1989 Rennix Head Gasket kit

[agattoblanco]

Hey all... first time posting here and looking for

1989 Rennix head gasket kit part numbers for kit and bolts along with the best place to buy them. Also would like the photos of the torque sequences to remove and reinstall the head gasket. I know i saw them somewhere but cannot find them.

1989 rennix bought from a guy was cranking but not running. I refreshed grounds, new tank and fuel pump, injectors were toast so i just bought some cheezie ones of ebay for $30 buks to get it running. Now bad head gasket ... i have a feeling i will be replacing a lot of parts on this girl before its over but the body is good, engine runs great and the 4x is looking solid....

tks in advance
Tony

 

[lawsoncl]

How did you confirm it's a bad head gasket?

 

[agattoblanco]

bubbling like crazy into the overflow tank above the engine

 

[lawsoncl]

So that's not really an overflow tank that holds excess coolant as it expands, but rather a pressurized surge tank. While the engine is running, coolant is pumped into it through the upper hose from the thermostat housing and flows back out the bottom hose to the water pump (assuming it's plumbed correctly).

Are you maybe mistaking this flow in and out of the bottle for bubbling or boiling? It normally looks like lot of splashing and flow in that bottle. If you're running with the cap off or it's not holding pressure you'll also boil over pretty quick. I would do a block test before assuming that the head gasket is bad.

Side note - If you need to replace the cap on that bottle, the cap for a Volvo 710 fits much better and isn't prone to popping loose and causing boil overs like the cheap Chinese replacements. If you ever decide to replace the radiator, get a 92 or later with a radiator cap and eliminate the surge tank and heater coolant valve.

 

[Saudade]

What lawsoncl said.

Here's my '88. Perhaps minus all the extra hose clamps, does yours look like this? Note: mine has the Volvo cap lawsoncl suggests.



You will see coolant return from the hose next to the cap.

 

[agattoblanco]

OK... ima go with its not the head gasket... i do get a lot of splashing from that tank and replaced it due to the tank broke

So how to do a block test ? is that just another name for a leak down test ?

Would b awesome if you guys caught me about to make a mistake that i was not wanting to fix - but man its a violent what ever is going on in that tank

 

[lawsoncl]

Coolant is running into that bottle pretty hard. The aftermarket bottle are okay quality, but whatever material they used on lids sucks. The threads tend to slip if you try to tighten too much, and they can pop loose when they get hot.

A block test basically sniffs the coolant for signs of combustion products. Might need to extend a little above the bottle so you don't suck in coolant. A cheap kit is around $30, or you can borrow a kit from Autozone, and I think they charge a couple bucks for the test fluid. I say borrow, but really you buy and then return the kit. I've "rented" their coolant pressure tester a few times now. They charge $190 for what is really a $60 kit to make sure you return it.

Example cheap kit - https://www.harborfreight.com/combustion-leak-detector-64814.html
How-To - https://www.harborfreight.com/combustion-leak-detector-64814.html