Hey guys,

Pretty sure i melted my head gasket this weekend with some untested ethanol and a pull to pass a vehicle going slow in the hammer lane.

My question is, can i just zip tie my cam gears to the timing belt and remove the caps and then whole head?

Thanks

 

First off, what makes you think you fried the head gasket? That isn't usually something that goes from one awry pull.

You can zip tie the belt to the sprockets and unbolt them from the cams and pull the head as a whole. But you also have to be sure that there is no slack in the belt or it might slip a tooth on one of the lower pulleys.

My recommendation would be to pick up a timing tool kit, removing the serp belt and pulleys that cover the timing cover and pull the lower cover to be sure that everything remains in time when you put it all back together. Also it's a lot easier to pull the head off if you remove the manifolds. The intake is pretty easy, just need extensions to get the lower bolts. As for the exhaust I just pull the mani/turbo/o2 housing as one piece.

 

Because my lower radiator hose blew off and when I reclamped it and filled with water, the car was shooting 4 foot geysers out of the radiator cap hole.

So the cooling system is obviously being pressurized.

 

Have you checked to make sure that nothing in the coolant system is plugged?

 

Correct me if im wrong, but im pretty sure the water pump alone, spinning at less than 500 rpms would not generate enough pressure to shoot water out of the radiator cap.....

But to simply answer your question, no i havent. It happened Saturday 80 miles from home so I got it towed back and just pushed it into the garage.

The car sat for a month since the last time i drove it and its been down the track at 10.3 @ 144 flawlessly. Only thing that changed in this equation was the ethanol that i didnt test. Im guessing the car went way lean and melted the head gasket and hopefully not the head.

 

The water pump spins faster than the engine so even at idle it'd be spinning 1,000+ rpms. And yes it can pressurize a coolant system if there is a blockage.

I'm not trying to debate anything with you, I'm just trying to help you start simple rather than rush to a conclusion that you need to tear your engine apart.

 

Oh for sure.

Just based on the situation however, i wouldnt put money on a blockage. When the water was shooting out of the radiator it wasnt constant. It would shoot way up, and then on another engine revolution, do it again.

Im assuming a blockage would be a constant flow out since the water pump would be spinning at more of a consistent rpm.

Just trying to see if i can get away with the timing tool and zip tying my cam gears to the belt for ease of dis/re-assembly.

 

And like i said, the ONLY thing that changed that day was the ethanol. My money would be that the winter blend (around e50 in some cases) came out at the station i filled up at.

My negligence for not testing.

 

Isn't the headgasket steel? If you melted that, wouldn't you expect bigger problems from your aluminum head?

 

Sounds definately like a HG sealing issue but I'd suspect you've damaged the block or head.

 

The gasket is but the fire rings on it are what seal the cylinder head and block to the head gasket and those are often a viton type material. The fire ring will usually blow out before the head or block gets damaged.

My head gasket blew out a couple months ago on cyl 1. Check out the fire ring on cyl 1 in this pic, note how half of it is gone.




First pass on the resurfacing machine shows where the head was warped. It's the same spot as where the fire ring was blown out. The head is usually the next thing to get damaged as aluminum will warp a lot easier than iron. OP if your head gasket is blown out then definitely get the decks on your head and block checked out.

 

Thanks for all the tips guys, will definitely get the decks checked. I could live with head warp but f*** im hoping the block is fine.

But back to the original request, can i just keep this time timed the way it is and pull the head? I was thinking either leaving the cams and gears connected or zip tying the cams to the timing belt and removing from the cams and supporting them?

 

If you are careful no reason you cant zip tie the belt to the cam gears then use the timing belt tensioner rod to remove tension from the belt and then zip tie it to the side making sure to keep outward and upward tension on the belt. I've done it a few times this way and wouldnt hesitate to do it again if I needed to.

 

Awesome. Thanks so much my dude

 

they sell a head gasket tester... could start there. the fluids blue and if I turns yellow/green you've got exhaust fumes in your coolant system. you may want to mark a tooth on your gears then mark the belt as well with a paint pen. that way when you line it all back up it will only go one way. timing belts are made out to be a terribly hard task to endue. their not too bad. make sure you set your tensioner right and don't be cheap get a whole kit if your in there. replace it all!