My new to me 2003 AWD Safari with 113k developed a coolant leak that I felt was more than a mere LIM gasket. So I dropped the subframe and pulled the heads off. The head gaskets were OK with no obvious sign of a leak. The LIM gaskets were definitely leaking.
2 of the pistons were at or near TDC but the other 4 cylinder walls were exposed. One of the four did not look like the others. This is cylinder #3 - middle driver's side. Also the site of where coolant could be spied at the head gasket joint.
Area "A" has "goo" that is a lighter color than the carbon buildup. It is a crust and is an "outie". The crust came off by scraping with a razor blade and then a wipe with carb cleaner put that area of the wall back to "normal". Area "B" is a small crater. Cynical me thinks the rings on this piston are probably in bad shape and the crater may be forensic evidence of ring shrapnel. I have not pulled the oil pan off yet. This weekend I will get the dizzy back on so I don't lose timing and do a hand crank compression test of #3 versus a couple of the other cylinders.
Advice and comments?
You'll be hard pressed to get any meaningful information from a hand cranked compression test. Plus you'll have to put the head back on. If you're going to pull the pan anyway go ahead and slide the piston out. That'll give you a chance to look at the rod bearing while you're in there. If this is a low budget repair then I wouldn't worry about that little divot. If this is a rebuild then you'll need to bore it and replace the piston.
The heads and intake are already back on. I'm famous for 1-2 day delayed reactions. My goal Sunday was to have the intake back on and let the RTV cure so by golly, that's what I did. Then my subconscious kicked in and started reminding me that I had better slow down and think about those weird goobers on the wall of #3.
Opti
Dork
10/13/20 6:21 p.m.
My advice is ignore it and run it
Opti said:
My advice is ignore it and run it
At this point I would too.
It is either fixed with the head gasket, or the block is cracked there, so put it back together and see if it explodes.
Sparkydog said:
The heads and intake are already back on. I'm famous for 1-2 day delayed reactions. My goal Sunday was to have the intake back on and let the RTV cure so by golly, that's what I did. Then my subconscious kicked in and started reminding me that I had better slow down and think about those weird goobers on the wall of #3.
In that case I'd just put it back in the car and run with it.
If I had taken it that far apart, I would have yanked the pistons and ball-honed. Re-install with new bearings and rings and probably messed it up worse than it was to begin with.
Put it together. If it runs and doesn't smoke, bob's your uncle.
