Head Gasket Question

[tctwaites]

Hey all. I have my 90 mm 2.4l engine. I have done water pumo, timing, tensioner, full tuneup, set timing, and it runs beautifully.

My question is, today when I started her she started smoking a little bit. Not at idle, just when you hit the gas. And not all that much. Drove home just fine, didnt feel like any loss of power or anything and didnt even come close to the middle on temp.

I checked the oil, and there is no coolant mixed in. I am pretty sure that it is the head gasket going bad, but just wanted to get a second opinion before I did the work on her.

Thank you in advance.

Tyler

[royster]

One word: valve seals.

Wait...that's two words.

Anyways, almost always the valve seals are the cause of smoking on these engines. It is well worth your time and effort to look into that first, before going any deeper.

Some helpful information. Holler if you need more. http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin/showthread.php/2956-Roy-s-Garage-90-2-4-4G64-5-spd-D-50?p=26346&viewfull=1#post26346

[geezer101]

^what he said. If the head gasket is on it's last hurrah you'll notice the engine will be running rough (unless it goes Chernobyl on you without warning) It is actually possible to replace valve stem seals without removing the head - but it is always a good opportunity to tear it down and do a general health check on it if you are going to replace the stem seals. A little port work, a valve cut, weld up any coolant galleries that look corroded and give it a skim to reface it - and it'll be good to go for years. :thumbup:

[royster]

If you don't have the time and money to remove the head, it's not difficult to replace the valve seals with the engine intact. The procedure involves using some rope that will fit through the spark plug hole: then you hand-crank the engine until the cylinder with rope is near TDC. The rope keeps the valve from falling into the cylinder when you remove the valve spring, and you can safely remover the seals. You do this for each cylinder. I've done it, and it isn't tedious. You'll need a $20 valve compressor and $20 in valve seals. Good idea to replace the valve cover gasket, too.

My experience, after replacing the seals, is that the engine DID smoke a bit on start-up a few times afterwards, but soon there is no smoke at all. Many members will testify to the benefits of replacing the valve seals.

If you conduct this procedure, be absolutely sure to plug the oil holes on the cylinder head before you start removing the rocker assembly, to keep parts, bolts or lifters from dropping into the engine. Use "rocker condoms" to keep the lifters in the rocker arms.

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