Head Gasket Repair

[ReddoG_Max]

Hello folks,

First time on the forum and had a quick question for you. Head gasket went couple days ago and need to get this repair going. (07 speed6). Have a buddy that will do the work.

Because I'm in Canada, I don't have access to aftermarket parts quickly so will have to have to hit up the dealer. I read through most posts however just want to ensure I have all the parts I need listed. First, do we need these Mazda SST cam tool / Mazda crank pin sst to do this job?

Second the parts:

Head gasket (may go some form of kit)
crows foot bold x4
head bolt x 10
cam bolt x 1

At the same time, going to do the valve seals.
valve seals

Did I miss anything?

Thanks for your help.

[sidekick]

Are you sure it's the head gasket? How did you come to that diagnosis?

[[R]usty]

Originally Posted by sidekick Are you sure it's the head gasket? How did you come to that diagnosis?

+1
That's not a common thing on this car.

[ReddoG_Max]

That's what I hear and read however everything I've see coupled with two other opinions point to it.

Was on highway, merging on heavy acceleration. Car started to run rough, engine light started blinking then solid. Temp gage went to the roof.

Coolant was everywhere around the bottom area of the engine (think some pressure caused another blow out) saw some gases coming up through the rad when giving it some gas. There is defiantly pressure going into the rad. Light / gray smoke from the pipes when revving it.

Had a buddy look at it and say that there pressure coming through the rad

However, oil appeared to be clean.

Is there anything else this could be? I'm going to do some more testing tomorrow. But I can't think what else it could be.

Maybe I'm out to lunch?

[06Speed6]

Has the engine been rebuilt before? Sometimes engines aren't put together correctly and they blow the hg. If it hasn't been rebuilt, the oem build is nearly zero fail as far as the hg goes.

Could be a cracked head too. If the engine dumped it's coolant and it's blowing air through the radiator then it may be toast.

I'd hold off on buying parts until you figure it out because you don't wanna buy all of that and a new engine.

Cracked heads are more common than warped heads and neither are very common. If the head is warped it's a paper weight because of the overhead cam design which makes the cam journals warped as well.

[Black Metal]

Saw this happen on a buddy's MS3. It turned out to be a hole in one of the cylinder walls. Hope it's just the headgasket but I haven't really heard of any problems with those on our platform.

[06Speed6]

A hole in the cylinder wall would mix coolant into the oil which he said he didn't have. That's why I was tossing around the idea of a head crack.

[Black Metal]

That's what I expected also but the oil in the coolant was very minimal. Lots of coolant in the combustion chamber though. Coolant smelled like fuel really bad.

Here is that thread
HELP PLEASE!!

[ReddoG_Max]

Originally Posted by 06Speed6 Has the engine been rebuilt before? Sometimes engines aren't put together correctly and they blow the hg. If it hasn't been rebuilt, the oem build is nearly zero fail as far as the hg goes. Could be a cracked head too. If the engine dumped it's coolant and it's blowing air through the radiator then it may be toast. I'd hold off on buying parts until you figure it out because you don't wanna buy all of that and a new engine. Cracked heads are more common than warped heads and neither are very common. If the head is warped it's a paper weight because of the overhead cam design which makes the cam journals warped as well.

Engine has never been rebuilt and has 210,000 kms (133,000 miles) on it. Only thing was replaced was turbo last year.

Cracked head you say. I guess really the only thing I could do is open it up and determine what's going on. I'd go do some tests tomorrow.

Is there anything else I need to look for to determine if it's cracked?

[Chimmike]

If the headgasket is being replaced, you should have the head decked flat. They're almost always warped a little bit even on good engines.

As for what 06speed6 said, I've NEVER heard of someone cracking the cylinder head. But you ask anyone who actually MEASURED the head surface flatness after pulling you'll almost ALWAYS find it's warped a little bit. He's wrong when he says if the head surface is warped it's a paperweight.

[06Speed6]

Originally Posted by gingermike If the headgasket is being replaced, you should have the head decked flat. They're almost always warped a little bit even on good engines. As for what 06speed6 said, I've NEVER heard of someone cracking the cylinder head. But you ask anyone who actually MEASURED the head surface flatness after pulling you'll almost ALWAYS find it's warped a little bit. He's wrong when he says if the head surface is warped it's a paperweight.

If the head is slightly warped off of a good engine, it can be decked. If it's majorly warped off of an engine that's burning coolant then it's almost certainly junk. There is a definite limit to decking to correct warp.

As for cracked heads, I have heard of it but it's really damn rare. I've probably heard of less than five.

Once the engine is apart it should be pretty obvious whats going on.

[Chimmike]

yeah if the head is cracked, I'd consider yanking the block and having it flattened too, or even if the head is severely warped. Get those mating surfaces as flat as you can.

[ReddoG_Max]

After spending some more time doing diagnostics today, things don't look that good.

We have milky oil and when the rad is filled and the car is idling, there is immense exhaust pressure coming out. (As seen in video...Had no idea that that much pressure could be thrown up !....tons of fun).

So, the tear down begins Tuesday. Just don't think I have the time or expertise to do this job so got someone to handle it. Said he is going to go with a gasket kit and new head bolts? Anything else I should tell him to change at the same time? Any other parts I should ensure he gets? If he needs to machine the head he will do so.

Really hope it's just the head gasket ...

[sidekick]

Has the car ever been over heated? May as well change the the timing chain and guides while the head is off. Water pump, accessory belt, idler, tensioner, etc.

I really hope he thoroughly inspects your head for cracks/warping though. if it is cracked and you just change the headgasket, you might be better off throwing your money in a fireplace.

[ReddoG_Max]

Originally Posted by sidekick Has the car ever been over heated? May as well change the the timing chain and guides while the head is off. Water pump, accessory belt, idler, tensioner, etc. I really hope he thoroughly inspects your head for cracks/warping though. if it is cracked and you just change the headgasket, you might be better off throwing your money in a fireplace.

I believe he said he is going to send the head off to a specialty shop to get it checked out. They will do the valves at the same time. I'll mention the timing chain as well.

Thanks!

[ReddoG_Max]

Well, bigger problems.

So my mechanic took the head out, inspected it and it looked fine. No other issues seen other than a wash in cylinder #3 from the leak. At this point he replaced the head gasket and most other things recommended above. Put it all back together and car is doing the same thing as before !!!! He believes now I need to replace the head ($600 used with 120kms on it).

He was going to send the old head to get machined and checked over however it really looked in good shape without any visible cracks. With the amount of pressure being lost, I'd assume there would be some noticeable damage. Maybe we are dealing with a block issue???

While calling around to look for a head, two separate people said that I'd be wasting my money putting a new one on as with in 3-6 months the lower engine won't take the new head.

Is this true? Just curious what you guys would recommend at this point.

[06Speed6]

I have never heard of that.

You need a new mechanic, he obviously doesn't know what he is doing. He pulled the head off, didn't have it professionally checked or cleaned, and threw it back on. Even if that did fix the original problem, it would have created new problems with the head gasket seal. Secondly he had the engine apart, obviously didn't find a (major) problem, then put it back together hoping for the best. Now he wants to start replacing random parts that in his opinion are good working parts? Hell no

[ItsNox]

Originally Posted by 06Speed6 I have never heard of that. You need a new mechanic, he obviously doesn't know what he is doing. He pulled the head off, didn't have it professionally checked or cleaned, and threw it back on. Even if that did fix the original problem, it would have created new problems with the head gasket seal. Secondly he had the engine apart, obviously didn't find a (major) problem, then put it back together hoping for the best. Now he wants to start replacing random parts that in his opinion are good working parts? Hell no

Thisssssssss

Sent via Tapafail

[ReddoG_Max]

Well I believe we have found the problem!

[sidekick]

Lol so he missed that? I hope he's paying for it this time around.

[06Speed6]

That will do it.

In other news, I think your head is ok.

[sidekick]

The next question is how the fuck did that happen?

[Flying]

Originally Posted by sidekick The next question is how the fuck did that happen?

This!