BHG job question

[Gwydre]

okay, so it's been a long time coming but the head's finally off. It's kinda odd though as the gasket doesn't look blown in the least. In light of this, I've got a question:

A few months ago the timing belt went, and I had my mechanic fix it. In the process the head had to be remachined, and when he put the head back on, he put a stock headgasket back on the car. Would the stock thickness of the headgasket cause compression problems with the re-machined (multiple times) head? That may have looked like a BHG to my mechanic?

 

[AJ'S 88NA]

okay, so it's been a long time coming but the head's finally off. It's kinda odd though as the gasket doesn't look blown in the least. In light of this, I've got a question:

A few months ago the timing belt went, and I had my mechanic fix it. In the process the head had to be remachined, and when he put the head back on, he put a stock headgasket back on the car. Would the stock thickness of the headgasket cause compression problems with the re-machined (multiple times) head? That may have looked like a BHG to my mechanic?

How many times has it been machined?

And why did the head come off to fix the timing belt?

 

[jgcable]

I was going to ask the same questions.... What gives??

 

[cuel]

Mechanic was probably unfamiliar with the motor, and probably sold the H.G. job to make sure the valves weren't bent. While your mechanic was doing all that, did he install a new water pump, t.stat, and test the radiator? Being machined multiple times would raise compression, not lower it.

You're just north of Houston, correct? I'm east of Houston on I-10; maybe an hour from you. Drop me a p.m.

 

[Gwydre]

He didn't put in a new water pump etc, but the radiator has actually been replaced since when he had the head off. I did that myself. The old one had cracked and the car overheated once, after which it was misfiring, and we took it to the mechanic again. He did a compression test and said the head gasket was blown. We didnt' have the money to have him fix it so I've been working on it myself, and really haven't been happy at all with what I've seen of the engine where he's worked on it.

 

[AJ'S 88NA]

He didn't put in a new water pump etc, but the radiator has actually been replaced since when he had the head off. I did that myself. The old one had cracked and the car overheated once, after which it was misfiring, and we took it to the mechanic again. He did a compression test and said the head gasket was blown. We didnt' have the money to have him fix it so I've been working on it myself, and really haven't been happy at all with what I've seen of the engine where he's worked on it.

If it over heated again, may have warped the head. You can some what check it yourself with a straight edge and feeler gauges as outlined in the TSRM. Best to take it to a shop and let them check it out. you can take it to a machine shop yourself. If it has been machined several times, I'd say start looking for another.

 

[cuel]

So it did have a blown head gasket, due to overheating(Not the mech.'s fault the radiator cracked). The radiator was the issue.
We don't do a timing belt without replacing the water pump, t.stat, and any seals that need replaced while we're there.

All the specs you need for cleaning and installing the head are here: click me

When you take it to the machine shop, make sure they know it's been milled before, and they should have the specs to tell if they can still mill it safely. If you need a good shop, I have one I use here in Baytown, but its a bit of a drive for you.

 

[black89t]

DID THEY MACHINE THE FRONT TIMING BELT PLATE. name could be wrong, but if he forgot or didn't know to the front of the head will sit a couple thousand too high depending on how much was taken from the head. where the front cylinders low on compression?

that would be my guess being this mechanic doesn't sound like he has a good idea of what he is doing.

 

[cuel]

Machine the rear timing plate with the block, not the head.