so I have a question and it might sound noob but I couldn't find a picture to reference off of so here I am. I noticed some "holes" in the cylinder head and didn't seem like they were suppose to belong. Now my question is, are those holes normal or is the cylinder head even still good? Here's a picture.

 

That's normal

 

Hm.. It doesn't look normal to me tho. Hopefully more people chime in here. I'm talking about the 2 holes in the middle of the picture.

 

That is simply casting flash - irregularity during the process of creating the bare casting. It is perfectly normal, and found on NEARLY EVERY single H22 head ever made. The holes may be larger or smaller... or even missing in rare cases, but they are there from the casting process.

Stop worrying about it and run it !!!

 

No need for anyone else to chime in. Its normal and perfectly fine.

 

alright guys thanks for your advices! Now I can be at ease about that part. gotta move onto cleaning it. What would you guys recommend to use to clean it? Or should I just take it to a machine shop and have them do it?

 

update: I took the head in to get checked for cracks n warpage and the head is good to go. Got it resurfaced and there is no cracks. I also had one of the shop dudes check the straightness of the valves. He was only able to check the exhaust valves before the machine he used crapped on him. One of the exhaust valves were bent. The rest was good. Didn't get to check the intake valves as it was close to their closing hour. What are the chances of the intake valves being bent as well? Since the motor has 200k+ miles, should I replace the valve springs and retainers, valve guides. etc. or can I reuse them?

 

Replace the seals, have the shop check the rest of the valves as well as the guides. They should be checking for clearance with the valves as well as if they are straight.

If you are staying stock just reuse the stock springs and retainers, if going to upgraded cams or revving much higher than stock (which is only useful with the right cams etc) then go with better springs and retainers.

 

should i just replace the valves that are bent or just get a whole new set?

 

While it's there, have them check the seat pressure of the valve springs at installed height. At 200k miles, that's a whole lot of use.

 

The head is already home. The guy told me to go back and get it checked after he fixes the machine but I will probably just replace the parts to make life easier.

 

If 4 or more valves are bent just get a good aftermarket set since they will be the same price as getting 4 new OEM ones.

 

Wow oem ones are that expensive? I've heard that oem ones are really good and possibly even better than aftermarket ones?