Head Gasket Troubles 90 2.4 litre

Hey guys,

I am new here, and don't have a MM, or D50, but rather a 1990 Mitsubishi van. I bought it around December in CA and had it shipped to me in MA. The seller told me that he bought it as a parts van for his other van, and then realized it was too nice to part it out. He was told that the previous owner had the head gasket and timing belt replaced. I just got the van registered in my state about two to three weeks ago,and have been enjoying it up until last Tuesday.

I was moving the van out of the garage so my Father-in-law could see it when I noticed the oil level low light was on. I thought this to be odd as I had just checked the oil when I gassed up a week or so before. I lifted the engine cover/passengers seat and checked the oil. It was down almost two quarts!!! I filled it back up, and wondered out loud where it may be going. My FIL asked if it burned oil? I said I didn't think so as I have never seen a cloud behind me while driving it. He said I should check the radiator,and when I did I found a nasty tan mix of oil and coolant that pissed me off right away.

Immediatly I started tearing into the engine as I knew I needed to replace th head gasket. So far I have it down to the block and I am waiting for parts I have ordered to come in. My worry is though that for as long as I have driven it the van has never had much heat and the temp gauge has never really moved off of cold. I thought immediatly it was a stuck or missing thermostat so I had bought one before this happened anyway. While tearing into the engine I found it has no thermostat. Big surprise I know!! Also I believe that the engine running cool has lead to terrible fuel mileage. Could that be the case? Does the ECU look at engine temps to map out fuel management?

Could the thermostat being missing be a clue that maybe it had overheating issues before and the head warped? Should I get the head looked at? DId they just mess up the head gasket replacement before? Did they reuse the head bolts? Is the head cracked? Was it improperly torqued down? Should I just put a Mazda 13B in it?What would you guys do?

Thanks for your time,


Chris

90 Mitsubishi van
79 RX-7 GS
74 REPU

So I pulled the cam and rockers out today and found the head is cracked really badly. I guess I need a new head. Anyone have one they would be willing to sell that isn't cracked, warped, or generally not so nice? I really want to get my van rolling again.

How much? I need the SOHC version without the mechanical fuel pump or jet valves. Could you email me some pics at cdirado837 at gmail dot com please? I really need a new/used head on a budget if possible. Thank you very much.

Chris

Hey Guys,

With a ton of help from mxmikie I have a new cylinder head installed in the van. It even runs and drives believe it or not. The thing is I am getting some pinging from the engine under light acceleration, and the idle is very high around 1400 rpm's. If I ground out the test plug to set the timing the idle drops down to 8-900 rpm's as it should. The engine runs great aside from these issues, and I was wondering if you guys could help me figure it out. Anyone able to point me in a direction? I have the static baseline timing set at 5* BTDC as the manual says with the test plug grounded out. The pinging is always there, but when it happens it is under light throttle, not cruising or heavy acceleration. Stock 2.4 litre SOHC with a new head, timing belt, plugs, cap, rotor, wires, etc...

Any help would be much appreciated.