Update! Did a leak-down compression test today, and a coolant test after I warmed up the engine. Good news is that there is no exhaust gas coming through the coolant system or through the oil pan. But there was a significant leak on cylinder 4. I could hear it, but couldn't pinpoint where the leak was going. So I did the gloves on the tailpipe trick and bingo. The gloves inflated. So next step is to remove the head. I knew I was going to have to anyway, but it's a good bit of knowledge gained.
My working theory at this point is that I have some bad exhaust valve(s) and I have leaking valve stem seals. But I'm not really convinced I have a blown head gasket. We will see....
My working theory at this point is that I have some bad exhaust valve(s) and I have leaking valve stem seals. But I'm not really convinced I have a blown head gasket. We will see....
N7turbo
2023 CX-5 2.5T ... 2024 MX-5 RF GT
It could be although that wouldn't explain the coolant loss.
Nope, I don't have an answer for that little mystery yet. Maybe the gasket was weeping a little into a cylinder. The loss wasn't fast. It would take a few hundred miles before I'd have to top up the reservoir tank. I'll just have to see when I get the head off. IF i get the head off! I made pretty good progress today, but I'm stuck on the exhaust manifold, and looking at the instructions, it looks like an absolute nightmare! I'd appreciate any suggestions anyone has.
Guy is the man to ask I would think - I have gotten a response from him within the YT comments section.
propflux01
2024 CX5 Signature
Sounds to me like a burned valve.
Oof, spent about 2 hours last night on my back in the driveway just trying to disconnect the exhaust manifold from the exhaust! The nuts they used on there were made out of room temperature butter, but just on the edges where a socket might need to grab! lol. Ended up cutting off the edges of the nuts with a dremmel. I've never wished I had a lift more.
Tonight's progress: Got the engine supported from below, removed the engine mount, alternator. water pump pully, crank pully finally the timing chain cover!!! There are a TON of bolts on that cover. I'm sure I removed a couple I didn't need to.
I'm attaching a couple of pictures in case you'd like to see what the inside of the timing chain cover looks like aft 300k miles. Found a couple spots of sludge, but so far nothing too shocking.
I'm attaching a couple of pictures in case you'd like to see what the inside of the timing chain cover looks like aft 300k miles. Found a couple spots of sludge, but so far nothing too shocking.
HyFlyer
2019 CX5 sig 2.2 diesel / 2016.5 CX5 touring 2.5na
- :
- Southwest Ohio
Yes please
Thanks for taking the time to post your adventures. I'm following along with your saga.
New Update with lots of pictures!
Saturday I got the timing chain off and cams out. There seems to be a good bit of wear on the rockers, but nothing really bad on the cam lobes. I found one cam journal that has the slightest ring on it that just barely catches my fingernail. I hope it can be polished out.
Saturday I got the timing chain off and cams out. There seems to be a good bit of wear on the rockers, but nothing really bad on the cam lobes. I found one cam journal that has the slightest ring on it that just barely catches my fingernail. I hope it can be polished out.
Attachments
And today I removed the Head. I checked all over as best as possible and can't find any cracks. Head Gasket didn't seem to be blown out, and the cylinder walls look okay to me. Sure, they've lost their cross-hatching, but there is no ring ridge, or scoring that my fingernails can catch on.
You can pretty easily see which cylinder was burning oil For that one I did spray some Penetrating oil down on top of the exhaust valves, and one did leak. The intake valves amazingly didn't!
Please let me know if anyone sees anything I should be alarmed at. I hope to take the head to a machine shop to get thoroughly checked out this week.
You can pretty easily see which cylinder was burning oil For that one I did spray some Penetrating oil down on top of the exhaust valves, and one did leak. The intake valves amazingly didn't!
Please let me know if anyone sees anything I should be alarmed at. I hope to take the head to a machine shop to get thoroughly checked out this week.
Attachments
Just an update. The machine shop verified that the head has no cracks, and did find pitting in the valve seat. They are doing a valve job, decking the surface and will replace valve seals. Hope to have it back next week sometime and will start the rebuild process.
I ordered an engine gasket set and since I'm in there anyway:
Water pump -- Though the bearing on the original still feels good.
Timing Set -- Everything looked good, but the tensioner seemed pretty far extended.
Radiator -- Dang plastic neck broke when I was loosening the hose. And hose tore!
Thermostat -- why not?
Now I need to clean all of the surfaces and get all of the carbon off the piston crowns. Lot of prep work...
I ordered an engine gasket set and since I'm in there anyway:
Water pump -- Though the bearing on the original still feels good.
Timing Set -- Everything looked good, but the tensioner seemed pretty far extended.
Radiator -- Dang plastic neck broke when I was loosening the hose. And hose tore!
Thermostat -- why not?
Now I need to clean all of the surfaces and get all of the carbon off the piston crowns. Lot of prep work...
Friday update! Got the block side of the head cleaned. Used carb cleaner and plastic razors to clean off the old gasket. Wasn't too bad. Started cleaning the piston crowns. I shoved paper towel in all of the openings I cold, and put head bolts in, then hit the piston crown with carb cleaner and a dremel cleaning brush, which is like a mini 3M roloc brush. Worked great on the first couple of pistons. I haven't tried on the most junked up one yet.
For the cylinder head, I waited all week to get a gasket kit in from rockauto, and got the wrong kit! They have it listed for a 2.5 engine, which is what I have, but when I opened it, the head gasket was WAY off from the original. Looked up the part number on the manufacturer's site, and yeh, it's for a 2.0, NOT a 2.5. So now I have to wait another week to return the old kit and get a new one. I wouldn't care sooo much, but the weather is getting colder outside and I'm working in the driveway! Double-check part fitment by google'ing the part number and looking at the maker's site is the lesson for today.
For the cylinder head, I waited all week to get a gasket kit in from rockauto, and got the wrong kit! They have it listed for a 2.5 engine, which is what I have, but when I opened it, the head gasket was WAY off from the original. Looked up the part number on the manufacturer's site, and yeh, it's for a 2.0, NOT a 2.5. So now I have to wait another week to return the old kit and get a new one. I wouldn't care sooo much, but the weather is getting colder outside and I'm working in the driveway! Double-check part fitment by google'ing the part number and looking at the maker's site is the lesson for today.
You mention Rockauto for the gasket kit. I don't know what brand you ordered, but from the "what it's worth" department, years ago when doing the lower intake gaskets on my Buick 3800-2 I got OEM GM gaskets from the dealer to minimize any problems. Even back then I was reading about Fel-Pro gaskets not holding up well or other problems. And, IIRC, the solid aluminum frame GM gaskets were considerably stouter than the Fel-pro. Like I said, I don't know what you ordered but after all of this trouble I'd hate to see you sideswiped by gasket failure down the road.
Yeah, I'm a little weary of Fel-Pro stuff. I used to own a Ford F350 with the dreaded Powerstroke 6.0, and they were well known to fail when folks rebuild those. The first gasket set I bought was an "Elring" kit. Which I purchased because it was German made, and I generally trust German engineering. But Now I have an "ITM ENGINE COMPONENTS" kit on its way. I know nothing about ITM, but have my fingers crossed it's decent.
Bummer. Thanks for the heads- up. It's probably going to be real joy replacing the radiator. Plastic. I remember when doing the job on my aforementioned 3800-2, the plastic coolant elbow crumbled and I had to dig pieces out of the lower intake and the connecting belt tensioner bracket that the coolant was routed through.
Good news is the radiator replacement was pretty easy. There are a couple of sneaky clips holding the top posts in. But the instructions are pretty easy.
Bad news, it just occurred to me as I laid in bed last night that by the time I get the head back and re-assemble the engine it will be well into December here in Ohio, and how the heck am I going to get the RTV on the timing cover to cure when the outside temp isn't going to get above 32 degrees?
Bad news, it just occurred to me as I laid in bed last night that by the time I get the head back and re-assemble the engine it will be well into December here in Ohio, and how the heck am I going to get the RTV on the timing cover to cure when the outside temp isn't going to get above 32 degrees?
- :
- W WA
- :
- 2024 CX-5 Premium
Cover the front of the car with a tarp and put a small ceramic heater near the front of the engine. Warm it up good and then apply the RTV.
LONG December Update 1: Got the head back from the engine shop. In case anyone is curious it cost $530. That is for pressure check, (to look for cracks) overall inspection, cleaning, valve job, decking, cam journal polish and valve seal replacement. I know I could have probably gotten some Buddy of a Buddy to do a cheaper job, but the shop was clean, professional, and was easy to work with. So I'm ok with it. Happy to know I have a good solid head.
Also! I had a great idea, and just contacted Permatex Product support to ask about RTV and recommended temperatures. They said that RTV can be applied at any temperature, the cold will just require a longer cure time. Which is fine. I can let it set as long as needed. Planning for maybe a week.
So now time for re-assembly! Since the head was out of the way, I went ahead and installed the new water pump, replaced the water pipe o-ring.
Next, I had an issue that was bugging me: the workshop manual says that when re-assembling the head, that you need to apply some Loctite "962T" on the cam journal #6 on the exhaust side. One problem, they don't make 962T anymore. After a lot of searching I found a published update on the NHTSA site that says Loctite 518 can be used instead. Link to Article
Since my wife is out of town, I took the opportunity to bring the head inside and go ahead and install the exhaust cam inside, off the vehicle and apply the Loctite adhesive. Thought this would be easier, and give the loctite the best chance to set up. The exhaust cam can be installed and you'll still be able to get to the head bolts. (Except one that is under Exhaust Cam cap #1, no biggie) Just a note, this isn't the normal "Red Loctite" you see everywhere. It is a different product. Kind of sucks that it cost $25 for a tube when I only need bout 2 inches of bead. But oh well.
Took my time, lubed everything up per instructions and carefully torqued in phases. To end the night I installed the new head gasket and just placed the head back on the engine block. Will continue with assembly over the next two days. We're going to have a heat wave and temps will get up to 40! Hope to get the timing components and front cover back in place by end of the night Wed.
Oh, and another note, when you are re-installing the HLA lifters, the manual shows that you need to insert them in an oil bath to remove trapped air. I don't think the instructions are super clear. Here's how I would word what you need to do: Submerge the HLA in the oil bath vertically, resting the bottom of the HLA on the bottom of the container. With one hand, press down on the top of the HLA to depress (or compress) the plunger insert, With the other hand, lightly press in with your 1mm metal rod (I carefully used an upside-down drill bit) to depress the metal check-ball inside. You will NOT feel much movement. Try to do these two actions together until the plunger top feels bottomed out. Then first remove the 1mm metal rod to allow the check ball to return to its normal state, and then allow the plunger to rise. Remove the HLA from the oil bath and check that you can no-longer depress the plunger top. If you can a bit, repeat the procedure until you can't. If you are unable to stop the plunger from being able to be compressed outside of the bath, you've got a bad HLA, or the metal check ball might be having an issue seating itself correctly inside the HLA. Replace it.
Also! I had a great idea, and just contacted Permatex Product support to ask about RTV and recommended temperatures. They said that RTV can be applied at any temperature, the cold will just require a longer cure time. Which is fine. I can let it set as long as needed. Planning for maybe a week.
So now time for re-assembly! Since the head was out of the way, I went ahead and installed the new water pump, replaced the water pipe o-ring.
Next, I had an issue that was bugging me: the workshop manual says that when re-assembling the head, that you need to apply some Loctite "962T" on the cam journal #6 on the exhaust side. One problem, they don't make 962T anymore. After a lot of searching I found a published update on the NHTSA site that says Loctite 518 can be used instead. Link to Article
Since my wife is out of town, I took the opportunity to bring the head inside and go ahead and install the exhaust cam inside, off the vehicle and apply the Loctite adhesive. Thought this would be easier, and give the loctite the best chance to set up. The exhaust cam can be installed and you'll still be able to get to the head bolts. (Except one that is under Exhaust Cam cap #1, no biggie) Just a note, this isn't the normal "Red Loctite" you see everywhere. It is a different product. Kind of sucks that it cost $25 for a tube when I only need bout 2 inches of bead. But oh well.
Took my time, lubed everything up per instructions and carefully torqued in phases. To end the night I installed the new head gasket and just placed the head back on the engine block. Will continue with assembly over the next two days. We're going to have a heat wave and temps will get up to 40! Hope to get the timing components and front cover back in place by end of the night Wed.
Oh, and another note, when you are re-installing the HLA lifters, the manual shows that you need to insert them in an oil bath to remove trapped air. I don't think the instructions are super clear. Here's how I would word what you need to do: Submerge the HLA in the oil bath vertically, resting the bottom of the HLA on the bottom of the container. With one hand, press down on the top of the HLA to depress (or compress) the plunger insert, With the other hand, lightly press in with your 1mm metal rod (I carefully used an upside-down drill bit) to depress the metal check-ball inside. You will NOT feel much movement. Try to do these two actions together until the plunger top feels bottomed out. Then first remove the 1mm metal rod to allow the check ball to return to its normal state, and then allow the plunger to rise. Remove the HLA from the oil bath and check that you can no-longer depress the plunger top. If you can a bit, repeat the procedure until you can't. If you are unable to stop the plunger from being able to be compressed outside of the bath, you've got a bad HLA, or the metal check ball might be having an issue seating itself correctly inside the HLA. Replace it.
Attachments
Last edited:
