Replacing the Cylinder Head or Not?

twalestwales Band Wagon
in Engine & Drivetrain
I have had a small head gasket leak for a while now and it is finally getting worse and I can't put it off any more. I was curious to see if most people replace there cylinder head with a fully rebuilt, resurfaced, and re-valved head in this situation. Or, is it okay to replace the head gasket and put the old head back on with out having it serviced which seems to cost about $200 and the new replacement is about $280. My 1988 rt4wd has about 160,000 miles on this head. Is there signs once I get the head off that will let me know if I should replace or service the head. There is a head gasket made for leaking heads put out by a Honda bulletin which uses different head bolts and is recommended to use, any thoughts would be appreciated. I was trying to go cheap fix by just replacing the head gasket and bolts but not the head, need a second opinion. Thanks

Comments

  • 300zx300zx Wagonist
    What is it doing? Leaking oil out, leaking coolant into the cylinders?
    Does it have good compression on all 4 cyl's?
  • davensdavens familEE
    Fixing a leaking headgasket comes with its own set of tough decisions...

    • How long is a fully rebuilt, nice tight head going to last on a loose tired old bottom end? It sucks to spend that time/money and have to replace the bottom end 15k later.
    • Is a full head job really going to be cheaper than whole engine swap? Sohc ZCs go for about $400.
    • Which head gasket to use? The original oem gasket was composite and notorious for failing. A lot of the aftermarket oem gaskets are still composite. Honda recommends using their d16z6 or d16y8 all metal gaskets. These actually raise compression ratio a hair also.
    • Do I reuse the head bolts? Most people can get away with a couple uses, but eventually they'll need to be replaced.
    • What if you need to replace head bolts? Skip right ahead to ARP head studs. Marginally more expensive but way better clamping ability.
  • ragenasianragenasian Moderator
    I got away with just doing a rebuild on the head and slapping on a new headgasket. It would be wise to have the head decked while you have it off. I didn't and paid for it by having to take the head back off and having it resurfaced. I also reused my headbolts but I was being cheap. Everything worked okay but putting a rebuilt head on a worn out block isn't advised. It might not seem like anything is bad right now but you might find out after you are done things will change by slapping on a fully rebuilt head on a worn out block. I did it because of money contraints but if I were to do it all again I would have waited and did the whole motor.
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2025