End of days!!!! - Cracked cylinder head.......

Hindmost Attitude · Post by **Hindmost Attitude** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:07 pm

Ok, following a phone call from the garage that hit me as hard as a runaway bongo i've calmed enough to try to make sence of this pretty pickle i find myself in. My dad works for the garage sometimes and so i can confirm that the head was taken off, pressure tested and found wanting....

I'd really, really appreciate some informed advice on this matter as either way it looks like i'm going to have to dig deep to sort it out. Do I:

Buy a bare head (ebay £230ish) and get it built up? What price would anyone assume i pay for a build up?

Try to source a head from a breaker? Possible cheaper but always the will it be OK question?

finally should i change the cam belt as a matter of course, i suspect i should and is it true that new head bolts should be used?

Any advice much appreciated[/quote]

scanner · Post by **scanner** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:49 pm

As the belt is off anyway and the majority of cost in changing one is labour - why not?

As I understand it head bolts are "stressed" when being torqued down and actually stretch a bit. If you try and torque then down again you have gone past the stress point already and they are liable to snap.

Once again is it worth the risk.

As for sourcing the head it's really six of one...........half a dozen of the other.

mister munkey · Post by **mister munkey** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:35 pm

Very sorry to hear of your woes, I've just been through the same scenario so know how it feels.

Bottom line for me was to get it fixed right 1st time with a warranty then sort out the finances.

Found a local Bongo friendly garage on the Thursday - Friday morning the brand new built-up head arrived, along with water pump, belts & various other bits & by 11am on the Saturday my beloved was back 100% A1 sorted with a 12 month parts & labour warranty.

So, have faith, it can be done.

Total bill was £1130 but only £220 of that was labour. Quite a chunk of money but peace of mind is priceless. I've also now fitted a coolant loss alarm to help warn me of impending doom in the future - I'd suggest that as a matter of course you do the same.

Best of luck,

Keep us posted. . .

Regards,

.

smartmonkey · Post by **smartmonkey** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:30 am

I would go with a new bare cylinder head so you know you have a good starting point. None of the bits you swap from your old head have any bearing on the overheating and they will be perfectly serviceable.

The cam belt must be changed as a matter of course.

Some heads use stretch bolts, some don't. They were brought in as a labour saving device because it saves having to re-torque the bolts after the gasket has heat sealed. It is good practice to use new ones.

Please don't forget to fix whatever caused the head to crack in the first place. You will have one or more of the following:

Blocked/restricted/sedimented radiator
Iffy thermostat
Tired water pump
Leaking hose
Duff radiator fan

The least you need to do is flush the cooling system and inspect the pump, thermostat and all hoses.

Good luck

dandywarhol · Post by **dandywarhol** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:16 pm

Good advice smartm - no point in rebuilding it to crack the new head!

RobnKathryn · Post by **RobnKathryn** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:37 pm

When my cylinder head cracked, I bought a new head from ebay, including gasket set and bolts, and valve guides for £400.

I removed the old head myself and took it and the new head to a local cylinder head man to fit out the new head with the camshaft, valves and all the gubbins. He had difficultyremoving the stud which the cambelt tensioner loctates onto, and the 3 way metal water pipe junction (where the bleed pipe is joined) and the camshaft bolt......all needed to be replaced. These bits are fairly easy to get hold of (Bongo Bits)except the camshaft bolt, but this was sourced from a Ford dealer. He also felt is was prudent to replace 4 valves (£6 each).

I refitted the head myself, and changed the cambelt, tensioner, and water pump at the same time.

Total cost:

New head inc. gasket set, bolts and valve guides £400
Camshaft bolt £1
Stud £2
3 way water pipe junction £25
Valves £24
labour to build-up new head inc. pressure test on old head £80
water pump (optional) £67
cambelt £16

Total: £615 inc. VAT

I think that if a garage removed the old head and refitted the new one that would be about 6 hours labour so I think an extra £300 would be just about reasonable.

If you can afford it, factor in possible cost for a new rad and critical hoses (£200 supply only + maybe £100 if you get th em fitted.

If you decide to DIY, be careful with the fuel return pipe (the curly pipe that runs between each injector and back to fuel pump) it easy to fracture when you undo the injectors and expensive and hard to get hold of.

Just to make you feel better I did all this then, as a result of a stupid (on my part) egr disablement method .......i ended up with a coin in the cylinder head which trashed the head and a couple of pistons....ended up getting a secondhand engine of ebay and replacing the whole lot which actually only cost me £550 total! (All DIY)

I wouldn't let any garage loose with Bongo mechanics unless they are recommended on this forum..lots of them say they know Bongo's but actually don't!

Good luck

Rob