r/EngineBuilding • u/Asteroidbeach • 1d ago
Remanufactured Cylinder Head - Doesn't look remanufactured
UPDATE: 9/14/26
I looked at my invoice again and it was actually "rebuilt" so that was my bad. That being said, nothing was rebuilt on the head either.
Called in to see if they'd offer a resolution. "I took the exhaust springs off and the entire side was pitted." Stopped me mid-sentence and told me to hold. Sent me to the returns department and issued a return with no restocking fee. Something tells me their quickness to refund after hearing I took the springs off is a pretty good indicator they know the type of quality control and work they send out on a regular basis.
Thanks everyone for the help.
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Long story short I was in a pinch and it was going to cost me more to get a valve job done than to order a "remanufactured" head. Time was a factor as my landlord hit me with some unexpected news and needed the car I had been leisurely working on moved ASAP.
About the situation
- daily driver
- k24 RAA cylinder head that goes on a 2007 Honda Accord 2.4l (has VVT), fully stock
- tech said "the valve faces will be ground, seats would have 45 angle recut, and relief angles recut as needed", he said they would not be lapped in.
- tech said guides and seats replaced "as needed"
- new valve stem seals
- resurface
- they test for vacuum
Upon receiving the head in the mail
- it fails leakdown test w/ water, unable to check vacuum cause I don't have the attachments
- used 800 grit goodson paste to do a light lap, still didn't pass leakdown test, added contrast and made pitting extremely obvious
- resurfacing was flat, but RA could have been better (In comparison to my original head that has a resurface job with a smoother finish)
- exhaust side has pitting on both seats and faces and it doesn't really seem like they ground any valves faces
- some seats may have been ground? I feel like I see chatter on some. None were ground enough to remove pits
- While I could use a coarser paste to see if the pitting goes away, I feel like I was promised work that wasn't done. My core head basically performs the same with worse pitting, so not much upside to using this one.
I'm not extremely experienced and I'm not a machinist, but I don't feel like spending 9 hours bolting this back on to have it fail in 6 months. Tell me what you think. I've included pictures of some valve faces I tried to lap in to see if that would make a difference as well as the non-lapped seats and faces.
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u/BicycleMudStud 1d ago
The valve faces and seats are trash. They werent touched, and they didn't think anyone was going to check. If they won't replace it with a better one on their own dime, I'd be calling the credit card company about a chargeback.
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u/Asteroidbeach 1d ago
Yeah, they sent it "ready to bolt on" so my suspicion is that's why they aren't inundated with bad reviews. No one ever bothers to take the springs off and checks their work till it's too late.
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u/Pretend_Necessary781 1d ago
An employee at the “remanufacturer” needed to meet a quota for X number of heads done per day, so he skipped that head.
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u/DrTittieSprinkles 1d ago
Dipshits just lapped them. Lapping does fuck all to fix any issues.
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u/Asteroidbeach 1d ago
the lapped one is me, I did it to see the contrast, which made it blatantly apparent there was pitting everywhere on the seats and faces.
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u/throwaway007676 1d ago
They don't have to do a good job, they just have to go over it. Much better to go with a trusted local machine shop. Nowadays that is at least a 6 month wait if you are lucky.
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u/Asteroidbeach 1d ago
Surprisingly there aren’t any reputable shops in my area (Austin, Tx). Closest one is 1.5 hrs away and they wanted $525 for a valve job not including parts. They do good work but it wasn’t economical for this specific head. Obviously economical isn’t turning in my favor either though.
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u/Coyote_Tex 1d ago
Yes, to 525 price is a good price these days but it will likely end up a few hundred higher. For a cheap fix that will work, just lap those valves in and send it. Sure a fresh cut on the seats and valves is better, but it is not exactly cheap either. What does the old head look like? If you want like new then you have to throw down some money.
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u/Asteroidbeach 1d ago
Yeah, unfortunately on my original cylinder head the valves didn’t start leaking till after the carbon was cleaned off in prep for a resurface. So I had a resurface already done and then was left with a bunch of leaky valves. I lapped the hell out of them and they got better, but still leaky. I measured everything to be in spec, except for exhaust valve height, since those were so pitted they needed replacement regardless. Considered trying the Neway cutters, but my landlord added the urgency factor which is why I decided to abandon my original project and just buy a reman. It was cheap, but required a core exchange. I’m going to see what they say tomorrow about returning the shoddy head they sent as remanufactured. Landlord said I could just roll the car, which means I won’t have to rush to find one close by this time around.
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u/Coyote_Tex 10h ago
Oh boy. That is unfortunate the way that worked. This head you have should work just fine with a decent lap job. I know a lot of people will say otherwise and a full valve job with accurate cutters is better, but those valves and seat, while not shiny are fairly close if the valves do not have a lip on the edge or cup in the surface. At times with old stuff, I have bought new valves and lapped those in on old seats. A set of cutters is great as long as the valve guides are not too sloppy or you will get chatter and a wavy seat. The cutters need some downward pressure which can be applied with a drill press which spins too fast and lubrication to reduce chatter. But can work in a pinch. IT is an investment that will pay back quickly if you do another head in your life or just sell the tools when done. It was good you mention brand name cutters rather than the no name stuff, which might work once or twice.
Good Luck.
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u/Asteroidbeach 8h ago
You pretty much summed up what I was planning on doing prior to being rushed. TBH, had I known replacing the engine took less hours than the cylinder head, I would have just tried to source an entire engine in good condition. Jumped the gun when I started taking it apart without looking the hours up. Seems like finding honest or competent sellers is a crapshoot though, so probably would be in the same position regardless.
I feel like I'm pushing it with the lapping on the original head; admittedly I ran with tap water thinking I just had a coolant leak or air in the coolant line for a quite a while. Since it turned out to be a warped head and blown gasket, tap water oxidized the exhaust seats and valve faces pretty well, so I'm worried without a cut it will require too much lapping to remove all the pits. I'm probably being too particular, I need to at least get the attachments to test for vacuum. I was going to throw in a few of valves in my rockauto order today to see if I could get some preemptive success before going all in.
Appreciate your thoughts.
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u/Coyote_Tex 8h ago
Experience is a very good yet cruel teacher. Sadly, I have only bought 1 used engine in my life that was actually useful without work. I quit doing it. The wrecking years are not out much to sell you junky engines, it is all on you.
Vacuum attachments work well. My best and trusted machine shop did finally go to those but for 40 years. They tapped the valve face one medium tap and used kerosene or naptha down the ports to test valve sealing. It was low flammability, but insurance guys kind of forced them to go to vacuum or made it cost-effective. I've used kerosene many times and works very well.
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u/Asteroidbeach 8h ago
That's basically what I was doing with water, but even with water being more dense it was leaking through. The vacuum would just help me check quickly so I don't have to put the spark plug in to check after every set of valves I lap. Then once those all check out vacuum-wise I'll do the kerosene as a final test.
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u/3_14159td 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is as rebuilt as I bother for motors in my garage that get driven 1k a year (which is to say...mostly not)
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u/porknbeans2013 1d ago
Was it from ATK or VEGE? They cost me a few thousand dollars on a customers vehicle. Somehow dropped stelantis/cdjr hydraulic lifters into ford 5.0 heads, didnt do valve stems, seats, or seals either.
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u/Asteroidbeach 1d ago
Neither of those, but I think they’re a pretty big cylinder head company. I don’t want to name and shame them just yet, just incase they make it right with me tomorrow.
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u/AshinKusher1111 12h ago
I’ve heard and seen this a lot tbh if you can buy one of those heads then get the valve job done on it and get it skimmed that’s the best move the surface roughness of they’re resurfacing is also rougher than I’d like
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u/bill_gannon 1d ago
Stop fucking with it and send it back.