bkv

Please, help. My 90 5 cyl has a leaking head gasket. Left side, approximately the middle of the block. Changed the gasket recently as I thought it was blown out, but it did not help.
When changing the gasket, I checked the head and the block surface and did not find any corruption. Any ideas?

Thanks a lot

Spanglear

Should always get the head skimmed when doing the gasket.

bkv

Is that a kind of common problem with those engines? Should only the head to be skimmed? Sould I disassemble the head (What a pain!)? How much the skimming cost?

MikTip

Whats it leaking? Oil? Water?

MikTip

You re-use the original head bolts?

Spanglear

The head has a tendancy to warp with the heating and cooling of the engine over time and the different expansion rates of the block and the head. This is partly why overheating can blow a head gasket. The allowable deviation from perfectly flat is 0.1mm according to the manual I have, hence the need to machine it. It is a fairly standard procedure that any competent machine shop should be able to do. Should take them 2/3 hours.

It is also very important to use NEW head bolts and tighten them in the correct order, and to the correct torque and angle.

BTDT

Graham

bkv

Water (means coolant) is leaking.

bkv

No, I replaced the bolts as well as the gasket itself.

bkv

I tried to measure the warp when I removed the head and I did not find anything to be wrong.

MikTip

You can see its actually coming from the head gasket?

How corroded was the block & head water jackets once you removed the head?

The newley installed head gasket: did all its holes match up very closely to the head & block?

Where did you get the head gasket from?

What torque sequence of the head bolts did you use? "X" pattern-center outward?

OEM "stretch" head bolts?

Torqued to? What type & brand of torque wrench used? Craftsman? Snap-On?

Has the engine ever been overheated?