bent valves?

[fannman]

I just pulled the head due to a headgaskt leak. I went ahead and got the head surfaced as well. They took 4 one thousandths off. So I decided it should still be in good specs and run a oem headgasket. I got everything back together and went to crank and it took a while. Then when it did it was rediculously loud. So I shut it off and it sounded like it was knocking really hard. I did a proper valve adjustment as to the bentley manual. Should I have run the thicker mls gasket?? I havent read anything about running a thicker gasket anywhere when getting the head surfaced. Im scared I just screwed up my whole engine from bent valves and whatnot. Some input would be great. Also left a smokey kind of smell in the engine bay. Maybe the timing belt skipped a tooth? I will check tomorrow to make sure that both the crank and cam are at top dead center but they were when I put the belt on and I even checked by turning it a few times. Im stumped. Maybe I missed something. Head is torqued down to spec per bentley manual. It just sounds like it chugs then dies.

[paperplane94]

Does it turn over by hand? 22mm on crankshaft...

NExt step after that would be compression test.

[jlevie]

Were both of the index dowels in place when the head went back on? If the dowels aren't in place the head won't index and a piston or two can kiss the head.

[fannman]

Yeah both dowels were in place. I left them on the block when I got the head resurfaced since most of the time they stick in the block when you pull the head. Im starting to think my timing belt skipped a tooth. Im going to do a compression test and check the timing. I also need to put new exhuast manifold gaskets on since they are toast and causing a huge exhuast leak now. I think thats another issue is the loss of backpressure. If those fail im at a loss as to what happened or is wrong.

[fannman]

Well I removed the spark plugs, and exhuast manifold to fix the leak. I turned the crank bolt with a wrench and it hit a spot that was hard to crank. But after it hit that spot it turned easy again. I remember when doing the valve job on the head when it was out of the car, I had trouble at one spot with the cam turning at one point then got easy again. Could it be the valve hitting the piston??? I just dont see how after getting .004 surfaced of the head and running a stock headgasket it would cause the valve to hit. I know it will run higher compression ratio but it shouldnt touch. Im gonna check the timing now I guess that seems to be the only other thing to check.

[ttrousdell]

Do you have a compression tester? As said earlier that will tell you if you bent valves or the less accurate way, shine a flash light in the spark plug hole. Make sure the cam is positioned in a spot where the valves should be seated. If you see light theyre bent. Ive been told that you can take .01 off before you risk getting in trouble from piston to valve contact. Maybe there already was a cut taken previously and you went over .01 or maybe you had the cam off a tooth when setting TDC.

[jlevie]

You can mill the head to the bottom of the "wear limit" dimples and not have the valves hit the pistons. If you do that you need to use the thicker gasket, or mod the cam sprocket to the valve timing right for good performance, but the valves won't hit. That is well past 0.01".

[fannman]

I had the timing off 2 teeth. That caused the bad start up issue for sure. Now I dont wanna take apart the the head to find out if it damaged anything. Do you think 2 teeth could cause it to bend a valve? I do have a compression tester. I guess after I get the timing done I will do a compression test to see if I bent anything.

[fannman]

Is the dimples the markings on the corner of the bottom of the head. Says like 2.2 or something like that? If so its far from those being touched when it was milled.

[fannman]

I started the car up and it is making "carb farts", running really rich and has a very shakey idle around 700rpm. Maybe a valve got bent and its not sealing properly?? Some input would be awesome. Thanks

[jlevie]

Two teeth off could cause valves to hit pistons. A compression test should tell if that happened.

[fannman]

I did a compression and it didnt go past 60 on the gauge. I tried tightening down the compression meter where it plugs in the spark plug hole but I think it might be leaking a little out since there is no room for a wrench to get on it. I tried everything from checking the harness, swapping back the stock injectors, checked timing and its good. I guess the only thing I can do is crack open the head which is not what I was wanting to do. It just has a really rough idle and has "carb farts". I guess the bent valves could cause that. It also is running super rich. I just dont know what is the issue. I also dont wanna crack the head open to find out its good and then have to buy a new gasket and bolts. But it looks like thats my only choice now.

[RacingTowardsRed]

Everything you're saying sounds like a bent valve (or valves) to be honest. Sorry man. I suppose you could get a leakdown tester if you don't already have one and try that. It would tell you where the loss of compression would be coming from.

[fannman]

I guess Im gonna be making a trip to the junkyard in the morning to pull a clean I head. Swap the valves over to mine hoping the head doesnt have any damage to it. I just got mine surfaced and running it for a 10 min shouldnt have caused any warpage, I could be wrong. Looks like I gotta pull the head tonight to make sure, then order everything on monday to get it fixed up. I read up that the ecu can cause some problems like idle and dumping fuel. But I think its 2 bent valves. On 1 and 6 i think. I had the crank at tdc and the timing on the cam was advanced 2 teeth so it must have pushed itself into 1 and 6 piston as the valves were down slightly. I doubt they are bent much, they are not broken as there is no loud metal clunking or anything. Just rough idle and carb farts. Gonna pull the head tonight to double check everything. I'm just tired of trying to figure it out when I can just cut to the source and see if thats the problem. If my valves are good then I'm guessing cooling sensors and ecu. I just replaced breather hoses for vac so it shouldnt have and vac leaks. Also getting a code reader from a friend to check the code thats tripping the check engine light. That should give me some insight.

[dougie30]

When my to timing belt skipped a tooth or two it broke a valve and bent the rest, so yours could very well be bent