TeamSwift

so i warped a head. my ffault. head temps too high and coolant temp to high and did not stop.
anyways, put it on glass. could rock it. sanded it till i can rock it.
going with grey silicone and a new head gasket. dunno what will happen.
im dead broke (again) and there are no mark I swifts in the area. ( ive check many times, no metros, either).

mostly im complaining. this car is my home. ugh.

_________________
"muchos tanks, village destruidos"
"muchos sanks, menos submarinos"
"its the dreams that keep you alive"
-vernon wasser-

88 sprint, 4dr sold
87 turbo 2dr, never ran
86 sprint, 2dr current DD!

Was the needle on the temperature gauge just touching the overheating range or was it pinned as far as it would go? How many minutes were you driving it with the temperature gauge like that? Why was it overheating?

I'm interested in knowing because I have a bunch of Mark1s that I'm not driving because they overheated and they keep losing coolant at a high rate.

driving in desert. 100+ F. est 15 minutes at 'just touching' HOT mark.
cylinder head temps been running at 220- 240 mark for a long time.
radiator is shot. no good.

if losing coolant, check thermostat on manifold, check intake gasket. upper and lower radiator hoses, radiator itself. water pump (buy a bosch, no other brand), water pump gasket. check cylinder to block mating for coolant leaks.(blacklight??)

ebay has new radiators for the 40 - 70 mark. i got one with plastic tanks. ill report back.

getting head gasket today. will grey silicone the top to the head and wait 24 hours and see how it goes.
also, will be using 'prestone fill and flush' on radiator. 2.95 at china mart (walmart )

_________________
"muchos tanks, village destruidos"
"muchos sanks, menos submarinos"
"its the dreams that keep you alive"
-vernon wasser-

88 sprint, 4dr sold
87 turbo 2dr, never ran
86 sprint, 2dr current DD!

^^^Thanks for the update and the information. I will be dealing with the same cylinder head problems myself in the near future when I start fixing all the blown head gaskets. I hope your head repair works out O.k. What is " grey silicone" ? Do you have a name brand or something? Is it better than black or clear or white or blue or orange silicone?

I'm not understanding the phrase " blacklight " after you mention check cylinder head to block for leaks. Is that some kind of leak identifying method?

Remember your piston rings.
They probably are due for a change and that will cost you only $25.
Now is the time to do that because the former rings, no matter how short/long they've been in have now lost their temper and are basically useless.
Since the head is off, take an extra 30 minutes to drop the pan and unbolt the pistons from the crankshaft.

Being poor isn't a crime; doing $tupid $hit can keep you in the poor house.
Driving the car when the temp gauge is on "H" is one of the worst things you can do to these engines; or any engine for that matter.
All your prior work is shot due to the failure to swap in a new radiator...and driving the engine to its unfortunate death.

Glad to hear you popped for a new radiator.
Start making wise decisions and you will get out of debt sooner.

Don't feel like the lone stranger; prior to joining Teamswift I too have overheated an engine.
Now I listen to the members and take better care of my cars.

The money we save?
I bought a new yellow 'daily driver':



...well, maybe not new, but a helluva daily driver.

Plus, the Wife bought me a spare engine in case the D-315 kicks the bucket:


Good luck with the Ultra Gray; you torque it down carefully and let it sit for a day or two before driving it.
Almost forgot: now would be a good time to start attending the Church of your choice weekly.
You're going to need all the help you can get as the temperatures heat up.....

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DIY Broken Bolt Removal: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=41042
DIY Clutch Adjustment: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=48281
DIY Wheel Bearings: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29003
DIY Shocks: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=45483
DIY Wheel Align: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42479
Once you get the cars dialed-in (compression, leaks, bearings, alignment, brakes) swap in new rubber and glass, you've got something which should last for years!

I like to buy import stuff made in the United States,Japan, South Korea or India. If you buy stuff made in the Communist Chinese Dictatorship your money is being used to upgrade the Communist Chinese nuclear and conventional arsenals which are aimed at us and soon to be put to use.

never been able to find those, mostly assembled in america.

at any rate, the car was in a neighborhood that was fond of having non runnning cars towed. siliconed the head gasket top and bottom, got it back safe this morning.

rings, will replace. main bearings too?

id like to make some excuse about being in free way traffic, but i should not have been there in the first place.

the flush did help. cyl head temps running 15F cooler an cyl head temp machanical gauge needle reacts faster. not really looking forward to a plastic tank radiator. we shall see if i can save radiator.

oil pan gasket is leaking, so i need to open bravo up anyways.

head was pitted. estimate removing 1mm or 40 thousands should get nice again. head worth saving, or buy new ebay head?


edit: not really in debt. no credit, no debt. thank god for small blessings.

_________________
"muchos tanks, village destruidos"
"muchos sanks, menos submarinos"
"its the dreams that keep you alive"
-vernon wasser-

88 sprint, 4dr sold
87 turbo 2dr, never ran
86 sprint, 2dr current DD!

when the head warps the cam shaft will be in a bind and accelerate the wear on the cam "bearings" and add tension to the timing belt. A good machine shop can heat and "straighten" the head before milling. It may be savable just have to have it checked. the last new head I bought was $500 exchanged. BTW copper coat works good on head gaskets. it was designed for that task. Plus one can goes a long way.

_________________
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." - Derek Bok


1990 geo metro 1.0 5 speed 3-door hatchback "herbie"
1990 geo metro 1.0 5 speed convertible "sportie"

if your really having money troubles.

is the head you need from a n/a sprint?

i have a spare n/a motor (unknown condition)
i could take the bare head off and throw it your way for cost of shipping


but only if you are really in need lmk

I never knew that, thanks for the info. I have something like 5 or 6 or 7 turbo and non turbo MK1s out of action because of blown headgaskets so if the heads are warped I'll see if they can be heated and straightened. It also saves you the problem of the timing being retarded I guess. I read somewhere I think that the timing goes out 1 degree for every one thousandth shaved off the head.

Thanks again for posting that information. Great stuff.

i really been wanting to get a spar motor.
alpine, email me, maybe we can work something out. i got some money comming in at the moment...

[email protected]

im in yuma so a drive to san diego would be nice in this weather.

_________________
"muchos tanks, village destruidos"
"muchos sanks, menos submarinos"
"its the dreams that keep you alive"
-vernon wasser-

88 sprint, 4dr sold
87 turbo 2dr, never ran
86 sprint, 2dr current DD!

You cant get the head dead straight with that method but close enough to reduce the machining required.

_________________
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." - Derek Bok


1990 geo metro 1.0 5 speed 3-door hatchback "herbie"
1990 geo metro 1.0 5 speed convertible "sportie"

^^^^Thanks again for the information though, there's so much stuff I've learned here on teamswift that has saved me hundreds of dollars, actually thousands if I count the gas savings from keeping these little fuel misers going, and days of time that I never would have learned if not for teamswift and people on teamswift sharing their knowledge.