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Topic: 2.3 turbo cylinder head (Read 2178 times) previous topic - next topic

2.3 turbo cylinder head

OK, the Merkur is acting up...it starts fine but has a miss as well as an irritating tick that speeds up as you rev the motor. It's quiet at idle though. Once the car is warm, the whole exhaust puts off steam.  I am going to do a compression test on it to see if the head gasket is blown but as far as the tick, the head was allegedly rebuilt so I am wondering if it's a lifter or if the rockers were installed wrong.  Do they just bolt down?  Is there any adjustment?  I hate to pull the head, but oh, well gotta get this thing fixed!  Would shaving the heads have an effect on geometry?

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #1 –
Quote from: lakenheath24;281438
Once the car is warm, the whole exhaust puts off steam.


can you be a bit more specific about this? im trying to understand what you mean here...
last time i saw "steam" as you call it coming from an exhaust the cat. convertor was clogged. i guess with a turbo car that can be a real problem.
as for the tick i have to ask, do you have a fram oil filter on there?
"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible
2015 Ford Focus SE 1.0 EcoBoost

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #2 –
The entire valvetrain is contained in the head.  No, the rockers don't bolt down. They are held in tension between the HLA (aka: lifter) on one end, the cam in the middle, and the valve on the other end.  Pull the valve cover and familiarize yourself with it.  There is no adjustment per se, on the follower (aka: rocker).  You can shim the HLA to correct geometry problems, but even that has limits.  Having the head milled won't affect the valvetrain geometry, but it should be kept to the bare minimum.  It will affect compression, although by how much is determined by how much material is removed from the head.  Also, the cam moves that much closer to the crank, and if too much material is removed from  the base of  the head, the timing marks become unreliable/unusable, and setting cam timing becomes a c.
As far as steam and the exhaust, does steam come out of the exhaust when the car warms up?
88 TC 5speed, 168000+ miles, stock 2.3T long block, ported RFE6 exhaust, Evergreen T3 running 15#'s.
Up next: FMIC, fresh air intake, ported intakes, ported big valve head.

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #3 –
to clarify the steam issue, when i drive the car around the block on a test drive, as soon as i pull into the garage the whole exhaust from the header to the cat(not sure if it goes clear back) puts of steam as if you were spraying cold water on a really hot surface. It's not blowing steam out the tailpipe(although some water is coming out).
I just did a compression test and all the cylinders read almost dead on 135 psi but number 3 is reading 125psi. That's within 10% although barely. Also number 3 plug was slightly damp...not gas or oil, it was water as i am running 100% water til I get the noise fixed.

I took the head off a 2.3 N/A motor I have to check out the valve train(never messed with an OHC motor before) and I cant see where some one could mess that up putting it together.

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #4 –
Is the engine using water?  I's suspect a bad head gasket,or possibly a cracked head if the engine is using water along with your other symptoms.
As Ductape91 said, the converter could also be really plugged.
Am I reading your last post correctly, are you running an N/A head on your turbo4?
As far as some one messing up the valve train, it is possible to get a questionable HLA new out of the box.  If they refuse to pump up correctly, you wind up with considerable lash between the follower and the valve tip, and it will tick to beat all h*ll.
Ductape91, I'm curious what the issue with the Fram filter is.  Do tell. I'm always up for learning something new.
88 TC 5speed, 168000+ miles, stock 2.3T long block, ported RFE6 exhaust, Evergreen T3 running 15#'s.
Up next: FMIC, fresh air intake, ported intakes, ported big valve head.

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #5 –
I have a spare motor that is N/A. I removed the head to have a look at the valvetrain.  I will pull the head off the car and see what is up.  What about the HLA's, do they pump up like a lifter? The problem is I bought the car from a guy that said the head was rebuilt and when he went to start it up it had this knocking noise, so he thought it was a rod, got pissed, and sold it off. It didnt have the radiator installed, the valve cover wasnt tightened down and a couple other things so I was thinking it didnt get run in properly.

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #6 –
Yes, the HLA's pump up like a lifter.  If the rebuilt head came with a new stock slider cam, and the previous owner didn't break it in properly, more than likely the cam and slider followers are junk. It'll be quite obvious when you pull the valve cover off if the cam/sliders are wasted.
No need to pull the head on a 2.3 to check the valvetrain, just pull the valve cover.
88 TC 5speed, 168000+ miles, stock 2.3T long block, ported RFE6 exhaust, Evergreen T3 running 15#'s.
Up next: FMIC, fresh air intake, ported intakes, ported big valve head.

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #7 –
Quote from: jangus;281508
sted.
No need to pull the head on a 2.3 to check the valvetrain, just pull the valve cover.


To about half the people out there the head "is the valve cover"... Have heard "it only need as head gasket"(for valve cover gasket), so many times I could puke...

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #8 –
WOAH, I aint that dumb, er , misinformed enough to think you need to pull the head to check the valve train! Although re-reading my post made it sound that way.
  I am going to pull the head on the car to have a look at the head gasket anyway because #3 plug was wet. It is using water but I havent been able to determine how much cuz I can only drive it a short distance due to no tags and no fan.

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #9 –
You might get lucky and find out the head was improperly torqued down.  I'd get the head pressure tested while it's off the car anyway, just to rule it out.  The turbo heads like to crack across the exhaust seats. 
While it's off, verify that it is indeed a turbo spec head. Compare the combustion chamber on the merkur head to the one on that N/A 2.3 you have.  If everything is correct, the turbo chamber won't look like the N/A one. Also, the exhaust valves on the turbo head should be Inconel, which will not attract a magnet, while the normal ones will (lightly).
88 TC 5speed, 168000+ miles, stock 2.3T long block, ported RFE6 exhaust, Evergreen T3 running 15#'s.
Up next: FMIC, fresh air intake, ported intakes, ported big valve head.

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #10 –
Here's a pic of the valvetrain. There is zero wear, but the only thing I notice is that all of the rockers oil holes are full of oil except two. Check out the top middle two. The one on the left has no oil in it and the one to the right doesnt have much. How can I tell if the HLA didnt pump up?  Can you check for gaps and what tolerances should I look for?

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #11 –
The HLAs should be holding the rocker firmly against the cam... The ones you mentioned may have plugged oil holes in the cam, which will destroy the can sooner or later if not cleaned... Will not effect HLA operation though... A good method to clean the cam is remove the front bolt and use a rifle cleaning brush in the opening(cam is hollow)...

WARNING IF you don't want a face full of oil, DO NOT run it without the valve cover...

Been there, done that, and have the oil soaked T-shirt... :punchballs:

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #12 –
I rotated the cam lobe to the "up" position on the rocker i suspect may be bad and it has some, but not much, up and down play.  None of the others are like this.  You think that's my noise? 

OK i bore brushed the cam and i pulled out a small round piece of gasket.  Please tell me this was a good thing! LOL

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #13 –
Well I don't know if it's good you pulled a piece of gasket out of the cam or not, defiantly should have not have been in there...

You could move the loose HLA to another position, then run it and see if it's still noisy and loose in the new position... Years back, I had a new Ford HLA that would not pump up, had to get a replacement...

2.3 turbo cylinder head

Reply #14 –
OK, I made myself a spring compressor and practiced removing the rockers on my spare motor, ..that was easier than I thought.  I am going to replace the ones I hope are bad with the ones from my spare motor.  Now,on the HLA's is there a way to prime them? Do you soak em in oil or what?