Cologne v6 head gasket

[sean x]

Hi all. Just took the heads off a 2.3 Cologn v6 due to blown gasket, noticed that it only had tiny holes for water above the cylinders, although the cylinders have much larger channels.
Had a look at some new ones to buy but they were the same.
Has anyone enlarged these gasket holes to match the size of the block and head holes?
Seems the overheating was due to one of these becoming blocked and then gasket blowing just there.
Cheers,
Sean

[sean x]

Here's photos of the offending gasket.


Below, the yellow arrows indicate the tiny holes, the only cooling available to that side of the cylinder head. Should I enlarge these on the next gasket?
The red arrows are marks left on the gasket where they blocked flow channels due to not having holes stamped out there - should these be present?
The blue arrows are marks left on the cylinder head where the gasket actually had a hole but no corresponding channel in the block or head.

I thought maybe an Essex gasket found its way into this Cologne V6, but looking at new ones of those online it doesn't seem the case.
Any ideas?

Cheers,
Sean

Edited by sean x on Sunday 21st July 08:40

[Rich's Granny]

Hi Mate
I've been into Granadas Mk1 and 2 for 25 years now. Have had both and have owned my current 2.8 mk2 since it was 3 years old. I have been the technical advisor for our club...

The Ford Granada Mk1 Owners Club incorporating the Mk2 register.

for many years.

To answer your question on Essex head gaskets from the mk1. They will not go anywhere near a cologne engine so no worries there.

As regards the small holes in the gasket. This is normal and how they are. If the cooling system in general is in good condition and kept clean by regular coolant changes and flushing through by normal servicing then this is not a problem as there will be no rust and debris floating about inside to cause blockages. It only takes a small particle of debris to block a hole of any sort in any engine and the everything will back up behind it.

Best thing to do is clean everything as best you can, put the engine back together and give it a good flushing through. I had to do this with a Mk1 that had been standing 15 years. I kept filling it up running it til it was hot then draining it and repeating the process over and over until the water coming out was clean again. Even then after the car had been back in use a while I did it again a few times. never had any overheating issues with it.

was the car 'running warm' or did it overheat properly?

The reason I ask that question is that severe overheating 'can' cause damage to the fibre camshaft drive gear. It needs to be pretty severe overheating though.

hope that helps

regards

[sean x]

Thanks Rich, that’s a really helpful reply.
I'm not too sure about the details of the problem when it happened as I just recently bought the car and there was no mention of overheating, steam etc. I bought it as a non runner and it’s been in storage since 1996, long enough for the bit of moisture in one cylinder to seize it.
Yes, the small hole was blocked, but the channels in the block and head are clear, no warpage to the head, and it looks like a tiny imperfection on the gasket just next to where the small hole is, just enough to let water into the cylinder.
I would guess that she was running hot for the last couple of owners as the radiator looks new (compared to the rest of the car) and has an electric fan, maybe someone was trying to sort her out thinking the previous radiator was blocked? Then she blew steam and he parked her up 16 years ago with the mind to have a look inside and never got round to it.
Anyway, she's not badly seized either as a clean out of crap from that one cylinder has enabled me to spin her over by hand, the oil doesn’t have any contamination and it all looks quite good. Hopefully.
Thanks again for your reply.
Cheers,
Sean