I just took the head off of my F23A1 to hopefully replace the head gasket and be done with it.

The symptoms were that oil was getting into the coolant, and a lot of it. I bought it like this so I don't know if it was after a day, a week or a month.

The head gasket doesn't have any obvious breaks in it, it's the 3 layer metal one though, could it have "de-laminated" or something and let oil get into the water jacket? I'm really really hoping the block or head isn't cracked.

Should I go ahead and clean everything up and put the new head gasket in it and hope for the best? I'm not too concerned about having to do it again, it's just that I kind of need this car up and running soon. I don't want to start the car up and have it immediately do the same thing.

Otherwise, I'd probably just look for a new engine, but I'd rather not do that since pulling an engine with an auto tranny isn't that much fun.

Here are some pictures

 

Kind of hard to tell from the pics.
Put a straight edge across the deck surfaces of the block and head and check for warp.

 

The head gasket doesn't break and certainly doesn't blow out. It's kinda of a wrong name to give it, what happens is the head and/or block warps and the head gasket simply doesn't seal anymore. There are many symptoms but it's clear from that picture that there is coolant in the oil as you can see the sludge.

You will need to atleast have the head resurfaced and check the block for warpage just to be on the safe side. If you just put another gasket on there it won't make it a month before the gasket goes out again.

 

The block and head are straight,

the block and head don't look warped. A straight edge on both of them had no gaps across the entire length.

 

Did you also check diagonally across both faces?
If the surface is warped, a straight edge may check out good down the center or sides but from opposite corners it may show the twist(warp) in either deck surfaces.

If that is fine there may be a leak in the oil cooler(if equipped) or AT(if equipped) cooler lines through the radiator.

 

Ya I meant to say that the block and the head were straight across, diagonally and horizontally.

No oil cooler, but there is an AT cooler in the radiator. That could possibly be it....The trans fluid doesn't seem to have coolant in it though...

 

why didnt you compression test before you pulled the head ? that woulda gave you conclusive results

you could have a cracked block instead

 

I didn't compression test it because I didn't think I needed to. The car ran great, sounded good, no ticks rattles or knocks. It seemed to have all the power it needed. The coolant had oil in it, not bubbles from the combustion chamber.

The cylinder walls all look smooth, as does the head. The freeze plugs are still in the block so I don't think the block froze and I haven ever heard of a cracked cylinder wall from stock applications.

 

it could just be a pinhole leak ... it happens on rare occasions.. its a casting error and apparently develops after 100k miles or so

do some searches

 

Another question.

If I set the head and block to TDC on the compression stroke on cylinder 1, then I remove the head and rotate the crank 360 degrees so it would be on the compression stroke for cylinder 4 and then put the head back on that would work right?

I'd assume the block is "dumb" and TDC for 1 and 4 and TDC for 2 and 3 is the same whether it's on the compression stroke or the exhaust stroke.

And another question. When VTEC kicks in it opens both intake valves and when it's not kicked in only one opens correct?

 

Do you think getting the head re surfaced will reduce the height and eventually affecting the height of cam? I know it would be negligible but still can it affect anything?

 

moving the crank 360 degrees would bring it back to tdc again for 1 cylinder... it goes 1342 so 180 degrees on the crank would put 4 cylinder at tdc

on sohc engines it closes one intake valve but on dohc engines both will be open

 

ignition and mechanical timing would be affected but only slightly imho

 

ok cool. I was wondering if the ECU determined which cylinder gets the fuel and spark. I guess it's not totally based on the crank positioning then.

 

Only if it is resurfaced beyond specifications(there is a minimum deck height)

 

It does. It is.

 

Where did you get your eyes calibrated? NIST?

That head gasket looks like **** and needs to be replaced.

I have fallen for the straight edge flatness test trick before. You can't test flatness with a straight edge and your eyeballs.

Send the head and block to a machine shop to determine the flatness, or do a trial by error with a new head gasket to verify.

 

In a sense. The crank angle sensor will detect when the crank does a 360 but I assume it goes by the dizzy to figure out if 1 or 4 is on the compression or exhaust stroke and if 2 or 3 is on the intake or power stroke. And all the other combinations.