Well I've finally got the time together to tackle The Monster.

I bought an '84 SE from a forum member awhile back, only to have it start burning coolent the third day I went out to stare at it.
Engine's a little Duke with 49,000 miles on it.
I've got even compression all around, a really lousy cold idle, a high idle once it warms up, a stumble if I rev it up in neutral and an utter buttload of steam/water coming out of the exaust. No oil in the coolent and I cant detect and coolent in the oil.

My best guess at this point is a cracked head/intake. Anyone care to validate this?
If that's the case, is there any chance of welding a crack shut? If not, does anyone have a similarly low miles head they want to part with?

You claim no coolant in the oil and even compression but believe that you are burning coolant off? Are you sure that it's not escaping from the radiator cap or a hose leak.? Before you tear the engine apart, rent or purchase a cooling system pressure tester. Do a pressure test on the system and see if it holds pressure. If you can't spot any leakage and the system fails to hold pressure then the head gasket or head is at fault. I
f the head is the problem a temporary ( although crude) repair can be made with complete cooling system sealer. However, if you use this stuff make sure that you flush and run plain water only. If there is any dirt in the cooling system, the sealer can clog it. You can buy these head seralers at Walmart for about $5.00. Several years ago on a trip to Florida, a coolant leak developed when I was in Virginia. I pulled off, went to an auto store and put a can of sealer in. The repair held for the remainder of the trip to Florida and back.

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Remove the thermostat and recap the tstat housing. Fill and burp the cooling system. Run it at idle till warm. Pull all 4 plugs out. Jack the front up and remove the rad cap. drain the oil and leave the plug out. Put a clean pan under the drain hole. Let it sit overnight. Next morning, check for coolant in the pan. Disconnect the coil or pull the fuse for the ignition and the fuse for the fuel pump. Have someone crank it over just long enough for all 4 pistons to make a compression stroke, while you watch the plug holes for signs of coolant being ejected. It's not foolproof but will often show the leakage.

Several people are parting out 84s right now in the mall section. Be expensive to ship a cylinder head, but maybe one is close to you? I wouldn't go the route of trying to have a head repaired on a duke. It's not an economical way to go, as plentiful as they are.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-06-2005).]

Cracked heads are the bane of the Iron Duke's existance. A very lightweight casting, it only takes one serious overheat to crack the head. If you buy a used head, get it magnafluxed and rebuilt before installing it.

If you're blowing coolant out the exhaust (it will smell sweet from the antifreeze) then you have a cracked head or blown head gasket. Either way the head has to come off for repair/replacement.

JazzMan

I am completly and utterly certain that coolent is being burnt. I cant stand behind the car because my leg will be wet, along with the cement and the back end of the car. Sweet smelling steam everywhere.

And a can of "screw-an-engine" is hardly what I'm looking for, I want this Fixed, not put on hold and made more difficult in the future.

The reason I asked about fixing my head is the car only has 49,000 miles on it. Anything I pull out of a junkyard will likely have 150,000 or more. I'm doing this on the massivly cheap, so I'd rather fix a small leak and put in new valve seals then do a complete grind-polish-replace-etc of a new-older head.

Is there a certain spot they commonly crack in?

It doesn't matter how many miles are on the engine. There are no moving parts to the head itself-everything's replaceable on it except the casting itself, and I guess you could say it is a moving part due to the constant contracting and expanding it does.

Crack location depends on where the offending hot spot took place. Between the valves is not uncommon, and neither is the flow port down under one of the exhaust valves. But, I've seen them crack in the intake area too, I guess because of the contrast between the hot exterior and the cold air coming down the intake. If you are planning to repair thisyourself by welding, you have better welding skills than I do, which admittedly wouldn't take much. Cast iron isn't easy to work with, assuming you can even get access to the cracked area. Maybe you can do it- I just don't know. Never did one myself. I've not seen a successful cast iron repair that didn't get preheated. It's just the nature of the material.

I have heads repaired in the past. BIG expensive heads. As I remember it----They completely strip them down to the bare casting, heat the chunk up in sand, and while still hot, drill out the ends of the crack so it doesn't get any longer. Solid steel plugs are then pressed into these holes. It is reheated, then welded-I think maybe with nickel rod..been 20 yrs or so. Ground down and rechecked. It was expensive, but not as expensive as a new head, which ran minimum of several thousand dollars. This means it has all new guides installed, all new valve seats.

Maybe you will be lucky and it's just the gasket.
Says it's for alum, cast iron and any other metal. Good luck.
I still think you'd be time, $ and piece of mind ahead to get a used head and have it checked.
http://www.aluminumrepair.com/hts528.htm

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-06-2005).]

Coolant leak is fairly easy to detect... go to Autozone, Pep Boys etc that offer loaner tools and get a cooling system pressure tester. If you have a cracked head or head gasket leaking coolant that should show it pretty quick.

If you have piston compression leaking to coolant... You'd likely already know because it often results in instant "over heat"/"boil over."

There are a bunch of places on this car you can lose coolant that aren't real obvious. Like the various pipes running under the car.

The L4 is known for breaking head bolts. Especially middle exhaust side bolt. This can let the head leak coolant without leaking compression in some cases.

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No offense, but how many times do I need to mention it is Obviously Burning Coolent? Not just dripping or mysteriously disappearing, but Sprewing it out the exaust from the moment I start it to when I give up and shut the thing off.
Really sorry, but I get annoyed when I see post after post of suggestions that obviously dont apply to the situation.
Oy vey...

Anyway I started to strip things down today. Found a possability. My intake was held on by slightly more then finger tight bolts. It's as if the last re/re'd it but forgot to torque the bolts down. The gasket around the coolent passage was water soaked and oil from the two openings into the valve area was everywhere. Guess this also explains my oil leak...

could just be bad head gasket leaking into cylinder. that would show no signs of leakage outside of engine.

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quote Originally posted by Jax184: No offense, but how many times do I need to mention it is Obviously Burning Coolent? Not just dripping or mysteriously disappearing, but Sprewing it out the exaust from the moment I start it to when I give up and shut the thing off. Really sorry, but I get annoyed when I see post after post of suggestions that obviously dont apply to the situation. Oy vey... Anyway I started to strip things down today. Found a possability. My intake was held on by slightly more then finger tight bolts. It's as if the last re/re'd it but forgot to torque the bolts down. The gasket around the coolent passage was water soaked and oil from the two openings into the valve area was everywhere. Guess this also explains my oil leak...

Wel, perhaps that's a good thing, provided nothing is damaged from the coolant entering the intake and combustion chambers. A little hard to believe there is no coolant in the oil under that situation but maybe ya lucked out. BTW, it's not unusual at all for those bolts to be loose. Cast iron head, alum intake. contract and expand at different rates makes it easier for the bolts to work out. Keep us posted on the outcome.