Warped Head?

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

RJ in WV - 30 Jun 2005 22:08 GMT

1992 Geo Metro 3 cylinder. Car wants to start, but won't. Overheated about
a week before this problem started.

Compression tests show the middle cylinder is about 50 lbs higher than the
outer cylinders.
Warped head? Head Gasket?

Thanks,

Signature

RJ in WV

Saw on a bumper sticker.....

Help the animals defoliate the world.
Join PETA today!

Reply to this Message

Shakes73 - 02 Jul 2005 03:36 GMT

"" wrote:

> 1992 Geo Metro 3 cylinder. Car wants to start, but won't.
> Overheated about
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> Thanks,

Is the oil milky looking?? White heavy smoke out of the exhaust???
Could have a blowed head gasket or just a burnt valve.

Reply to this Message

SnoMan - 02 Jul 2005 03:36 GMT

>1992 Geo Metro 3 cylinder. Car wants to start, but won’t.
>Overheated about
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
>Thanks,

It would not be the first time that a head warped and a head gasket
blew from it on a overheated engine. It happens a lot if you overheat
it enough.

Reply to this Message

RJ in WV - 02 Jul 2005 05:08 GMT

>>1992 Geo Metro 3 cylinder. Car wants to start, but won't.
>>Overheated about
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> blew from it on a overheated engine. It happens a lot if you overheat
> it enough.

Thanks Sno and Shakes.

He won't tell the whole story, but I get the gist that he lost the fan belt
in the freeway about eight miles from home. He doesn't know what the
alternator light means. :o( The oil looks okay.

I just noticed the middle cylinder pressure is unusually high. The readings
for the outer cylinders are 120, but the middle one shows 175. At least it
sounds high to me.

I'd like to think the timing belt has jumped a notch, but this is an
interference motor. It's probably fried, but I'll end up looking at the
belt to satisfy my own curiosity.

Thanks again,

Signature

RJ in WV

Saw on a bumper sticker.....

Help the animals defoliate the world.
Join PETA today!

Reply to this Message

SnoMan - 02 Jul 2005 19:35 GMT

"" wrote:

> >>1992 Geo Metro 3 cylinder. Car wants to start, but won't.
> >>Overheated about
[quoted text clipped - 36 lines]
>
> Thanks again,

8 miles without a fan belt, it got pretty hot. I would pull the head
and check it for warpage (as it likely is) and get it trued as needed
ans install a new gasket and go from there. I would change oil too.

Reply to this Message

RJ in WV - 03 Jul 2005 04:40 GMT

> 8 miles without a fan belt, it got pretty hot. I would pull the head
> and check it for warpage (as it likely is) and get it trued as needed
> ans install a new gasket and go from there. I would change oil too.

Hmm. He's got another Geo sitting in the weeds he ran out of oil and locked
up, I wonder if the head is okay. He's one of those turn the key and it
goes types.

If we're lucky, we may be able to just swap heads.

Thanks for your help! If we go that route, I'll let you know how it works
out.

Signature

RJ in WV

The reason congressmen try so hard to get re-elected is that they would hate
to have to make a living under laws they've passed.

Reply to this Message

RSCamaro - 03 Jul 2005 18:00 GMT

>1992 Geo Metro 3 cylinder. Car wants to start, but won't. Overheated about
>a week before this problem started.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
>Thanks,

To see if you have a warped head you must remove it and use a strait
edge (ruler or flat stock) and a set of feeler guages to determine
what, if any warpage has occured. A blown head gasket would show
itself pretty quickly, whitish smoke would be coming out of the tail
pipe or your oil would turn milky. The most likely scenario I would
come up with would be a bent valve from overheating.

Do or have a leak down test performed on the cylinders. This is a
better way of checking the integrity of the rings and valves.

...Ron
--
68' Camaro RS
88' Firebird Formula
00' Mustang GT Vert

Reply to this Message

SnoMan - 03 Jul 2005 20:37 GMT

>The most likely scenario I would
>come up with would be a bent valve from overheating.
>
>Do or have a leak down test performed on the cylinders. This is a
>better way of checking the integrity of the rings and valves.

I guess you have not worked on many engines that have been cooked. THe
head warping from high heat cause by exhaust when coolant it lost is
one of the first thing to happen and headgasket generally do no just
blow hot or not unless head warps or bolts loosen.

Reply to this Message

RSCamaro - 03 Jul 2005 22:58 GMT

>I guess you have not worked on many engines that have been cooked. THe
>head warping from high heat cause by exhaust when coolant it lost is
>one of the first thing to happen and headgasket generally do no just
>blow hot or not unless head warps or bolts loosen.

Not unless you consider working in a engine and cylinder head
rebuilding shop experience. I'd be pretty comfortable stating that
I've rebuilt more cylinder heads than most mechanics have worked on
engines. Of course that means nothing to anyone but myself. What I'm
getting at is that there were more heads with burned valves than with
warped heads that came into my shop.

Either way I'd do a leakdown test before I started taking the engine
apart. The OP didn't say anything about milky oil or white
steam/smoke coming out of the exhaust before it stopped operating. A
50 psi drop compared to other cylinders doesn't exactly scream head
gasket problem to me. Like I said before, I'd be looking at the
sealing components of the engine. Either way the OP is eventually
going to have to take the engine apart to see what's going on.

...Ron
--
68' Camaro RS
88' Firebird Formula
00' Mustang GT Vert

Reply to this Message