Disaster - head IS cracked...

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I should reiterate something I've said before which is that I think I am harder on my 80s than anybody here in terms of maximal heat loads. We weigh a tad under 12,000lbs when towing our boat and there are several places we go that require nearly wide open throttle for several minutes. The combined heat load of the engine at WOT and the transmission trying to manage that output vs 12,000lbs and low vehicle speeds is essentially a torture test used by many manufacturers to create failures. Sure, some of you guys live in very hot environments and your A/C cuts out in stop and go traffic but I assure you that is not the equal.

Even under these conditions, I expect this to maintain the 80's capability to do hard work for many years to come. If not, I'll be the first to find out...

DougM
 
landtank said:
Does anyone else think it's strange for a head to overheat enough to crack in this area but still remain flat?...
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If this were a murder mystery I'd guess that the butler did it by adding coolant while the engine was hot. Just a guess, obviously no way to know with certainty.
 
Based on the coolant path I would think something closer to the radiator than the back of the head would crack from that.
 
cruiserdan said:
Based on the coolant path I would think something closer to the radiator than the back of the head would crack from that.
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Or, my Dear Doctor Watson, it could be that the back of the head is hotter than the part closer to the radiator; thus would experience more thermal contraction when subjected to a dose of cold water.

As Rich said... we'll never know for sure.

-B-
 
Excellent educational thread Doug, again sorry that you're having to deal with this.

It also gives me faith in mankind that you were able to find such a skilled shop that is taking so much interest in the problem. I think finding those types of shops is difficult these days.

To Dan or others - did we ever learn a ballpark figure for a new head from Toyota? Just curious.
 
List on a new head is $1,318.23
 
I only asked about the crack/flatness thing is that I thought most heads that warp don't crack. So from that I'd think that you might surmise that it would take something more than what it takes to warp the head to create a crack. And since most warped heads are from overheating and this head is flat then while it may have overheated it wasn't enough to warp the head and possibly not create the crack.

Considering that at this area the head is 3/4" thick and with this reasoning I'd sooner think the crack was from a casting flaw and if it was my truck I'd replace the head.

I'm not saying this is the right course of action but it would be what I'd do.
 
cruiserdan said:
List on a new head is $1,318.23
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Thanks Dan, $1300 list doesn't seem too bad given how much time a guy can go through pulling the head if it fails again. I guess with Doug's skill set he's going to save $1000 or so. Given my limited skill set, I'd likely have to pay someone to re-re my HG so the extra $1000 is attractive given the labour cost.

If I had 3rd car for the wife, I would consider doing a HG job myself given all the experts here but it would take me a month or so.

One thing's clear is that one should always test the head when changing the HG. I wonder how many of the guys doing HGs, have had the head tested.
 
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cruiserdan said:
List on a new head is $1,318.23
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Well worth it, IMHO, for peace of mind. In fact I would not want to screw around at all with trying to repair the head unless a new one was over 2K and/or unless I only wanted to part or sell the vehicle. JMHO, to each his own. :cheers:
 
Probably a dumb question but - Given how far Doug into his head repair, is there a bunch more work to replace with a new head?

i.e. valves, seats, shims, cams and other stuff to move across?
 
Dan,
Would that be for a bare head? What comes with it?
-B-
 
It is "bare". Fitted with spark plug tubes, valve guides, valve seats.

As an interesting footnote spark plug tubes are NOT serviced so one must buy a head to get them. Remember that when working around them.
 
I've heard numbers in the neighborhood of $8,000 to "rebuild" a 1FZ-FE. It seems the Smart Shopper price for a complete short block, bare head, cams, valves, and other moving parts might be in the $8,000 range. Makes one wonder if it wouldn't be better to buy a complete engine; part by part. You wouldn't need to buy oil pans, intakes, valve covers, etc.

Hey Dan, when you get a minute why don't you give us the Smart Shopper price for a complete engine. :D (j/k)

-B-
 
With all the time invested, I would do a new head as well. $1000 will seem cheap if the stitched repair fails in a year. There is a local machine shop here that does that stitch thing as well and it looks very solid. I know they repair commercial trucks like that.. But still, for $1000 you have complete peace of mind.
 
That looks like the product he uses. I recall the breakaway heads. Interesting and further reassuring that they repair industrial and commercial engines and diesels with this technique.

As for a new bare head, yes you'll need to also pay someone to swap your valves and install the seals as well as do a valve adjustment (means the shop has to have shims around, or you pay $$ to get them). After that I don't know if the cams would then go right on, or if the cam journals need to be matched to your cam. Dunno. Assuming the cams just swap, the work I just mentioned would likely run several hundred dollars as you can't just use a spring compressor because the springs are recessed so far. You need to use a press with a tool that has a magnetic dealy-bop that retrieves the retainers once the springs are compressed. Times 24, that shop time adds up.

So, that $1000 bare head might be $1400 by the time you had the valves, seals and cams on, plus shipping from Dan ($100?). Still worth it for peace of mind I suppose if the old head showed other signs of distress like warping or sealing surface pitting, etc.

I'm looking forward to checking the block flatness tomorrow morning...

DougM
 
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