How to find Cracked Heads

If your engine has overheated and now it is running rough and misfiring, then it is possible that it can have a cracked cylinder head. A cracked cylinder head calls for replacing the head with a new casting, but you might get lucky and find that only the head gasket has developed a leak. The only way to know for sure is to either put a camera in the cylinder to have a look around, or to remove the cylinder head for inspection. Of course, once you have narrowed down and identified the problem as water entering the cylinder, the cylinder head needs to come off the engine, anyways. Here is a quick rundown of the procedures involved in diagnosing and locating the problem with your engine's cylinder head.

It is not smart to think that just because a cylinder head has a crack that water will mix with the oil. In fact, if water and oil mix then it is not always an indication of a cylinder head problem, as the most common cause of this is a leaking intake manifold gasket, letting the water jacket leak into the lifter valley of the engine. TO find water in the oil is very easy, and you will not have to "look for water droplets" as the other article states, because your oil will look like chocolate milk if it has water in it. To add to that, it is not a very good idea to stick your finger in the radiator coolant because the normal temperature of the coolant is over two hundred degrees and it will cause severe burns to your skin. Also, do not be fooled by bad information because there are no systems that will shut your car's engine off if the cylinder head has a crack in it. In fact, if your engine shuts down because of a crack in a cylinder head, then it has overheated and burned up. The only fix for that is to replace the entire engine and everything else that coolant flows through, such as the radiator, hoses, and heater core because they will also be damaged due to the overheating problem and will fail after a short amount of time.

Now for how to identify a situation that calls for removing the cylinder head from your engine. The easiest way to tell if coolant is entering a cylinder is to let the engine cool off, and then remove the spark plugs. Then, with the spark plugs removed, have someone try to crank the engine. If there is water in any of the cylinders, it will come shooting out of the spark plug hole, and you will know right away that the cylinder head needs to come off the engine. Another common way to diagnose a situation that calls for removal of a cylinder head is with a compression test, though not as effective as the spark plug removal method, a cylinder with low compression can indicate the need for the cylinder head to be removed for further inspection. If you do not have the tools to pull the spark plugs out of the engine, or a compression tester to check for cylinder pressures, then you can fill the cooling system up,and run the engine while looking at the radiator fluid level. If combustion gasses are being allowed to enter the cooling system through a leak in the cylinder, then you will see bubbling in the fluid, before it gets hot enough to boil. Finally, if you do not feel comfortable with running your engine with the radiator cap off, you can easily diagnose the situation by squeezing a radiator hose. What you are looking for there is if the hose gets pressurized, before the engine warms up to normal operating temperature.

All of the tests mentioned earlier can be done without involving a shop, and paying about a hundred dollars, just to find out that the cylinder head needs to come off the engine before they can tell you how much more it will cost to fix your car. If any of those tests show positive, then the next step is to remove the cylinder head from the engine. When the cylinder head is removed, you can then turn it upside down, and get your glass of water. Pour some water in each one of the combustion chambers on the cylinder head, and watch if the water disappears. If the valves are closed and the water disappears, then there is a crack in the head and it will need to be replaced with a new (or rebuilt) one. IF the water does not drain out of the combustion chambers on your cylinder head, you are not "safe" yet. The next step is to look at the cylinder walls for cracks. This means you will have to turn the engine by hand and visually inspect the inside of your engine. If you find any cracks in there, you will have to replace the entire engine. If all of that looks good, then you are in good shape, and should be able to get away with simply replacing the head gasket, and putting everything back together.

One thing that you need to be aware of is that when water enters the cylinders, it does not compress like the air and fuel does that is supposed to be in there, and the upward force of the piston can actually bend the connecting rod that connects the piston to the crankshaft. To look into this, you will want to actually measure the height of the piston in the cylinder, when it is at top dead center. If the piston sits lower than the others then you will certainly be in need of a connecting rod.

As you can see getting water in the cylinders of your engine is not a good thing at all, and other problems may be lurking behind the scenes that will not show up until after you complete the repair. The best thing you can do is to carefully inspect every aspect that was discussed in this article, and your car will thank you by giving you many more years of service. Thanks for reading, and watch out for people peddling bad information, because sometimes the information can do more harm than good, especially if you go sticking your fingers in the fluid of a hot radiator.
If your engine is running hot, then you will want to read how to diagnose an overheating engine. The first thing to look for is air in the cooling system, so here is how to bleed the engine cooling system. If air keeps getting into the cooling system for no reason then you might have to diagnose a cracked head. Other causes of head problems would let themselves be known by white smoke from the exhaust. Of course, water in the oil does not have to mean head problems, so make sure to read about different causes of water in engine oil. If you do not use Anti-freeze, or engine coolant then you should know what to do when water freezes in your engine. If you live up north then you will definitely want to know how to install a block heater in your vehicle, for all those cold mornings, too. Remember, if the Radiator comes out to have different temperatures, it could be dirty, or it might be time to change the radiator.