Head gasket help

[mydogsname]

Hey everybody. Long time lurker- first time poster.

Well it seems as though the head gasket in my 2000 blew out pretty badly. Its draining coolant quite heavily right above the exhaust man.. Ive started by removing some stuff as per Haynes instructions. Now I'm stuck with trying to remove the camshaft pulleys and I'm having no luck with my methods so far(hand brake up in first gear ,just as it said in the manual).

Before i go out and purchase a chain wrench to hold the drive pulley in place, can somebody tell if there is an alt. method (not requiring impact tools) or if removing cam stuff is even necessary to remove the head. I recall seeing a post saying that it can stay on. Engine work is a bit daunting for me so I'm hoping some kind soul can shine a light on my situation so i can do this fast and easy with as few cuss words as possible.

Thanks

[So Cal Mark]

leave the cam boxes on, just remove the 10 head bolts, disconnect the exhaust, hoses and wiring and lift the complete head off

[mydogsname]

Thanks Mark. Ive got the head off and removed everything anyway to get it machined. As you're aware, i was running it HOT. Heres a dirty photo:



Theres a lot of corrosion in the chambers and water passages. But to my untrained eye, no obvious areas on the gasket where it blew. Any insight?

[mydogsname]

These gouges don't look good.

[DanD]

That head looks serviceable. How do the pistons and bores look ?

Consider getting a gasket scraper and a shop vac to clean the top of the block. Suck up all the scrapings as you are cleaning it down.

[BEEK]

the gouges on the head tell a story of a swallowed washer / bolt etc in a earlier time. they leave marks but do not render the head unserviceable. i can see by the machining marks on the head that it has been surfaced as well. all good. for a high compression application, those gouges would have to be smoothed out to prevent hot spots. but in a 8-1 motor it is absolutely fine. clean it up and check the surface for flatness. if you do not intend to do a valve job then put it back on if it checks out. i would recommend decarbonizing the valves and refacing them and the seats while you have the head off. any good machine shop can do this for you.

[mydogsname]

Thanks for the replies,

the gouges on the head tell a story of a swallowed washer / bolt etc in a earlier time. they leave marks but do not render the head unserviceable. i can see by the machining marks on the head that it has been surfaced as well. all good. for a high compression application, those gouges would have to be smoothed out to prevent hot spots. but in a 8-1 motor it is absolutely fine. clean it up and check the surface for flatness. if you do not intend to do a valve job then put it back on if it checks out. i would recommend decarbonizing the valves and refacing them and the seats while you have the head off. any good machine shop can do this for you.

I was thinking of grinding the valves by hand because i have the time.- Better to get machined?
And, is decarbonizing done with the valves out? (Maybe silly question)

Also,
How easy is it to tell if the head face is warped? With the straight edge on the length of it, I can barely see a gap in the middle. Probably the width of a hair.

[mydogsname]

the gouges on the head tell a story of a swallowed washer / bolt etc in a earlier time. they leave marks but do not render the head unserviceable.

Thats a little unsettling

[So Cal Mark]

look at the fire rings around the cylinders. #4 looks like it was leaking at the rear, into the small water passage. It also looks like the water jackets were leaking to the outside along the bottom edge (not very common). I resurface heads that have .003 gap under the straight edge, but then again I have to provide a warranty. I know some owners just slap a gasket on with that amount of warpage, but I don't like having to do the job over. I'd certainly check the areas that are leaking for flatness.
At least the water jackets haven't been eaten away by electolysis

[BEEK]

i have replaced headgaskets on heads with .020 warpage and they sealed and worked fine. this was for myself at a race track and i had no choice but it worked and did not leak. that being said, a flat surface is the best.

[mydogsname]

Further cleaning revealed this:



Should i worry?

[majicwrench]

Not sure what you should worry about.After further cleaning?? Does not look clean. You need to CLEAN that head surface, a razor blade, gasket remover, flat board and some sandpaper. Be gentle. Once clean, see if head is flat. No way to check head for flatness w all that crap on head. Once you know if or not flat, now you can make decisions.

[mydogsname]

Not sure what you should worry about.After further cleaning?? Does not look clean. You need to CLEAN that head surface, a razor blade, gasket remover, flat board and some sandpaper. Be gentle. Once clean, see if head is flat. No way to check head for flatness w all that crap on head. Once you know if or not flat, now you can make decisions.

Im referring to the large pit forming. I know its not clean. Im in no rush to clean it until im sure its a good head.

[BEEK]

thats a little cooling system corrosion, thats not too bad, you need to really check the entire head good

[seabeelt]

Scrape it all off with a wide flat chisel. Shouldn't take you more than ten minutes. I would think ten minutes would be time well spent to give you a good indication of the condition of the "flat" surface and what might or not be a game changer. Sorry, instant answers cost more