4K-C Not Starting, Any Pointers?

[polaegame]

G'day fellow rollaclubbers,

 

Recently lent my OVERHEATING (i know I'm sorry never again will i put it off for so long) ke55 4k-c to a friend who needed to get to wollongong, and got a call that it had stopped working on the highway!

 

The report is that water is coming out exhaust when trying to start. Could this mean a cracked head/block? or can that just be the gasket?

 

Going to attempt to check the head asap, anyone have pointers on removing? has this particular thing happened to anyone before?

 

will get the cooling system/thermostat checked proffesionally once I can start it. If its nothing too serious...

 

any help appreciated! Please enjoy photos of the car in my gallery, I bought this car for $280 and its served me so well for 1 and a half years til now. I hope this isnt the end for jolene...

[altezzaclub]

Definately a head-off job, and if you're lucky its just the gasket.

 

Basically the water gets sucked into a cylinder as it cools overnight and pumped out the exhaust valve on cranking. Same if there was pressure in the water system from being hot when it first happened and they were trying to start it.

 

So, exhaust & inlet manifolds off, head off and skimmed, check the valves, clean the block and re-assemble. Make sure the head bolts screw down into the block to a level below the head, as they will be full of rust/oil/dirt below the point where they normally sit and they will have to go down further to pull the skimmed head down. I usually hacksaw 4 slots up the threads of a bolt and screw it in, so the dirt collects in the slots.

[polaegame]

Definately a head-off job, and if you're lucky its just the gasket.

 

Basically the water gets sucked into a cylinder as it cools overnight and pumped out the exhaust valve on cranking. Same if there was pressure in the water system from being hot when it first happened and they were trying to start it.

 

So, exhaust & inlet manifolds off, head off and skimmed, check the valves, clean the block and re-assemble. Make sure the head bolts screw down into the block to a level below the head, as they will be full of rust/oil/dirt below the point where they normally sit and they will have to go down further to pull the skimmed head down. I usually hacksaw 4 slots up the threads of a bolt and screw it in, so the dirt collects in the slots.

 

 

sweet thanks heaps, what is skimming? does skimming require special tools?

[blktoy35]

head skim is when the head is off, take it to cylinder head shop to get them to skim/machine the surface flat,before putting new h/g on....also get them to pressure test the head in case there is a crack in the water galleries.

[ke70dave]

yeah i had this happen on my mates car (97 astina),same thing, water out exhaust pipe.

 

i did the head on it, turned out to be quite a bent head (with some corosion causing a leak), and it had a metal headgasket, so it leaked like a siv, put it all back together, fired it up first time after re-assembly, and water came out the exhaust....i crapped myself. luckily it was just water left in the mufflers! came good after a few minutes.

 

hopefully you havent bent the head to bad.

 

i did the head on my mates 4k, and it was so bent it coudlnt even be machined, was a good 3mm of bend in it!! lukcily a 4kc head is cheap as to buy.

[polaegame]

thanks so much for all your help guys,

 

gonna get into it weekend after this one, just one last question...

 

will I require any tools to get the head off that couldnt be found in an ordinary tool kit?

[ke70dave]

nah you should be right if you have a decent socket set and a few spanners and screw drivers.

 

just make sure you got a long extension to get the annoying bolts on the inlet/exhaust manifold. you may be able to get away with out it, i just found it easier that way. rest is pretty straight forward.

[Taz_Rx]

Nah no speacial tool. About the hardest bit will just be getting the head bolts to initially loosen. You might need a breaker bar with an extension (jack handle etc) over it for a litle bit more leverage.