Cooling System woes....

[ChrisCrowie Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ChrisCrowie]

Re: Cooling System woes....

Well car is finally back with a completely brand new head on it and runs like a dream!!!! With the head off there were 3 cracks in it, one completely across between the valves.

Signs of coolant in #1 cylinder and with some minor pitting but nothing to worry about.

So after nearly 2 years of issues since the rebuild I think I finally have it the way it needs to be.

On a side note I completely withdraw any previous recommendation I provided for Red Hill Engines / Engines Direct in Stafford QLD.

However I could not recommend enough the work being done by M T Auto's at Strathpine. Mark took the time to show me the issues and problems and I have come to the conclusion that due to my inexperience and naiveness 2 years ago I was ripped off on a $13k rebuild, hard lessons learnt yes but since then and now I am more knowledgeable and have a better understanding on what I need to ask and demand for if I ever have to go through this again. (Shame I didn't visit M T Auto earlier, I could have had a Lexuz V8 in it by now!!!!)

[StormyKnight Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close StormyKnight]

Re: Cooling System woes....

That's good Chris you have it sorted...

Just wondering from everyone here, would it be advisable to inspect the head say every 100,000km or wait for it to fail if its going to. Mines now @ 200,000km...

The other question is would town running or highway be worse for the head or no difference?

Cheers

[Matty80 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Matty80]

Re: Cooling System woes....

Just wondering from everyone here, would it be advisable to inspect the head say every 100,000km or wait for it to fail if its going to. Mines now @ 200,000km...

I'm assuming that with the term 'inspect' you mean remove? I can't speak for anyone else, but I think for things like heads and head gaskets - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!! Stick with the scheduled maintenance and investigate faults as they appear - don't go looking for things that might not be there...

Matt

[ChrisCrowie Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ChrisCrowie]

Re: Cooling System woes....

Thanks Richard.

After being through all of this and the engine rebuild I know it can work out very expensive!
Rather than go down that path I am going to fit aftermearket temp guage and a egt gauge as insurance.

These to me seem a better alternative to monitor things without spending massive bucks and gives a bit of peace of mind that you can know what is happening before damage is done.

[waltec Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close waltec]

Re: Cooling System woes....

However I could not recommend enough the work being done by M T Auto's at Strathpine. Mark took the time to show me the issues and problems and I have come to the conclusion that due to my inexperience and naiveness 2 years ago I was ripped off on a $13k rebuild, hard lessons learnt yes but since then and now I am more knowledgeable and have a better understanding on what I need to ask and demand for if I ever have to go through this again. (Shame I didn't visit M T Auto earlier, I could have had a Lexuz V8 in it by now!!!!)

Good to see M T Autos are still providing excellent service, I used Mark 20yrs ago when rebuilding my red 6, he was extremely helpful and I always felt confident in his work.. Funny thing is I drove past his workshop a couple of weeks ago, and was thinking, wonder if he's as good now as he was then, obviously the answer is YES!!!

Always sucks when you find a good guy too late..

Matt

[Derb Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Derb]

Re: Cooling System woes....

Hi Fellas. I cannot see the point in removing the head until the "S__t" hits the fan. By the time a radiator cap head tester can pick anything up, it's too late anyway. When you remove an aluminium cylinder head which has come off a vehicle which has no noticeable grief, to check for cracks, you would be pretty darn lucky to find any. Some 1KZ engines do huge mileages with no grief at all so you may be incurring unwarranted expense. My personal belief for what it is worth is to just soldier on with good servicing and hope for the best and deal with the problem when/if it eventuates. Some 1KZ's have dozy heads and others are good - bit of a lottery. New heads are not that expensive anyway. Cheers, Derb.