4.0 SOHC head gaskets/timing chains

[JJMaine]

They do have a warranty and they were quick to refund me my $100 that I spent at the machine shop this morning so they aren't all bad. Probably just some knuckle head doing the work on their reman stuff...

 

[JJMaine]

Leak testing as we speak. I assume this is what you meant Uncle Gump? Denatured alcohol down the ports to see if it leaks through the valves? So far so good but at this point definitely worth checking!!!

I would assume a leak would show itself fairly quickly with denatured alcohol since it's so thin? After a quick Google search it was the best way I could drum up to check in a hurry

 

[Uncle Gump]

You're correct...

I typically used mineral spirits.

If they leak... it will happen quickly.

 

[JJMaine]

They are sending me the "correct" camshaft. Big whoop. I wouldn't buy any reman heads from Bishop Engines on eBay. I guess nobody takes pride in their work anymore (or very few do). Going to just switch over all my stuff to these reman heads (camshafts, lash adjusters and followers) and pray that at the VERY least they were smart enough to keep the correct cam caps with the correct heads.

Like I said before they had 2 sets of heads for sale on eBay and obviously some mix and match happened. Going to avoid reman trash in the future if at all possible. Shran tried to warn me a couple months ago.

 

[JJMaine]

Awesome, thanks Uncle Gump, I did them all for 15-20 minutes and they stayed dry as a bone. At least a small victory

 

[Uncle Gump]

At least they got that part right.

And that's actually saying something about their shop...

 

[JJMaine]

I'm thankful I didn't go for a reman long block. Imagine the treasures one of them things hold. Next up for me will 100% be a low mileage used engine with new timing components if I ever need it.

 

[Shran]

This is why it's nice to use your local machine shop if you have one, so that you can look them in the eye when they mess up.

That said I'm not sure who I'd even use - there used to be a couple really good ones here but one retired, and the other is under new ownership and nobody seems to be happy with their work. The third one I used kind of has a mediocre reputation. I think they can probably build a mean small block Chevy but I dunno about anything modern.

 

[JJMaine]

The shop I brought the head to this morning is local and I think he has a pretty good reputation though I think his specialty is the older hot rod stuff and race cars (we have a small race track locally). I'll just go there from now on until I have a reason not to. Hopefully I won't need to too often!

 

[JJMaine]

Head gaskets and heads installed and torqued down to sequence.

Did have another minor setback, one of the sparkplug holes had some funky threads so I ran a thread chaser through it and torqued in a fresh sparkplug before I put the head on in case it went sideways. I figure the head gaskets will blow again long before it needs another set of spark plugs.

I'll get the cams out this afternoon and replace them with all my old stuff.

 

[JJMaine]

This could be an absolute nightmare. I may have to scrap these heads and try to get those clowns to compensate me for my original purchase cost, the $100 I spent at the machine shop as well as new head bolts and head gaskets.

Neither of the cylinder heads have the correct cam caps I don't think. On my cylinder heads, the heads are both stamped '11 and all of the cam caps are stamped '11.

On these reman heads, the head stamped '09 has cam caps stamped '08

And the reman head stamped '07 has cam caps that are stamped '06. Is this normal, they should all be stamped the same correct? I wish I had checked before I bolted the heads on and wasted the gaskets and bolts

Also the bearing surfaces look awfully rough compared to the bearing surfaces on my heads.

The one cam I bolted in so far spins but not as free as it did in my head when I took it out. What do you guys think, one, about the different cam caps and two about the rough looking bearing surfaces?

 

[JJMaine]

Look at the lines on the cam after spinning it with some assembly lube on it. These heads are trashed no?

 

[Shran]

I would assume the number stamps may just correspond to the year the part was made and that alone wouldn't bother me. That bearing surface though...yikes. I cannot imagine why that would be OK... is there a separate bearing in the caps like you'd see on a crankshaft or are the caps the bearing (thus replaceable/wear item themselves?)

Hope someone who has been inside a SOHC engine will chime in here, sorry my experience with those is zero but I've been inside plenty of other engines and that does not give me warm fuzzy feelings.

 

[Shran]

On the bright side here you could be dropping a reman engine in right now, blissfully unaware of the problems, or paying someone else to do that and you'd both be raging mad when it destroys itself... so there's that. At least you can see what you're getting.

 

[JJMaine]

100% I'm not even going to stress it. I wish I wouldn't have bolted them on wasting the head bolts and gaskets but thankful I didn't try to run them.

No separate bearings, the cams ride directly on the aluminum of the cylinder head and caps (like what I've seen on all of the Japanese motorcycles I've worked on).

The eBay seller told me to return them (which involves me paying return shipping) and I told them they are crazy. I said, email me some prepaid return labels and I'll send you garbage back so you can sell it to the next guy and rip them off. Why they'd even make me send them back at this point is beyond me. If they were smart they'd just refund my money and call it a day. Scam artists.

I checked the valves on my heads and some are leaking so it looks like mine will need a good rebuild (and hopefully it's a GOOD rebuild). I've got more confidence in my local shop then I do another reman head.