Alloy head wear

[OlberJ]

Hi there folks, just stripped down my engine (3VZFE) and on the head itself it's showing some wear.




This is just above a water jacket on the block and the car has been sitting with water in it, this seems to have corroded the head, only in this area.

What can be done with the head, is there an alloy chemical metal i can buy or do i need to get it tig welded and skimmed?

Thoughts appreciated.


Cheers,
Olie

[That Daddy]

No problem with getting that welded up by a decent machine shop,i have had some pretty erroded waterways welded up over the years with no comeback and once faced are barely noticable,your head as some visable markings from that photo and looks like a slight reface(clean up) would not go amiss.

[Steve_D]

You do not need to do anything with it. As you said it is above the water jacket so will always be in line for corrosion.

However, what it does show is that you have been running the engine without a corrosion inhibitor or not of sufficient strength. The engine manufacturer will advise a certain type (usually expensive) but most quality antifreeze mixes include an inhibitor. For the reason above you must use this all year round.

Steve

[OlberJ]

Yep, as i said, it's been run on water, not coolant (should've made that clearer, sorry).

It's fecked the thermostat and was causing overheating.



Will this continue to corrode now it has started or will i be able to use proper coolant and it be fine as is?

Engine is going to have to go to machine shop to get a snapped bolt removed anyways, will this be quite inexpensive to get fixed at the same time?

[falcemob]

Steve_D said:

You do not need to do anything with it. As you said it is above the water jacket so will always be in line for corrosion.

Steve

Except it is pretty deep and may keep on going until it does serious damage, plus it's corroded to the edge of the head which will not make for a good gasket seal. I'd get it welded and skimmed, it won't be that expensive.

Edited by falcemob on Sunday 3rd August 19:58

[That Daddy]

If you use coolant from now on then the corrosion should stop(flush it out 1st)but why as it not been run on coolant? you better do something soon otherwise you will be changing core plugs,waterpumps etc,are the head waterways enlarged?i would place a new cylinder headgasket over the head face and see if they have enlarged to an excessive amount,check the other alloy water housings for the same thing too,or you are gonna run into major expense.

[Rocket Pepper]

Fill it with Devcon. Let it set. File it and flat it. Perfect.

[That Daddy]

Rocket Pepper said:

Fill it with Devcon. Let it set. File it and flat it. Perfect.

Oi Oi bodger bill

[OlberJ]

That Daddy said:

If you use coolant from now on then the corrosion should stop(flush it out 1st)but why as it not been run on coolant? .

Because the previous owners either were mechanically inept or didn't care (appologies if it's untrue, jus looks that way).

As long as it's salvageable, that's all i want to know.

[Daveuk9xx]

There's nothing wrong with the head other than it needs a good skim. What are you wittering about?

Dave

[That Daddy]

OlberJ said:

That Daddy said:

If you use coolant from now on then the corrosion should stop(flush it out 1st)but why as it not been run on coolant? .

Because the previous owners either were mechanically inept or didn't care (appologies if it's untrue, jus looks that way).

As long as it's salvageable, that's all i want to know.

Certainly appears to be if thats the only corrosion,looks like you caught in time(it does not take long to wreck a motor with alloy and metal components like this

[wildoliver]

Looks suspiciously like someone has been at it with a rotary wire brush too!

[Rocket Pepper]

That Daddy said:

Rocket Pepper said:

Fill it with Devcon. Let it set. File it and flat it. Perfect.

Oi Oi bodger bill

You might jest sir, but Devcon is no bodge. It's not like that cheap JB Weld stuff. If it's good enough for British Aerospace, NASA, and the US military, I'm sure it'll be fine for some old duffer Pug.

http://www.devcon.com/products/products.cfm?brandi...

[That Daddy]

Rocket Pepper said:

That Daddy said:

Rocket Pepper said:

Fill it with Devcon. Let it set. File it and flat it. Perfect.

Oi Oi bodger bill

You might jest sir, but Devcon is no bodge. It's not like that cheap JB Weld stuff. If it's good enough for British Aerospace, NASA, and the US military, I'm sure it'll be fine for some old duffer Pug.

http://www.devcon.com/products/products.cfm?brandi...

Yes agreed,i never had much luck with JB weld either, even trying to get people out of trouble(thermo housings etc)dont know if it improved but i have never used it since and that was years ago.

[OlberJ]

As it's on a V6 and he corrosion is about 3mm deep at worst, skimming ain't an option, it wouldn't sit on the studs in the V correctly.

Heads have been scrapped, spare set there for me to use instead.

Thanks for the info though folks.

[Daveuk9xx]

I wasn't talking about skimming it deep enough to remove the corrosion, just to get a decent surface finish on what is clearly a fairly poor quality finish on the rest of the head. The corrosion is immaterial. It isn't near a waterway or a fire ring. It doesn't affect anything.

Dave

[That Daddy]

Daveuk9xx said:

I wasn't talking about skimming it deep enough to remove the corrosion, just to get a decent surface finish on what is clearly a fairly poor quality finish on the rest of the head. The corrosion is immaterial. It isn't near a waterway or a fire ring. It doesn't affect anything.

Dave

That is true, if that part of the head just covers up a water way opening in the block(blanks off)then the above is spot on,sometimes there are more water jacket passages than that are used,lay a headgasket over the block then the head and you will see what i mean as far as not all are used.