Blown Head Gasket Repair

First, let me start by saying, forget all that crap they sell for instant fix. It is impossible 90 percent of the time...the force of the water being pushed thru, or the force of the compression from the engine, will not allow that stuff to stay there for long. At best, you plug up your heater core and radiator, at worst, you cook your engine. Just replace the head gasket. A new one from japan (not taiwan) cost me 20 bucks (all pricing here is Canadian dollars, even though I am in Philippines. So here is my repair.

I have a 3L in my hiace and it started overheating. After letting it cool and replacing the water, I left off the radiator cap while it is running. The water started to overflow rapidly. Right away I knew that I had a loose cylinder head bold somewhere. This is indicative of compression seeping into water jacket and pushing fluid out. So, since it overheated with a loose head bolt, I know that most likely now the cylinder head was warped. So I looked in the local paper and called around and found a mechanic who would provide the labor for 3000 peso. ($75). I visited him and his shop was a tin carport with a dirt floor. I then went to my local garage I usually use, and he wanted 20,000..(500 bucks) plus parts. So I secured a good torque wrench (because my dirt mechanic didnt have one), and a new head gasket Japan made....and found the best machine shop in town. They said they would resurface it for 1800 peso. ($45). The head gasket cost me 20. Then I went and got all new head bolts. Just because. They cost me another $30 and although Loctite probably would work, I dis not have much invested so far so figured I'd go all the way. So , tomorrow we will put it all back together. If its done correctly, it will last 20 years...if done wrong....3 months....just past the warranty period. So be sure its done correctly! I will torque head bolts myself. I am sure tomorrow everything will be fine, but we will see. If the machine shop swaps it out for a bad one, for one of his buddies, I am screwed...I forgot to do a secret etching.....oh well

So the next day comes and I take the new head over. I texted him and asked to have everything prepared, especially the block, like we had talked about the day previous. This was mainly blowing out the bolt holes real good, as they had gotten in a hurry and not drained the radiator before starting the work, and as a result, has rad fluid all down the bolt holes.

I should explain the mechanics job at his shop before I go to far here. He was the mechanic, but he did no work. He supervised a crew of four, who barely knew there ass from a hole in the ground.

Upon arrival, everyone was sitting around doing nothing. When they saw me, they jumped up and started to work. They grabbed the head and started assembling it, putting on the cam shaft, (no torque wrench), putting on the intake, no torque wrench, and getting ready to set it on. I asked the mechanic if they had blown out the bolt holes and the answer was yes yes. I should have checked. That was my first mistake. After setting the head in place, they tightened the bolts, in no particular order...and I told them ..only hand tight as we will use the torque wrench and use the proper sequence, basically from center out, like most heads. I told them we would do it in 6 steps, 4 torques, then 2 separate 1/4 turns of the bolts. I would be the one to torque them, as I did not trust them. Right away the bolts are all tighter than the first 22lbs required. I let it slide, as I was feeling frustrated. I had noticed they had to really reef on the bolts just to get them to the seated position. This is when I asked again about blowing the holes out and was assured, yes yes. It is only a little dirt in the thread maybe. Dont worry. I proceeded to torque the head bolts. But after the third round, at 52 lbs, I was still noticing that each bolt would tighten at a different rate. Some would not move at all, after increasing the torque. It was very strange. Then, after thinking about it, there was only one answer....the holes were full of water. This is basically where I gave up. I let them finish putting it back together in hopes I could drive it out of there. No such luck. 5 hours later after torquing the head in place, they finished, but I was home in bed. Went back the next day, and no, it would not start, They had grounded the glow plug wire and it sparked, There was also a litre of water in the oil still, that I had asked them to drain, and they said they had......to my utter amazement, they had not. So I crawled under and drained it myself. Then I went home, as the mechanic was gone to a cockfight that day, and I could start it. Went back three days later, and they got it started after a few failed attempts. I test drove it and drove it home, where it had pushed out half the rad contents by the time i got there. I parked it and went and borrowed my friends torque wrench again. Next day I bought a compressor for 150 bucks, and took it all apart (in reverseorder for the bolts...outter to inner) and blew out the bolt holes....and the dirt and fluid in them was unbelievable. Retorqued the bolts and put it all back together. This time the bolts felt right going in, with no issues. Been driving it now for a week, and its all good. Just like new. So, get a good mechanic, or do it yourself...thats what I learned...