Yay valvetrain failure.

[AwakenNoMore]

Well I don't post much on forums anymore but I figured this is something worth sharing. Two weeks ago I was headed to my Mom's place to meet up for her wedding rehearsal when the car died one corner away from the house. When I tried to turn it over the cranking sound was different to say the least.

So I pushed it the rest of the way and found out the timing belt (or gear) failed.:curse: Silent death. However, being that this car is the best $1k I've ever spent I refuse to give up on it. Took two weeks to find a friend to trailer it back to my place, and that's where I am now. Just about to go to the junkyard now to grab a new head (that hopefully hasn't been over heated etc.) As long as the valves haven't punched through any pistons I think this will be pretty straightforward.

[Mr. Tasty]

pistons will be fine, valves/ rockers will be damaged most likely. Hello from Mesa btw

[Mr. Tasty]

didn't see pic with broken rockers. my bad.

[AwakenNoMore]

Hello as well. Yeah It's a bummer. However, I went to the Pick'n'Pull today and came home with this:

Engine had an oil pan failure but the cam turns. The cylinder walls looked really clean as well, so I should be ok.

[rares]

yea buddy, that's awesome, i love pick n pull... good luck with the project

[ttrousdell]

Snapped t-belts are always a bummer. I had one snap 2 months after I bought a car. You should be alright with that head. Usually the bearings cook before the head suffers any major damage. Id still break it down and check it out.

[AwakenNoMore]

What should I look for? Just obvious scorching? I was able to turn the cam by hand (using a timing belt wrapped around the timing gear) and it seems pretty smooth to me. I was honestly just going to set it in a large tupperware container and soak it in foamy engine brite.

[TobyB]

If it was me, and I was feeling cheap, I'd lap the valves, replace the valve stem seals,
bolt it onto the head (don't try to reuse the old timing belt ;) ) and race it.

That made a decent back- of- the- pack car!

If you're feeling more plush, spring for a valve job.

Then go.

t

[AwakenNoMore]

Well the thing about that is I'm on borrowed time. My e30 is my daily and right now I'm borrowing my brother's Protege. I just need the car running, for now. This isn't a weekend racer for me it's my everything car and first and foremost its my meal ticket.

[UserError]

Even with the short timeframe, I'd strongly suggest cleaning the oil varnish/whatever else is in there, plus the valve stem seals at a bare minimum. Lapping the valves would be a very big plus, especially if any of them fail the liquid leakdown test. It's always better to do the job right, rather than having to do the job twice, just to get out on the road sooner.

[AwakenNoMore]

I may actually make an attempt to lap the valves myself upon doing a little reading and youtube watching. It doesn't seem that difficult to do a basic hand lap. Actually a lot of this stuff seems easier the deeper I get into it. I'm just not that savvy with conventional engines, my first 5 cars where various year and generation Mazda RX-7's, so no valves, no timing belts . . . no pistons . . . (no torque)

[AwakenNoMore]

So tonight was fun.

Quick question: The crankcase vent tube that runs from the block into the underside of the intake, can I re-install that AFTER I re-install the head/intake as one unit?

[spdracrm3]

wow never seen one break the cyl head rocker towers, usually the rocker is the weak link and snaps. id be worried about the pistons if they took that hard of a hit to break the head, prolly bent the skirts at least . really scrutinize that #2 piston in the intake valve area may end up with an oil burner or noisy piston slap

[AwakenNoMore]

wow never seen one break the cyl head rocker towers, usually the rocker is the weak link and snaps. id be worried about the pistons if they took that hard of a hit to break the head, prolly bent the skirts at least . really scrutinize that #2 piston in the intake valve area may end up with an oil burner or noisy piston slap

Here's the odd thing, I can clearly see the valves through the intake ports and they don't even appear to be bent.

[AwakenNoMore]

Procrastination is AWESOME! Been bummed out and busy with work at the same time, so here's an update to where we are today:

Junkyard head cleaning.

Bad head off.

Disassembling head with Harbor Freight C-clamp and cut spark plug socket.

Doing control arm bushings, reason obvious.

Home made press.

Replaced bad fan while there was ample room.

Cleaned valve cover.


Boom.

Hand cleaning stuff.