This is OT, but might be of interest to some people. My the headgasket on my wife's 4runner blew the other day, and I have the heads off of it now, but I want to make sure there isn't any damage to the head itself. I thought I'd get it surfaced in case it warped, but is there a way to check for cracks? they can't be magnafluxed becase they aren't magnetic.. ferrous, is that right?
aluminum heads on the little ricy motors are fun...some of them warp enough to keep the cam from turning, and need to be straightened before being surfaced. A well equipped machine shop can pressure test those heads.
You are right, mag particle (magnaflux) will not work on anything that is not magnetic. You can do penetrant test, or the pressure test.
hi nate, all the advice you have been given has been right on the money, but i would add ; if you did not have oil in the water ,don`t bother pressure testing it. (pressure testing is most useful for finding a water leak that is not readily visible) if you want to check the head for cracks, lightly glass bead the chambers, if they are cracked you will see them . (do not use a wheel or any grinder as it can move aluminum into the crack and disguise it) after spending 9 years as an automotive machinist , i never missed a crack that was in a chamber. (although i did miss one in the galley of an escort head) the die will only point out the obvious. squirrel is right about checking to see if the cam rotates freely. if it rotates freely (meaning it doesn`t need to be straightened) you`ll be fine with a surface. gary
cool, thanks. I really think it was just the headgasket, it happened after it overheated... it was my fault, i was putting off putting in the new radiator that I had had for a couple weeks... The thing was still running, but shooting my fresh coolant out the tailpipe and halfway across the garage.. quite impressive!
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