Is is worth it - head gasket?

[Petros]

that happens with all parts suppliers, even the local ones. They can only list what their supplier shows as fitting for the item. I once ordered a bunch of seals from RA, all were good except for one was clearly the wrong size. the box it came in was even labeled with the correct part number, I bought one locally at an auto parts store, it was the same brand, with the same part number on the box, but the seal in the box was different and correct one. local seal cost as $8, RA seal was $2, not worth sending back. Still saved money, but I once bought a set or rings locally, and there were three different sizes in the same box! I took it back of course, but it set me back another whole day. the store clerk was embarrassed and apologetic, but it happens to everyone.

It is not unusual for suppliers to get the effective model year mixed up particularly with the 86-87 model year for wagon vs. sedan, 4wd vs. 2wd. consider that an employee inputting part number listings, looking over the model and date separations, not knowing the actual differences in the car, will often get confused and make a guess. Even the fwd vs. 4wd, many parts are identical, but many are not. It is easy to get these mixed up. than you have simple dumb errors, wrong part in the box (as with my engine seal). When humans are involved, foul ups will happen.

[rer233]

That's why whenever I'm looking for parts for my '87's I just tell 'em they're '85's.

[Jonymoto]

Does anybody know where I can buy a tranny mount shown below for T4, please? RA cannot guarantee they won't send me the wrong one again.

[Jonymoto]

Worse case I can modify the mount.

[ARCHINSTL]

Jony - for what it is worth...
Our chain of Autozones carry it - and the one for the AT:
http://www.autozone.com/drivetrain/tran ... ckfit=true
Our chain of Advance Auto Parts does not carry it.
Our chain of O'Reilly Auto Parts shows both it and the AT (same parts as at AZ):
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0338
Tom M.

[Jonymoto]

Sorry for going off topic.

Thanks Tom, I will contact Autozone and see if they can guarantee that they will send me the one shown in their picture which incidentally has the same part no. 8377 as the one sent to me by RA.

[mrdance123]

I disassembled the head, 1/2" missing gap between 1 & 2. I wonder where it went, out the exhaust I hope.
Where can I buy Camshaft bearing caps? One of them is broke in half, on the end near #4.
Thank you everyone for your advice

[rer233]

Cam bearing caps are matched to the cyl head- caps are bolted to the head and the cam journals are then line bored. If one cap is broken, you should replace the head (it 's probably badly warped anyway.) Shouldn't to be hard to find a good used one.)

[xirdneh]

I suspect Those small cam caps do not get much wear since the cam is being pressed down by valve rockers. Ones I have re moved show little to no wear. So I would have no problem grabbing one off of a wrecking yard car. Small differences in machining would not worry me.

[xirdneh]

I suspect Those small cam caps do not get much wear since the cam is being pressed down by valve rockers. Ones I have re moved show little to no wear. So I would have no problem grabbing one off of a wrecking yard car. Small differences in machining would not worry me.

[Petros]

Xirdneh,

this is incorrect, they are exact fit for the head, the alignment of the cam bore is unique to each head and the caps must match the head. one can get replacement caps, but the head would have to go to a machine shop where they would re align drill the cam bore.

randomly taking a used cap from another head might work good enough if luckly. But if there is a large enough misfit, it could lock the cam and prevent rotation, or it might allow too much oil leakage, and cause the oil pressure to drop off, risking severe damage to the rest of the engine.

it might be cheaper to just get another head if one is available, if not you have to have the cam bore redrilled with the new cap by an auto machine shop.

[Petros]

now I reread the original post, I want to know exactly what do you mean by "1/2" missing gap between 1 and 2"? How did the cam bearing caps fail? Never even seen that before, did an earlier repair get them mixed around perhaps?

is the head missing metal between the combustion chambers? If so the head is scrap, there is no reliable way to fix it that is economically feasible.

find a new head, there are many on the forum that likely have an extra head for you at a fair price.

[mrdance123]

Sorry I was not clear.... the gasket rings lost a 1/2" chunk between 1&2. I am replacing that head + camshaft, doing my own sanding to flat. My first head gasket job 30k miles ago, years ago - before finding this forum and the excellent how-to's. I had that head and valves machine shop resurfaced, apparently a poor job done. That head shows a depression there (not flat) on the narrow between 1&2, with flat edge and feeler gauge, surely preventing tight gasket seal.

I forgot why the cap broke, until today recalling.... My sloppy work - a small screw had fallen in there near the cap or more likely - actually pinned underneath when cap was bolted down. How that can happen unnoticed I be very embarrassed. Found that screw short time later after noises and damage done. Removed screw cleaned up scrapings and put broken cap back, one bolt holding each half, it ran 30k miles until gasket blew again.

[Petros]

yes, that would do it. when a head gasket blows out like that my experiance is that it had likely been seeping for some time, consuming coolant little at a time. Eventually it just blows out and you are down to two running cylinders which is not enough to drive the car, even very slowly.

Make the block and the head surface are flat, clean all of the head bolts and the headbolts threads, follow the procedure in the repair guides section, and your new head gasket with the new head should last a long time

[mrdance123]

Success! Repair completed, runs great. Compression restored to respectable readings of 160,165,165,160 - on original high mileage engine 292K miles. Dad is happy - he does not have to buy a new car.