Headgasket blew on A14 in a 210.

[Bandit240]

Ok, so ive got an '80 210 wagon with an A14 motor in it. It has about 270k on the clock. About this time last year the headgasket blew. It gave no warning, just cruising down the road and the temp skyrockets. Now being in a bad spot, i drove on for about a mile or two before getting to a gas station. Little thing just gave up all together, wouldnt even try to run after that.

 

Now the big thing is how bad did i kill it? Its got water in the oil, and no water in the cooling system. Im hoping the head isnt cracked now. I know the A14 is a tough little motor, but that may have been too much for it.

 

Another question is, should i pull the motor and do a total rebuild, or just do a head job. It was running great up untill then.

 

Heres a pic of the motor.

[DRIVEN]

I'd pull the head first to check for cracks. If it's OK and not warped too bad I would pull the rest of the motor. Have the head rebuilt. Replace the bearings and if the cylinders aren't too worn, hone them and replace the rings. If you got it really hot you probably lost the tension in the rings. Thats the cheap way out. I wouldn't do any less than that. If you can afford a full rebuild (pistons, rod resizing, boring, decking, line honing, etc, etc), thats the right way to go. $$$. If the head is wasted--I'd just look for a complete used engine. There was a "tech tip" in the '70s about adding 5ft/lb to the two rear head bolts when you reassemble. Good luck.

[datzenmike]

Get the oil out and change the filter and crank it over to flush the old crap. Pull the head with the manifolds on... it's less work, and take a look at that puppy. Usually they warp from heat between 2 and 3 and only crack from a nuclear melt down and I don't think you went that far. Re-surface or replace the head and get it going. Soon as you do get that oil changed again.

[ggzilla]

A-series heads rarely warp. Check it with a straight edge, the tolerance I think is 1.5 or 2.5 thousands, you can check the book at the library.

 

Just scrape it clean, fit new gasket and torque it down. 99% of the time that's all a A-series engine needs. Oh and make sure the radiator is clear and the thermostat is working right.

[Bandit240]

Ive got a FSM for the car, somewhere. Ive got a buddy that works at a machine shop, so ill get him to check it out for me. I wont be working on it for a few more weeks since im busting my ass to get the 620 fixed up.

[b210in]

you can pull a long block out of pick a part for 100 bucks on half off day.

[Bandit240]

Yea, if there were any 210's in the one pick and pull we have. All we have is LKQ and they dont really have any datsuns there.