Warped Block??!?!??

[mmarks]

I went into the shop looking to do a head gasket job and possibly rebuilding the cylinder head.. and ended up getting a call saying that the block is warped and when I asked them to show me they pulled out a straight edge and attempted to show me but the person I was with and I just didn't see any warpage! I mean it got to the point where the mechanics were getting offended when I'd ask them to show me again. I just didn't see it, and I haven't heard of a cast-iron block warping. My cylinder head was shot tho along with the head gasket, which I already figured since the car had been loosing coolant slowly and stuttering on cold starts + all the tell tale signs (white smoke,misfires,cel).

I just want to know if anyone has had/heard of an engine block warping. And to what extent is it unusable. Or is it time for a new block.


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[MMMB00ST_A4]

I went into the shop looking to do a head gasket job and possibly rebuilding the cylinder head.. and ended up getting a call saying that the block is warped and when I asked them to show me they pulled out a straight edge and attempted to show me but the person I was with and I just didn't see any warpage! I mean it got to the point where the mechanics were getting offended when I'd ask them to show me again. I just didn't see it, and I haven't heard of a cast-iron block warping. My cylinder head was shot tho along with the head gasket, which I already figured since the car had been loosing coolant slowly and stuttering on cold starts + all the tell tale signs (white smoke,misfires,cel).

I just want to know if anyone has had/heard of an engine block warping. And to what extent is it unusable. Or is it time for a new block.


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Never. And if the straight edge says otherwise, then i'm trusting the straight edge.

Good luck, bud.

[Chemmie]

Agree with the above, never on these cars have I heard of a warped block. Ditto for a warped block on such a short block. Straight-8 Buick, maybe. But not a 4-cylinder with an overall deck length of 18".

FWIW, to use a straight edge you need a strong light source visible from the other side of the straight edge so you can identify the gap ELSE you use a feeler gauge or shim stock to quantify the gap made between the straight edge and the block. If you're having difficulty seeing the block is warped, clearly the shop didn't use either of these methods. The feeler gauge at least lets you quantify the gap so you know it's either 0.002" (acceptable) or 0.020" (NFG). Also, unless the block is very clean (scraped gasket mat'l off, knocked down any burrs) he could be catching the straight edge on either of these. Proceed with extreme caution.

You can have a block milled (decked) at an engine rebuilding shop. This will increase the compression ratio to an extent, but is a question to ask after verifying IF and to what extent your block is actually non-planar. To test your shop further I'd ask how they plan to go about rectifying this potential issue.

[rocket1420]

If the shop is getting offended, that's a huge warning sign. As said above, they should be able to show you that a feeler gauge can slip between the straight edge and the block, assuming the block surface was cleaned.

[mmarks]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll head up there Monday and have them show me again and this time WITH a feeler gauge. And if it's warped anyone know where to source a good used engine ?


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