How easy does a head warp?

[JaMoDSM]

???

 

[nutshot]

How easy does a head warp???

As easily as ignoring your coolant levels.

 

[draxus83]

As easily as ignoring your coolant levels.

DO HEAR AN ECHO ????

 

[Damn 2nd Gear]

it dont warp, it bends valves!

 

[draxus83]

it dont warp, it bends valves!

then can you esplain the straight edge used to see if it 's warped aka cornor to cornor rule

 

[ZenkaiRacerDsM]

Mine ran for a minute or two without any coolant at all. A line popped off and it didnt smoke a whole lot, or I just couldnt see it since it was at night on the freeway. My car was fine.

 

[Defiant]

Aluminum starts to go plastic at 400°F.

In my Datsun days, it was very seldom to pull a head and find it "straight". We got to the point that we no longer tried to straighten them, we just bolted them back on. And they worked Just Fine.

But I'd say about four minutes with a pegged temp gauge will be enough to deep-six an aluminum head.

 

[flinguist]

I had an Olds Achieva with a 4 cyl. that blew a head gasket, the dealer did the gasket under warranty. One year later the head cracked(no longer under warranty). When I looked into getting a used head installed by the dealer ( 600 bucks used vs. 1700 new) they informed me that once a head is removed from one of these motors it will crack, because of warping, within a year or so if reinstalled. Why didn't the pricks tell me that when they reinstalled the head the first time? We all know why. So it would seem that aluminum does warp pretty easily.

 

[JaMoDSM]

ive changed everything out as far as dealing with an overheating vehicle except for the head gasket or even the head. my mech said that its a blown head gasket and possibly a warped head, but there's only one way to find out, and it was going to cost me like 1000 to get it all taken care of. i was like NO thanks. i don't have any experience working inside an engine, but is it that hard? ive done light maintenance, changed out parts and belts, tranny, brakes and stuff, but nothing inside the engine... i got the manual, is that enough?

 

[ZenkaiRacerDsM]

Well does your exhaust smoke a white smoke? Does your oil look like chocolate milk? Does your coolant have oil in it? If youve done everything else, its most likely a head gasket. Do a pressure test on your coolant system and see if it holds.

 

[Damn 2nd Gear]

i was being sarcastic. because it seems we bend more valves, launch rods and bearings.

 

[Defiant]

I had an Olds Achieva with a 4 cyl. that blew a head gasket, the dealer did the gasket under warranty. One year later the head cracked(no longer under warranty). When I looked into getting a used head installed by the dealer ( 600 bucks used vs. 1700 new) they informed me that once a head is removed from one of these motors it will crack, because of warping, within a year or so if reinstalled. Why didn't the pricks tell me that when they reinstalled the head the first time? We all know why. So it would seem that aluminum does warp pretty easily.

The things Detroit does with design I just can't comprehend. Like the genius concept of the Vega engine, a sleeveless aluminum block with floating cylinders, and an iron head. Gee, why didn't that bit of rocket science work?
Crap like this doesn't go on much with what I've seen in Japanese engines. It's why I've always been partial to them. Unless you do something really wrong, like run them out of coolant or oil.

 

[flinguist]

The things Detroit does with design I just can't comprehend. Like the genius concept of the Vega engine, a sleeveless aluminum block with floating cylinders, and an iron head. Gee, why didn't that bit of rocket science work?
Crap like this doesn't go on much with what I've seen in Japanese engines. It's why I've always been partial to them. Unless you do something really wrong, like run them out of coolant or oil.

Agreed. I was told nearly the exact same thing by a mechanic from Germany who was working on a Ford Escort that had the head cracked in half, he said "look at this design. How do they expect this to work? This is crap."