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EA82 with cracked head


Guest unix
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This is the engine from the parts car I got. It has a cracked head as I saw today. Between cylinders. It is from '92 and only has 93,000 miles so that was surprising. This does explain very low compression on passenger's side.

 

It is going into my Loyale which has 180,000 miles. Question is, what are the chances that the heads on that engine are still good? If they are not, I will need a single head. Where is that available and how much does it run?

 

P.S. I don't know what's wrong with my Loyale but it has no acceleration, probably also some kind of compression problem, likely due to wear.

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Guest grease weasel

I just redid my head and it was cracked between the itake and exhaust valve on the casting but not where the valve seats.My mechanic said it's OK. So long as a coolent channel does not run along the crack you can still use the head.I did and mine run great. While you got it apart you might consider a port and polish.Just remove casting marks on intake but leave finish.the little bumps atomize the fuel.Exhaust you polish so carbon doesn't stick.Done easily with a dremel tool.Match gaskets you got better flow.

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No, I am afraid the coolant did get in there. Because when the engine was first started, I saw lots of white smoke. I thought it was merely head gasket but it's the worst case scenario. I think the whole head is junk. My question is, can I use the heads from the other EA82 I have (original on my '92 Loyale), it has much higher mileage. Is there any pattern to these heads cracking? Contingent upon what? Overheating? High miles?

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Guest MilesFox

a crack between the valves is ok if it isnt spread open and it is relatively flat.

do you have the headgaskets from the head, is there shiny spots relative to the carbon deposits? if the carbon looks like it has been "cleaned" away is a tell tale sign of coolant burning in the cylinder. look for sighns of "steam cleaning" and if the carbon deposits are uniform throughout the combustion chambers, you should be ok.

i have used a "questionable" head without problems. the only heads i have seen that were too bad to use, tha valve seats had come loose

 

if you can pull the valves out look to see if the crack goes into the intake or exhaust ports

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Guest grease weasel

My car had the same simptoms(low comp. white smoke, leaking oil)and it was only the head gasket was bad.Also right and left heads are the exactly the same on my 92 ea82spfi FYI.Make sure the are machined to the same thickness so you get even compression. Remanufacturerd heads are about $250 each with new valves, springs, seats. ect... You can buy a 30K long block EA-82 for $700.only $200 more you get a almost new motor.Thats what I would do.I just rebuild mine to see if I could do it.It still cost me $200 in gaskets, timing belts, cleaners, tools ect...I learned a lot though, which is priceless.

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Guest GlCraigGT

The left and right heads are not the same on versions with EGR, or turbo. In both cases the right head has some additional machine work

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So you are saying this crack has nothing to do with anything? And that once the head is reinstalled, there should be no problems with compression or anything? It is a short crack about 1". I don't know enough to judge its impact.

 

They both have an EGR valves.

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Guest GlCraigGT

I think what everyone is saying is that small cracks between the valve seats are okay, there is even a service bulletin saying so. Now you are saying that you have a ~1 inch crack between the combustion chambers? If that is the case, I would say that the head is toast. Is there anyway you can get a picture of the head for us to look at.

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