cracked 2.2 FI cyl head in a odd place???

Hey guys

just started to fix the list of repairs in my B2200 I just picke up and was chasing down a pesky oil leak.... Original thought was the valve cover gasket, but once i got the cover off I noticed a crack in the head starting from the machined face on the valve cover sealing surface on the exhaust side at cylinder 3 down about an inch from what I can see...


What do u guys think??

Is this common??

Will it grow??

not seen that before on a Mazda but it probably will grow over time due to thermal expansion and vibrations. Aluminum dissapates heat VERY well so the heat from the combustion chamber will reach that crack. The only thing that I can recommend at this point would be some quiksteel or something like that, and to clean off the crack some and put a small amount in . JB weld might work as well here as well on the outside ONLY (as you don't want any to drip inside and to get into your crankcase ) I can't promise that this will work but it will slow down the leak.

Yes, that was my thought exactly, with the quick steel, actually picked up a tube today...

I was going to clean it super good with brake clean and rough it up nice and good and apply it to the outside.

As far as cylinder head cracks i have never seen anything like that before