PI headswap first start....BIG PROBLEM HELP!!
- Thread starter 98blackstallion
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53BigDog
Active Member
98blackstallion said:hey man dont worry about it just read my thread and learn what NOT to do before hand lol
LOL Amen, I am taking notes!
well guys im putting the finishing touches on it right now...just hooking up the wiring and some odds and ends...so sometime here soon im gonna fire it up again...Im nervous as hell about it tho...but we'll see
CanadaStang
New Member
98blackstallion said:
Don't worry, I'm sure it'll turn out fine. Just don't rush yourself or take shortcuts, take your time and double check everything as you go. Good luck!!
ok guys i fired her up and took it for a drive but i have some valve cover gasket issues i think but thats no biggie. The car was leaking water after i started it and the long it has run the more its started to stop and slow down.
ok guys here yet ANOTHER problem.... I was taking it for a test drive when as i start to pull into my drive all of a sudden POP! something smacks the hood and starts running like *****... so i pop the hood only ot find that the #7 spark plug flew OUT of the damn head...what the crap.....this is crappy luck for me..
4 possibilities I can think of.
1) The threads were bad in the head.
2) you cross threaded the plug
3) you forgot to torque the plug down.
4) water was in the cylinder, it over pressurized and the plug was was the weak point.
hopefully it was one of the first 3, if the fourth, hopefully no damage to the rod.
But you know what fixing it properly means.... off comes the head. I once fixed a sparkplug hole in a AL head on a 4 cylinder turbo mazda without removing it. did my best to keep chips from going into the clyinder and then blew it out, vacumed and finally turned the engine over with the plug removed so anything that remained shot out the plug hole. engine ran fine for a good long time after that. (used a helicoil on it)
1) The threads were bad in the head.
2) you cross threaded the plug
3) you forgot to torque the plug down.
4) water was in the cylinder, it over pressurized and the plug was was the weak point.
hopefully it was one of the first 3, if the fourth, hopefully no damage to the rod.
But you know what fixing it properly means.... off comes the head. I once fixed a sparkplug hole in a AL head on a 4 cylinder turbo mazda without removing it. did my best to keep chips from going into the clyinder and then blew it out, vacumed and finally turned the engine over with the plug removed so anything that remained shot out the plug hole. engine ran fine for a good long time after that. (used a helicoil on it)
you do know the heads are reversible right? What that means is you can put the driver side head on the passenger side and vice versa. Although this is great and makes installation easy, it also means you REALLY have to pay attention to the oil galley plugs!! If there is no plug on the back of the head, it could mean that was on the other side of the former car which means unfortunately the plug is in the front of the head which means it's not supplying oil to the timing chains.
I hate to say it, but you may want to take the timing cover off to be sure this is not the case. Otherwise you'll have bigger problems soon.
As far as the oil mixed with water, you most likely have a leaking gasket somewhere.
I hate to say it, but you may want to take the timing cover off to be sure this is not the case. Otherwise you'll have bigger problems soon.
As far as the oil mixed with water, you most likely have a leaking gasket somewhere.
im so tired or working on this f'n car...everything i have is bad luck and im tired of it....AAAAHHHH....now its off with the f'n timing cover.. Actually maybe if I blow up this short block maybe that will give me an excuse to get another one lol
Well guys I just got off work and checked out the spark plug situation.....GUESS WHAT!!!! THREADS ARE ****ING GONE!!! IM EXTREMELY PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW...AAAAAAHHHHHhhh im going to push the f'n car off a cliff....
BurningRubber
10 Year Member
- Dec 6, 2004
- 1,865
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Ehh... I'll take it off your hands before you push it off a cliff.. I still havnt found a friggin Mustang yet. 
I feel I'm not meant to have one, seriously I've been looking for over a year. I'm probaly just as pissed off as you are. But my suggestion, just buy another set of pi heads.. Hell, pull some from a junkyard if your short on cash.
I feel I'm not meant to have one, seriously I've been looking for over a year. I'm probaly just as pissed off as you are. But my suggestion, just buy another set of pi heads.. Hell, pull some from a junkyard if your short on cash.
53BigDog
Active Member
im about to give up on this project i can say that much...I cant deal with everything going to hell...im thinking of helicoleling it with the head still on but after its done i will stick one of telescoping magnets done in the cylinder and get out the damn shavings.
hey guys do you think that technique would work? Would sticking a magnet down into the cylinder work? Because Im sort of funds and I cant afford to get another set of bolts and gaskets again...I spend way over my budjet for this project...I mean IF i need to pull the head I will but i dont really want to..
Better safe than sorry. I realize that the gaskets and TTY bolts will cost you but having it done correctly is important. If 1 little thing falls into that cylinder and you fire it up, think of the cost to get a new set of heads!
think of the cost of getting a new short block if this little problem screwed up a rod! lol Those threads were excellent when I checked them and when I put the plugs in. That must have been some hellasious force to blow that thing out...
