cracked head! Now with pictures

Mountainman · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2015 12:04 pm

flash7210 wrote:

Mountainman wrote:

Did the machine shop only pressure check the combustion chamber, and not the water jacket? I was advised by a machine shop that only some shops have the right equipment to test both on this particular head... I hope I'm wrong :2cents:

Thats what i am now wondering.
When i asked they guy at the shop about testing it for leaks, he explained how he could plate off the ports of the head, fill with water, and test for leaks under pressure.
It sounded good to me and he sounded like he knew what he was doing.
However, he had never seen a head like this before.
I really have no idea of what procedures he followed.
He made that head look brand new and when he said it was was good to go, I took his word for it.

Yeah, I got lucky that someone mentioned the water jacket testing. I hope you have better luck in the future!

flash7210 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:15 am

Sanity check here...
Picture of my old head gasket.
Is it a 1 hole or a zero hole?

I replaced it with a 1 hole gasket.
Didn't have the tools to do a measurement.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2015 1:19 pm

Appears to be one hole (upper portion of the rust colored tab on the left)

flash7210 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2015 1:31 pm

Thanks.
I just now verified, 1 hole gasket is what I installed.

Mountainman · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2015 7:30 pm

something else to consider. I was just over at the machine shop today, and this guy, and his father before has been at it for many decades. Anyhow, he said that you can put a strait edge on it, and think it's ok, but he advises resurfacing them unless they are perfect. He said that it's easy to miss a hole. He also said that some heads need "resurfaced" when they come new from the manufacturers!
He has a ton of work, and the best prices in town, so I'm inclined to believe he knows what he's talking about. I just hope he doesn't shave too much off the one I have in there to get it flat.

Maybe yours has a valley that was not so easy to see? Maybe he's full of it? hmm

I forget if you said if you got yours milled flat... :dizzy:

flash7210 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:14 pm

I didnt get my head machined.
The guy at the shop said it was still within specs.
There are good arguments for and against machining a soft, cast aluminum head.
To me, being 1-2 thousandths out is not worth machining.

How much of this head can you resurface before cutting into the valve seats?

Mountainman · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2015 10:00 pm

I'm not sure, but I've heard of a couple of people going 3-4 thousandths

flash7210 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 19, 2015 4:26 pm

Friday it was running bad.
Hard to start and lots of white smoke.
Once it warmed up a little the smoke would go away and the engine would run good.
After I got it home from work I parked it and hadn't driven or done anything with it till today.

Once I started taking things apart, the first thing I noticed was a little bit of water in the turbo inlet hose and some watery/oily gook at the CCV outlet.
When I disconnected the exhaust pipe from the turbo, water dripped out.
Unbolted and removed the turbo and a whole bunch more water poured out of the exhaust manifold.
Removed the exhaust manifold and the center two exhaust ports had water dripping out of them. These would be the exhaust ports for cylinders 2 and 3.
But it was only these two ports that had water in them. The other six ports looked and felt dry.

All the water appears to only be in the top end of this motor.
So far, no evidence of water in the oil pan.

My guess that the crack is directly between cylinders 2 and 3 in the exhaust ports.

This is looking bad.

geordi · **Posted:** Sun Apr 19, 2015 6:26 pm

Oog, I'm feeling for you brother. That doesn't look good. Let us know when you get it fully torn down. Did you put anything on the gasket when you installed it? Spray on coatings of any kind?

I'm starting to wonder if the head gasket might need a little bit of help, but then there is the good chance that you have an internally cracked head.

olypopper · **Posted:** Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:20 am

Any update on your CRD yet Flash? I'm soon to be reassembling my VM and would appreciate any tips on pitfalls to avoid with regards to the head.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:53 pm

Well I cant see any cracks but I know they are there.
Here is what I did today...

I removed the valve cover/intake/camshaft holder, reconnected all the coolant lines, added some water, and did a pressure test.
Water came dripping out the same two exhaust ports.
With no camshafts to hold any valves open, the only way for water to come out of the exhaust ports is if there is a crack.

I inspected the top of the head. No evidence of water there and all the head studs were at their proper torque.

Next, I removed the head.
The head gasket looked almost as good as when I installed it. No evidence of leaks there.
Cyl 1 was dry.
Cyl 2 had some water in it.
Cyl 3 had a lot of water in it.
Cyl 4 had just a little bit of water in it.

A small amount of water must have been leaking down into the oil pan.
Not enough to be noticed on the dipstick, but enough for it evaporate and condense inside the CCV puck. Because that the only place I have found watery/oily sludge.

olypopper · **Posted:** Mon May 11, 2015 5:48 pm

Flash, did you get a new head yet?

flash7210 · **Posted:** Mon May 11, 2015 6:25 pm

Last week I ordered a used head from VM Specialists in England.
It has not arrived yet.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2015 12:50 pm

My wife just sent me text saying that a large heavy box just showed up at the front door. :BANANA:

Thankfully I have a nice long weekend to get this thing back together and running.

pjigar · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2015 3:14 pm

Flash,

I have read and followed many posts in last few weeks of owning my Liberty but this post is very interesting so I had to comment. By the way, this is my 2nd post on this forum so I really mean it. Keep documenting.

Thanks

flash7210 · **Posted:** Thu May 21, 2015 5:00 pm

My old head has a date stamp of '04.
This used one I just got from England is '07.

Mike92104 · **Posted:** Thu May 21, 2015 6:22 pm

flash7210 wrote:

My old head has a date stamp of '04.
This used one I just got from England is '07.

The one I bought from them was an '07 also. I wonder if there were any improvements.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Sun May 24, 2015 5:27 pm

It's back together and running.
It will take me about a week to get excited about it and know it's problem free.

olypopper · **Posted:** Sun May 24, 2015 5:58 pm

flash7210 wrote:

It's back together and running.
It will take me about a week to get excited about it and know it's problem free.

Cool man! I'm sure it'll be fine but good luck anyway! I just bolted my head on this am.

thermorex · **Posted:** Sun May 24, 2015 6:27 pm

Awesome, fingers crossed!

cracked head! Now with pictures

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