Cracked Head

[Timothys1991]

my 99 gsx which i bought about a month ago has got a cracked head. I figure this out after a new thermostat,water pump,and radiator flush . Im NOT giving up tho i love my car and i will fix it. Basically the reason for this post is other than dsmgraveyard.com which is the best ive found whats a good site for heads, gaskets things like that any advice would help. thanks

 

[Zufelt]

First and foremost I don't recommend dsmgraveyard, do a quick google search and you'll find out why. As far as gaskets, extreme psi will have OEM Gaskets and Miller imports will have a head for you I'm sure.

 

[Dude McGee]

Ive had pretty decent luck with craigslist for heads, just be overly careful and check the head for warpage or bring someone with who is knowledgable with engines. The forums here and ecmlink have cars being parted out regularly, could.always scan the classifieds but shipping a head might get a little expensive.

 

[BogusSVO]

First off, How do you know you have a cracked head? The 4g63 head is not a head that cracks often.

Click on the marketplace tab, and check out the vendor review section. You may want to know about a vendor before you deal with them.

While you are in the marketplace, check out the supporting vendors and supporting freelancers, They support the community, so they need the community's support.

 

[slickers111]

So youre thinking the head is cracked because its over heating.

Can you see this crack by chance?

Maybe the fans arent kicking on? Maybe the temp sensor is outta whack? Any coolant in the oil? Make sure you look at all the possibilities before you jump to the worst thing.

Also, save the old head.. You never know if you might need the valves out of it. Plus, its a good trophy.

 

[miliman13]

i have to agree against dsm graveyard. haven't heard any good things about them,, go to the junk yard or Craigslist, or here on the classifieds.

but i do agree with EX psi and miller, even stm.

 

[northernawd]

Are you leaking any coolant or have any in the car at all? Could just be flowing into the cylinders. Try and compression test, if results come back bad, do a cylinder leak down test

 

[Timothys1991]

Yea I changed the thermostat, water pump, and flushed the radiator plus I have a lil water coming out of my exhaust. And we did the dollar bill test where if your muffler sucks the dollar bill up its cracked and if it blows it out its good. And of course it wanted to suck it up. The crack is on my exhaust side

 

[Joethefallen23]

I mean....headgasket?

 

[bryanwheat]

Yea I changed the thermostat, water pump, and flushed the radiator plus I have a lil water coming out of my exhaust. And we did the dollar bill test where if your muffler sucks the dollar bill up its cracked and if it blows it out its good. And of course it wanted to suck it up. The crack is on my exhaust side

Your test is in no way an indicator of a cracked head. I'd be willing to bet that you just have a blown head gasket. Pull the head and check it out before buying a other.

 

[JusMX141]

Two deleted posts and one edited due to guys trying to sell their cylinder heads in this thread despite this being the tech forums and not the classifieds.

Still astounding that nobody chooses to READ THE RULES- either don't respond at all or send the original poster a PM if you want to help him out. Eventually it'll reach the point where the staff will have to can all new threads where guys are looking for places to find parts if our Proven Members keep turning them into WTB threads.

 

[BogusSVO]

Yea I changed the thermostat, water pump, and flushed the radiator plus I have a lil water coming out of my exhaust. And we did the dollar bill test where if your muffler sucks the dollar bill up its cracked and if it blows it out its good. And of course it wanted to suck it up. The crack is on my exhaust side

The dollar bill test is more for checking for a bad valve seal on the exhaust side, think burnt valve.

I can not think of all the 4g heads, and 4g clone heads I have pressure tested over the years, and can only think of 2 truly cracked heads.

Run a leak down test, or a coolant system pressure test.

I will agree with the others tho, more likely a blown HG than a cracked head.

 

[Timothys1991]

Ill check that out thanks guys I didn't think a head gasket could make it overheat

 

[BogusSVO]

Yes a blown HG can cause you to overheat, the HG can not seal allowing water into the combustion chamber to be burnt and changed to steam, heance the white smoke out the tail pipe, so now that the coolant is low, it can not absorb heat and transfer it to the radiator to be dispersed.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/cyl...how-aluminum-head-pressure-tested-cracks.html

 

[MQTalon92]

I agree that it is most likely a bad headgasket. I would suggest that you take the head to a good machine shop where they can freshen it up while it is out. They can also check for any other possible causes of coolant leaking. That way you can definitly rule out the head as a problem and build from there. I would hate to just replace the headgasket and put it all together only to find your head is one of the few that cracked. Good luck and enjoy your car.