What in the heck is this growing in my head?

[CajunKenny]

Here's the short story:

I recently bought a 91 with a 4k complete rebuild. The previous owner kept meticulus records of everthing and I have receipts of a purchased and work orders for an installed HKS 1.2mm MHG.

I get the car and turn the boost up to 16psi and the HG blows on my first hard run. White smoke bellowing out the back because a heater hose blew off when the HG went.

This happened about 2.5 miles from my house. I babied it home (coasted downhill most of the way) and parked it in my garage. I'm pretty sure I lost most of the coolant in the block; but, the temp never went above normal. Another thing is that the Radiator was still full along with the overflow.

I pull the head and find that #2 and #6 are badly blown and #3 was barely blown. Why might you ask? Because it was an OEM gasket and NOT the HKS MHG that the shop claimed they installed on the work orders and receipts. So, the previous owner got ripped off and I'm paying for it!

Ok. So here's the questions.
What are these "bubbles" in the head?
What caused it...could it have been any of the above described or already there when the shop installed it?
Is the head useable?

I included pics and refer to my sig about mods.

Thanks guys!!

 

[americanjebus]

That is one clean head by the way.

Are those elevated in the back? if its bumpy aluminum sticking outwards it looks like a casting defect. Not too familiar with how toyota had their heads cast but i know that with the sand castings if a tiny bit breaks off the mold then you'd get a small protrusion like yours that may have passes QC. Havent had too many heads to look at in that particular region but i've never seen anything like that.


BTW sounds like the shop did a shitty job if it blew the HG out that badly.

 

[jdub]

Agreed...looks like a minor casting defect.
It had nothing to do with your problem...all that channel is there for is to return oil from the cams to the block.

 

[Bill UK]

Snap! I'm in the process of doing a BHG and have the head stripped down. That uneven ally casting is the same as mine, so I guest it must be left over from the process of casting the block. Strange Toyota never bothered to cleaned it up a bit.

 

[lagged]

sorry if im wrong but it looks like you have the head flat on that table with the cams still installed?

if so, you probably bent a few valves

 

[CajunKenny]

sorry if im wrong but it looks like you have the head flat on that table with the cams still installed?

if so, you probably bent a few valves

I can't imagine that having it rest on a carpeted and rubber matted bench would bend any of the valves. I sure hope not anyway! :sarcasm:

Can anyone else confirm?

So then the common thought is that those bubble type things are casting imperfections...? I hope that's all it is. They are marble sized humps after all!!

 

[jdub]

I can't imagine that having it rest on a carpeted and rubber matted bench would bend any of the valves. I sure hope not anyway! :sarcasm:

Doesn't take much to bend the valves with that much weight on them!

 

[flight doc89]

do the receipts show a MHG? sue them bitches for the cost of the work.

 

[gotsomegetsome]

als you have to do is go down to the shop with the receipt from the previous owner, show them the receipt, show them the head gasket, and i think they would get the idea

the last thing any shop wants is a lawsuit claiming them to be untrustworthy



and really dont place your head down like that with the valves out. you WILL bend a valve and 1. that effects performance and 2. its expensive to fix.

valve adjustments from a good shop are usually 3-400 bucks

 

[figgie]

one

you won't win in a court of law against the repair shop. Regardless of what the owner gave you. Now against the owner, that is a different story but it is up to you to prove such a thing. A lot can go wrong to even take out a MHG. Detonation will do it in quite a hurry.

with that said. The head is fine.

The valves.... I would triple check them. They are easy to bend especially with 75+ lbs of aluminum on them

 

[lagged]

The valves.... I would triple check them. They are easy to bend especially with 75+ lbs of aluminum on them

78 and change. ive shipped a few. and with alum prices these days it might be easier to just scrap them...

 

[CajunKenny]

Ok. So, my bench is carpet covered and then has a thick soft rubber mat on top of that. When I picked up the head tonight, there were only two valve depressions (small depressions) in the rubber mat. This tells me that not all of the weight was on those two valves. Possibly due to the carpet and rubber mat being soft...::shrug::

That being said, I would rather check them and be safe than sorry. So what's the best way to check the two valves in question?

The head is now supported and not laying flat on the bench. :icon_bigg

 

[IJ.]

Turn the cam so those valves are closed and fill the Port with liquid.

 

[CajunKenny]

Turn the cam so those valves are closed and fill the Port with liquid.

Thanks IJ!

A big thanks to everyone else too!

I LOVE you guys!!!! :icon_bigg

 

[suprabad]

Here's a thought:

You may not be able to sue them, since you are not the one that paid for the head rebuild and the "metal head gasket", but i'm you have a Burea of Automobile Repair like in California (or the equivilant in your state).

So yeah, you may not be able to sue them, but I'm sure the shop would be interested to know that you are going to report them to the b.a.r. and any local consumer and business groups that will listen (BBB etc).

I think this tactic may persuade the shop to fix the head and install and pay for the metal head gasket that they supposedly installed in the first place, as long as you can document that it was, in fact supposed to have a mhg.

Business owners don't like heat, especially if they know they are guilty in some way.

 

[mattsplat72]

if you need/want a different head I have one and will let it go CHEAP like supra cheap

 

[CajunKenny]

if you need/want a different head I have one and will let it go CHEAP like supra cheap

Hey Matt! How ya been? Thanks for the offer; but, I'm good on heads right now. I have two complete spare engines; but, what condition is your head in so in case I hear of anyone over here needing one?

 

[mattsplat72]

kinda dirty , No signs of abuse . Didn,t have a BHG when I pulled if off . I am using the block that it can off of and amd having no problems with leakage so I am sure it is fine

 

[IJ.]

Thanks IJ!

A big thanks to everyone else too!

I LOVE you guys!!!! :icon_bigg

Very welcome Kenny!

As to "What in the heck is this growing in my head?"

I like to think it's "smarts"