New head on old block?

damian1978

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site and I'm afraid I only found it after searching the net due to a problem with my car!!

I run a 51plate 2.2 SRI, great in every respect except the damn engine, which seems to have decided that the exhaust cam no longer needed oil........... yes the cam ran dry and broke free from the carriers.

I'm planning to repair the car, I'm pretty familiar with Vauxhall engines, I've worked on all my own over the last 10 years. I'm wondering wether I would be better fitting a reconditioned head or a good secondhand one - the block seemed fine and the engine had only done 80K, so not excessive. I have heard that a 'new' head will blow the bottom end - is there any truth in this? On the other hand, if I got a secondhand head I would presume it would need decoking, pressure testing and perhaps skimming anyway????

Any advice would be much appreciated.

By the way, the chain didn't break but I'll be replacing bothe cam and balancer chains anyway.

Cheers everyone!

Damian

BURT150

Hello and welcome :thumbup:

I think that aplys more to diesels. But i cant see any reason why a new head would kill a bottom end, I spose the right thing to do while your in there is change the rings everything else is pritty strong.

Also it would pay you to check all the oil ways and make sure the oil pump sump and strainer are all tip top or if you can find the deffinate cause of the oil starvaition after all you dont want it happening again.

You could even port the new head and get it lightly skimmed and check all the valves, guides and change the stem seals that'l make sure its 100percent.

damian1978

Thanks for that! Would it just be a standard set of rings from vauxhall then? I suppose I could just remove the small end caps from under the crank, slide the pistons up, replace the rings and the slide then back down and replace the caps? Would that be the easiest way do you think?

Many thanks for your help!

Damian

ATOM_X

damian1978 said:
Thanks for that! Would it just be a standard set of rings from vauxhall then? I suppose I could just remove the small end caps from under the crank, slide the pistons up, replace the rings and the slide then back down and replace the caps? Would that be the easiest way do you think?

Many thanks for your help!

Damian

You would be ill advised not to hone the bores prior to changing rings
so unless you are taking the whole engine out
Forget
changing rings

damian1978

Thanks for that, I think im going to leave the rings alone to be fair - the engines only done 80k and there's never been a hint of smoke from the exhaust, so i think it will be up to the job of a new head (i hope!).

Thanks for the help guys,
Damian

francav

hi, how have you got on with this fault, my engine is doing same, ive been told to take head off, there is a restrictor just above the head gasket, let me know how your getting on with yours, thanks fran.

damian1978

Hi fran, I haven't actually got mine fixed yet as I'm waiting for my parts to arrive. I'm doing the work myself but its still an expensive job. The exhaust cam has got so hot its melted some of the carriers and snapped them in two.

Although I don't have the head off yet, I think it will turn out to be blocked oilways to the exhaust cam - the inlet cam has suffered no such damage which makes me think the oil pump hasn't given up, although I would like to replace the oil pump for peace of mind. The £285 price tag is slightly puitting me off though!

I'll post an update when I get more into the job, when my parts arrive.

Cheers
Damian

francav

my head is no good, took it off yestarday and been told its not repairable, but luky for me i have another, i found the fault what caused mine, the restrictor on bottom of head was blocked with part of gasket i think, hope this helps you with yours.