Just to get you guys up to speed, I just recently rebuilt my 7M-GTE and had about 1300 Miles down before this happened..
Prior to this incident I was experiencing rough idles and a random clicking sound coming from the head that would affect my RPM's and Vacuum @ idle. The clicking sound progressively got worse to the point were the car wouldn't hold an idle.
A few days ago I decided to start up the car in my parking lot and try diagnosing it some more and it ran fine for about 10 seconds then started a really fast paced tapping sound reaally loud (Im sure some of you guys are familiar with this sound ::shootme:: ). So I immediately shut the car off and had it towed down to my dad's shop.
Started tearing down the engine and ran into this when I pulled the head off.
So pretty much as you can see in the first two pictures the Intake Valve Seat for Cylinder #3 was completely loose getting ready to say hello to piston #3.
The next couple of pictures was the actual damage to the head and piston for the Exhaust Valve Seat on Cylinder #4 completely disintegrated.
A closer look at the head and I noticed more of the other seats were getting ready to come loose which is a very rare occasion. I was told this only happens when a head has been overheated or ran lean for a period of time.
Checked all the rod bearings to see how they were wearing and its perfectly fine. No metal pieces or shavings were found in the OIL/Oil pan which I'm really happy with..but I do need to check my exhaust wheel on the turbine to check for any damage.
NOTE: This head was rebuilt and assembled at my local machine shop. I called my machinist up the same day with the news in a calm professional manner letting him know what happened. He told me to stop by with the head and piston for inspection..
Pretty much to sum it up the head is trash and no longer usable. Some parts inside it may be salvageable but my machinist is going to attempt to repair the piston if not replace it with a new one.
I've known this machinist for 4-5 years and always had good work from him and he decided to replace the head for free and cut me a deal on the machine work cost for the new head.
With all that being said, I'm actually kinda glad this all happened in a parking lot and not driving on the highway somewhere because it could of been ALOT worse. The buildup you see in the coolant jackets is caused from improper coolant for aluminum heads and would of caused hot spots in the head which would of ultimately lead to a BHG issue. I was also very happy with how my machinist responded to the situation and I continue to do work with him!
Prior to this incident I was experiencing rough idles and a random clicking sound coming from the head that would affect my RPM's and Vacuum @ idle. The clicking sound progressively got worse to the point were the car wouldn't hold an idle.
A few days ago I decided to start up the car in my parking lot and try diagnosing it some more and it ran fine for about 10 seconds then started a really fast paced tapping sound reaally loud (Im sure some of you guys are familiar with this sound ::shootme:: ). So I immediately shut the car off and had it towed down to my dad's shop.
Started tearing down the engine and ran into this when I pulled the head off.
So pretty much as you can see in the first two pictures the Intake Valve Seat for Cylinder #3 was completely loose getting ready to say hello to piston #3.
The next couple of pictures was the actual damage to the head and piston for the Exhaust Valve Seat on Cylinder #4 completely disintegrated.
A closer look at the head and I noticed more of the other seats were getting ready to come loose which is a very rare occasion. I was told this only happens when a head has been overheated or ran lean for a period of time.
Checked all the rod bearings to see how they were wearing and its perfectly fine. No metal pieces or shavings were found in the OIL/Oil pan which I'm really happy with..but I do need to check my exhaust wheel on the turbine to check for any damage.
NOTE: This head was rebuilt and assembled at my local machine shop. I called my machinist up the same day with the news in a calm professional manner letting him know what happened. He told me to stop by with the head and piston for inspection..
Pretty much to sum it up the head is trash and no longer usable. Some parts inside it may be salvageable but my machinist is going to attempt to repair the piston if not replace it with a new one.
I've known this machinist for 4-5 years and always had good work from him and he decided to replace the head for free and cut me a deal on the machine work cost for the new head.
With all that being said, I'm actually kinda glad this all happened in a parking lot and not driving on the highway somewhere because it could of been ALOT worse. The buildup you see in the coolant jackets is caused from improper coolant for aluminum heads and would of caused hot spots in the head which would of ultimately lead to a BHG issue. I was also very happy with how my machinist responded to the situation and I continue to do work with him!