1997 2.4L Z24
I am replacing the head gasket, the cylinder-head will go to the machine shop for test
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Great!
Now,
the car has 187,000 miles on.
How can I tell if the engine block is still good?
I love the car, and would like to keep it for another year but I would not like to deal with the head-gasket, cylinder-head issue ever again
The only way to check is to pull the block out and have it "flux cored" I believe is the term. Either way, the block has to come out to check. Unless you have a reason to suspect its bad, its probably not. You could have the cylinders checked for roundness and scoring, stuff like that.
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is called magnafluxed
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2090440
Robby, what you probably want to know has to do
with cylinder wear....
This is easy to determine once you have removed the head...
There will be a 'ring ridge' at the top of each cylinder...
You can have an experienced mechanic look at it...
But, if it's not any 'thicker' than a finger nail, forget it...
The block won't be bad unless something internally is wrong with it. Scrape it with a razor blade to get the old gasket material off and make sure its clean. Dry all the antifreeze out that dripped into the cylinders.
Scott
2002 Audi S4, black
1996 Z24 auto, red