Bad head gasket?

[Matt&Kim]

Hey guys!

Been doing some searching on here in regards to head gaskets/cracked heads after noticing my coolant overflow bottle bubbling like a fish tank!

I recently replaced my fuel filter and had some issues with my primer (turned out to be gunk stuck in the valve of the primer pump) which led to some air getting into my fuel system and rough/smokey starts.
I thought it was a glow plug issue until i finally pulled the filter again and looked into the filter housing.
The rough starts are still happening, even in 9 degree weather, with new glow plugs, I would have hoped it would be starting better and not have to put the throttle down for it to get the engine going. (Lately it will chug on the first crank and die if I don't)
After reading that air bubbles can be trapped in the fuel lines before the injectors I attempted to bleed the system as I saw posted on here.
while bleeding the lines I poked around with a flashlight when I noticed the shine of coolant on my overflow tank, with the light of the flashlight on the bottle it was suddenly very obvious that my overflow tank was gurgling like a jacuzzi!
This is pretty concerning!

I have also noticed a significant drop in fuel mileage lately, and perhaps more black/white smoke on start up than the usual puff.
Do all signs point to a head issue? Are there any common sense things to rule out before bringing it into a shop to have it tested?

[Growlerbearnz]

Sadly, the bubbling in the overflow tank is pretty conclusive.

Once you have the head off for gasket replacement, insist on having it crack tested. I've made that mistake once and it's not fun.

[stugots1982]

SO after all my cooling issues the last couple of week I stumble on to this. I too have my expansion tank bubbling. I assume that means the head is cracked? or is it possible its just a gasket?

Am I risking more damage if I continue to drive while I wait on the parts coming in? How long am I looking at to do the job, im not a mechanic but my buddy is.

Anything specific you might have for tips? Ive looked through the walkthrough of the job on the pinned thread at the top of the list.

[Growlerbearnz]

It's usually just the gasket, unless you've seriously overheated (needle off the end of the scale) and kept driving.

Still, when the head's off make sure you have it crack tested. Replacing the gasket once is painful enough.

Don't drive it. If the gasket failure gets worse it'll allow coolant into the oil, and coolant doesn't lubricate very well. Also the gas getting into the coolant can create hot spots in the head, which *will* crack the head.

The first time you replace the head gasket it will take about 10 hours and 6 beers. Subsequent replacements take about 5 hours and 1 beer.

Conventional wisdom says to replace the water pump, front seals, and timing belts while you're in there, but they can be done later without disturbing your new head gasket if needed.

When you order your new gasket, also get a new intake/exhaust manifold gasket. Genuine Mitsubishi ones are re-usable multi-layer metal gaskets, but aftermarket ones are often cheap and will split when you remove the manifolds.

I'd recommend a genuine Mitsubishi head and manifold gasket. I've used https://oemmitsubishiparts.com/ in the past, their prices are comparable to Amayama.com but they're based in Texas so shipping is a lot faster.

[stugots1982]

sounds good thanks, i havent over heated at all. it hasnt even passed half on the needle, but has gotten there a few times. i thought perhaps the bubbling was the coolant being so hot cause perhaps the fan clutch was gone. it only bubbles for a less than a minute. i also have no contamination with the oil or coolant. coolant is nice and clean and i did an oil change about 2 weeks ago and had no issues with anything in the oil and havent eceeytime i have checked it since. should i also order new head bolts?

[stugots1982]

i just went to the link you posted for the gaskets and they dont even list the delica am i missong something?

[Growlerbearnz]

You'll have to look up the part numbers yourself*. That's a US site and, while they were good at getting the parts I wanted (when ordered by part number) and shipping them quickly, they had no clue what a Delica was.

*Except I remember them. You want Head Gasket 1005B426, intake/exhaust manifold gasket MR188679.

You're *supposed* to use new head bolts too (18x MD040514) but I've never bothered- they're not torque-to-yield bolts, and as long as they're clean and not corroded there's no reason why they'd fail. Still, with a coolant leak you *might* have some corrosion on some of the bolts- your call if you want to order new ones now or potentially later.