Head gasket advice
Discussion
Morning chaps
Following on from an earlier post I'm pretty certain I've got head gasket issues
I'm losing water and got steam in the exhaust so I'm pretty certain I've blown one
Anyhow I'm replacing with a composite gaskets and I'm certain that the general consensus is to not refit the outer set of bolts (buried down by the exhaust manifold) and do I use later 'stretch' bolts or reuse the bolts that came out ??
Can anyone confirm the above as correct please???
Many thanks Ron
Following on from an earlier post I'm pretty certain I've got head gasket issues
I'm losing water and got steam in the exhaust so I'm pretty certain I've blown one
Anyhow I'm replacing with a composite gaskets and I'm certain that the general consensus is to not refit the outer set of bolts (buried down by the exhaust manifold) and do I use later 'stretch' bolts or reuse the bolts that came out ??
Can anyone confirm the above as correct please???
Many thanks Ron
Edited by Rockettvr on Thursday 5th May 12:10
Hi Chris
Been a busy boy this year - more so than normal - we've picked up a contract fir some pub refurb /rewires basically one a month for the next 5 years (hopefully) and I've been wiring a loft conversion in my spare time so not much Tim for anything else lately
Anyway didn't bother with tests as all classic symptoms are there - unexplained loss of coolant - bubbles in coolant - clouds of white steam from exhaust etc
Already started strip down on Monday -need to order parts up so I can continue
Not sure on the bolts though - I'm certain the outer line is left out or only torqued to a low figure but if I do that do I use stretch bolts as per the 10 bolt heads or reuse my existing bolts and torque down as per 14 bolt specification???
Been a busy boy this year - more so than normal - we've picked up a contract fir some pub refurb /rewires basically one a month for the next 5 years (hopefully) and I've been wiring a loft conversion in my spare time so not much Tim for anything else lately
Anyway didn't bother with tests as all classic symptoms are there - unexplained loss of coolant - bubbles in coolant - clouds of white steam from exhaust etc
Already started strip down on Monday -need to order parts up so I can continue
Not sure on the bolts though - I'm certain the outer line is left out or only torqued to a low figure but if I do that do I use stretch bolts as per the 10 bolt heads or reuse my existing bolts and torque down as per 14 bolt specification???
The Hatter said:
Ron,
The Elring gaskets I know are a multilayer steel design; the ones in the pic look just like the crap gaskets I originally fitted, although they only have 10 bolt holes and the rubbish ones I fitted had 14. The Felpro gaskets look and feel completely different to the ones in the picture.
As far as I know all 3.5L engines had 14 bolts so I'd be suprised if these 10 bolt ones are the correct bore size for the 3.5L. I think I paid about £60 for the felpro gaskets but that's a small price to pay relative to the hassle of having to change the gaskets again.
Are you changing the gaskets with the engine in position? If so start with the head bolt nearest the driver; it's a pig to get to and if it won't budge you'll have to come up with a plan B. You'll probably have to undo the engine mounts and tilt the engine to get access.
Good luck, it's worth it in the end!
Martin
In the ebay ad it says they do the 14 bolt version - ill message them today to see if its elring or notThe Elring gaskets I know are a multilayer steel design; the ones in the pic look just like the crap gaskets I originally fitted, although they only have 10 bolt holes and the rubbish ones I fitted had 14. The Felpro gaskets look and feel completely different to the ones in the picture.
As far as I know all 3.5L engines had 14 bolts so I'd be suprised if these 10 bolt ones are the correct bore size for the 3.5L. I think I paid about £60 for the felpro gaskets but that's a small price to pay relative to the hassle of having to change the gaskets again.
Are you changing the gaskets with the engine in position? If so start with the head bolt nearest the driver; it's a pig to get to and if it won't budge you'll have to come up with a plan B. You'll probably have to undo the engine mounts and tilt the engine to get access.
Good luck, it's worth it in the end!
Martin
Edited by The Hatter on Thursday 5th May 21:10
Morning peeps
Have sourced and ordered parts so I thought id carry on with the strip down
Top tip Martin re: Tilting engine to get access to bolts
All went well until I got to the head bolts themselves which were extremely tight
Cracked each one a little working my way around until one bugger cracked off literally
Had enough by then so filled the recess of the bolt in the head with wd 40 to soak overnight - will attack it again today with some screw extractors wd40 and if need be a bit of heat
Have sourced and ordered parts so I thought id carry on with the strip down
Top tip Martin re: Tilting engine to get access to bolts
All went well until I got to the head bolts themselves which were extremely tight
Cracked each one a little working my way around until one bugger cracked off literally
Had enough by then so filled the recess of the bolt in the head with wd 40 to soak overnight - will attack it again today with some screw extractors wd40 and if need be a bit of heat
Hi all
Its a difficult one to be sure - got to get enough force to bear to shift it but be delicate enough as to not to do any damage. Not used a helicoil before - how would it fare in such a high torque application??
I'm hoping that now the stress on the bolt is relieved it'll shift fairly easily as said the bolts were extremely tight - had to use a T bar on the socket with an extension on the end - must have been 500mm overall to get enough force to shift them - they should be torqued to 70 lb/ft but I think that they were well tighter than that
I've used the weld a nut on method before and it usually works well , you can get good purchase on the bolt and the heat helps but in this case the bolt has broken a good few mm below the block surface and as the block is Ali I'm not sure I want to go that route
Its a difficult one to be sure - got to get enough force to bear to shift it but be delicate enough as to not to do any damage. Not used a helicoil before - how would it fare in such a high torque application??
I'm hoping that now the stress on the bolt is relieved it'll shift fairly easily as said the bolts were extremely tight - had to use a T bar on the socket with an extension on the end - must have been 500mm overall to get enough force to shift them - they should be torqued to 70 lb/ft but I think that they were well tighter than that
I've used the weld a nut on method before and it usually works well , you can get good purchase on the bolt and the heat helps but in this case the bolt has broken a good few mm below the block surface and as the block is Ali I'm not sure I want to go that route
Edited by Rockettvr on Sunday 8th May 09:15
Edited by Rockettvr on Sunday 8th May 09:17
Evening all
All the parts for the rebuild arrived last week so I spent a few hours yesterday reassembling
No major issues just a few hard to reach bolts and it went together quite easily
Checked all fluids plopped in the battery and - nothing
A quick check revealed id forgotten to connect the main earth strap to the engine
That sorted found a weep on a fuel pipe to the fpr ,a quick tighten a check round and attempt to start and it turned over once and the battery died
I must admit the battery has not been great for a while - its ok if the wedge is used regularly but if stood for a few weeks it loses charge. It was too late to get a replacement yesterday but I picked another up today.
With a fresh battery she fired up straight away - on four cylinders traced to the 2pr resistor pack - I must have dislodged the connector while working on the car - that got me up to 6 cylinders the others needing the injector connections pushing fully home
All seems ok now - idling nicely, no steam or smoke from the exhaust, no rattles or leaks, coolant level seems to be stable
Unfortunately I wasn't able to take her for a run out as the mot has expired while she was off the road
Thanks for all the advice and help fellas will see you soon provided she passes the mot
All the parts for the rebuild arrived last week so I spent a few hours yesterday reassembling
No major issues just a few hard to reach bolts and it went together quite easily
Checked all fluids plopped in the battery and - nothing
A quick check revealed id forgotten to connect the main earth strap to the engine
That sorted found a weep on a fuel pipe to the fpr ,a quick tighten a check round and attempt to start and it turned over once and the battery died
I must admit the battery has not been great for a while - its ok if the wedge is used regularly but if stood for a few weeks it loses charge. It was too late to get a replacement yesterday but I picked another up today.
With a fresh battery she fired up straight away - on four cylinders traced to the 2pr resistor pack - I must have dislodged the connector while working on the car - that got me up to 6 cylinders the others needing the injector connections pushing fully home
All seems ok now - idling nicely, no steam or smoke from the exhaust, no rattles or leaks, coolant level seems to be stable
Unfortunately I wasn't able to take her for a run out as the mot has expired while she was off the road
Thanks for all the advice and help fellas will see you soon provided she passes the mot
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