and arent compatible with the carby intake.

I cant see why you cant refit the current heads, as it looks like you only blew a head gasket

phillatdarwin · Post by **phillatdarwin** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:34 pm

if it is a carbie engine i are going to look at a car this weekend if u want i will look at the haeds on it if u wood like me to .
as i are getting the carbie off it .
so is there anyone looking for a set of MPFI heads pm me and i will pass the info on .

the gumbi brumby · Post by **the gumbi brumby** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:43 pm

woops i had typo today ment to say ea82

Bennyg · Post by **Bennyg** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:02 pm

hey everybody.

sigh...

i took the head to a different joint, they thought that it would be okay so they just machined them and gave them back to me.

My gaskets also arrived today so i was stoked.

I wen't to put the head back on. I didnt read the manual correctly and stripped on of the internal threads on the engine by torquing the bolts too tight.

Im devastated, going to have to get a new engine, I have seen a Ej22 on ebay that I might like but if I cant replace a head gasket without destroying the engine I don't know how im going to go doing a conversion.

I would like to thank everyone for their help so far it has been very useful.

phillatdarwin · Post by **phillatdarwin** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:18 pm

just drill it to the right size and tap it out and put a insert in it all fixed .
u do not need to buy a new engine .

Bennyg · Post by **Bennyg** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:04 pm

OKAY ALL DONE

engine is back in the car, it made a horrible jagged hi pitched tapping noise when I first started it but after about 30 mins, in stages, reduced in volume and now it sounds much smoother.

I ended up drilling out the broken stud, re-drilling and heli-coiling the hole on the head.

For future reference guys the closest match for an EA82 head bolt hole is a 7/16 unf helicoil, obviously you will have to buy a bolt to match.

It actually wasnt that hard to do the broken bolt came out easy, the aluminum was easy to tap and the helicoil went in easily.

the heli coil set with the tap was about $70 which was a kick in the teeth but whatever.

So if anyone ever de-threads an engine bolt or hole send me a message and I will loan you the helicoil set.

again thanks to everyone who helped out, I will write a follow about how the head gaskets fare.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:14 am

GREAT stuff! You have done well. That noise that reduced over thirty minutes sounds as if it was a lifter or more settling in after being out of its proper oil soaked environment.

I did same to a head stud thread in my EA81 and had thread replaced by expert for same money you spent on kit but now you have the experience , confidence and still got the kit!

I was told the thread was M11, pitch unknown to me

Bennyg · Post by **Bennyg** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:43 pm

yeah, to be honest with you the whole thing was a bit confusing and i stilll dont understand it totally.

I believe the diameter of the bolt could not be matched to metric, but it was very similar (if not identical) to 7/16, the thread did not match exactly but was almost the same, (but i had re-drilled and helicoiled it so it did not need to match).

It has been running very well and i just took it in for a road worthy then.

I tried to re-torque the head bolts in the car, It was hopeless i couldn't do it at all, i could only check on bolt on one side and it was the correct torque.

How important is re-torqueing? does anyone have any experience?

is it worth me pulling the engine again to retorque them or is it just a waste of time?