4G63 head question, need to know asap

[Arrow_Runner]

Story:

I did all the maintenance on the car (belts & pump), after starting it up I noticed oil leaking from the head gasket. Since I got a warranty with the car I figured I would just have a mechanic fix it rather than spend my time doing it.

Problem:

The mechanic suggested milling the head after it was pulled. I have heard this before and I'm pretty sure its standard practice to do that when reinstalling a head.

The machine shop said that the intake valves were sticking out past the head so he couldn't mill the head without either cutting the valves or taking them out. Obviously the first one is a bad idea.

Other Info:

The mechanic said that the gasket was probably leaking because some of the head bolts on that side were loose.

Question:

What do you think I should do? Will taking valves out be a problem? Or will they need work/extra parts to re-install the valves? Or is the head usually fine without milling?

 

[Wildeclipse2000]

Well, it sounds as though the mechanic might not know what he is doing, as any time you mill a head the valves have to come out.

When you take any amount of thickness off of the head, the valves will also need to be recut to the new mill height.

As for the question of should the head be milled, the answer is more than likely. The reason to mill the head is for reason of the head being warped. Now in most cases the head will only warp if the engine was overheated pretty badly, but sometimes the head will be off a bit. You can check this to some degree with a really good straight edge.

I think you might want to have the head sent out to a reputable machine shop that knows what they are doing.

 

[Arrow_Runner]

That doesn't make me feel good.

And I really doubt the engine overheated. I have no idea how long the car has been leaking oil, but it couldn't have been more than a couple of weeks, and the car was only driven a few hours that entire time. When I noticed the leak, the car hadn't even warmed up to running temps.

 

[Wildeclipse2000]

Are you sure that it was your head gasket that was leaking and not oil that was running down the head from the valve cover?

What made you think it was oil from the head gasket?

 

[Arrow_Runner]

I had just replaced the VC gasket when I got the car 2 months ago, and I assure you it wasn't coming from there. It was gushing from well below the VC, around the hg area.

The mechanic put a dye in the oil and it was coming out the hg so they affirmed my suspicions.

They said that the head bolts were a little loose, and that could have cause it, I wish I would have thought to try that, I might have gotten away with retorquing the bolts.

 

[fredom dsm]

Im not understing this, to my knowldge if your head gasket is leaking oil your car is not running right at all, this just dosen't make sence to me, like wild eclipse said, I dont think your mechaninic knows what he's doing, double check where the leak is coming from, I have never seen oil coming out from the head gasket, if you have oil coming out from there you should also have water coming out from there and some really bad compresion numbers. keep us posted!

 

[Arrow_Runner]

The head is already off. So no compression numbers now, but the car idle crappier than usual after I started it up, and it was very hard to start at first.

And there may have been coolant coming out as well. I know there was atleast oil because it was so dark and thick.

 

[Wildeclipse2000]

Did you by chance check the oil before you took the car into the mechanic?

If it was leaking really badly there is a very good chance that you would have had coolant in the oil, which would make a nice milkshake like substance.

Now that the car is apart, you can still take the head to some other place and have the machine work done to it. Then after you have it all done you can have your mechanic put it all back together. Just because he took it apart doesn't mean he has to do the machine work.

 

[Arrow_Runner]

I only checked the oil to see how low it was, but it was right at the full mark. I didn't think to check for coolant.

I'm thinking I'm just going to skip the milling altogether at this point and hope it comes out okay...I dunno

 

[FORMONTOYA]

Did you by chance check the oil before you took the car into the mechanic?

If it was leaking really badly there is a very good chance that you would have had coolant in the oil, which would make a nice milkshake like substance.

Now that the car is apart, you can still take the head to some other place and have the machine work done to it. Then after you have it all done you can have your mechanic put it all back together. Just because he took it apart doesn't mean he has to do the machine work.

I would agree except that if the head gasket is the problem that there's not a good chance, but most definitely going to be "chocolate milk" for oil and the fluid in the radiator will look like an oil spill.

And yes, mechanics are like doctors, it never hurts to get a second opinion before going under the knife.

 

[Arrow_Runner]

I would agree except that if the head gasket is the problem that there's not a good chance, but most definitely going to be "chocolate milk" for oil and the fluid in the radiator will look like an oil spill.

And yes, mechanics are like doctors, it never hurts to get a second opinion before going under the knife.

Good call. I did some looking around on the local tuning sites and found a highly recommended place to do the mill for $35 cheaper.

And I may have found someone to do a PnP on the head too. Surprisingly enough, that will be the first mod on my 2g.