Oil in coolant -After head gasket change
Discussion
It's a long story, but one of my exhaust studs snapped when attempting to change the exhaust headers on my motorbike.
Blow torch wouldn't shift it.
Took head off -and had to remove cams, sprockets and followers in process. Oil in head looked clean
Oxy-acetylene wouldn't shift it.
Sent it to machine shop.
3 rusted up studs replaced and gasket surface smoothed off
-It came back looking flat when tested against metal rule
Cleaned block of old gasket and made sure bores and pistons were clean, with no particles down sides.
Re-fitted head and cams (engine in place, quite awkward) using borrowed torque wrench
Cleaned and re-assembled carbs to correct settings, filled with coolant etc.
Finally fitted the exhaust, which took a few minutes....
Engine started on 3rd press of starter. Running very smoothly. I felt slightly satisfied
I gave the engine a look-over and noticed that coolant had started dripping -Eventually I discovered that it appears that one of the head unions leaking badly. Must have been removed/re-fitted at machine shop, so off come the carbs, battery etc., drain some of the fluid and I fit a new O-ring.
Leak appears to have been cured.
Go to top-up coolant.....
....Find 'mayonnaise' in the coolant.
Drain coolant and flush through, replace with water.
Run engine
...more mayonnaise in coolant....
I can only assume that I've not torqued up the head bolts correctly.
My thoughts are that the torque wrench I was using wasn't suitable for
the job. I was working at the bottom end of the scale and don't know if it is was accurate.
The engine has only been ticking over, with a couple of blips to 3000rpm so this does not bode well
Questions:
Could this oil in the coolant really have happened after only a few minutes at tickover?
Am I going to have to do the whole job again?
If I find that the head bolts are too loose and then torque them up correctly and replace the oil and coolant, will the head gasket blow in the near future anyway?
Have I wasted the past 2 days and all of my 'garage tokens', beyond learning that I should have removed the engine completely or broken the habit of a lifetime and taken it to a garage and never borrow a torque wrench?
Edit: Just thought, the head bolts sit under the cam bearings so I can't just torque the bolts up again without removing the cams. Damn.
Blow torch wouldn't shift it.
Took head off -and had to remove cams, sprockets and followers in process. Oil in head looked clean
Oxy-acetylene wouldn't shift it.
Sent it to machine shop.
3 rusted up studs replaced and gasket surface smoothed off
-It came back looking flat when tested against metal rule
Cleaned block of old gasket and made sure bores and pistons were clean, with no particles down sides.
Re-fitted head and cams (engine in place, quite awkward) using borrowed torque wrench
Cleaned and re-assembled carbs to correct settings, filled with coolant etc.
Finally fitted the exhaust, which took a few minutes....
Engine started on 3rd press of starter. Running very smoothly. I felt slightly satisfied
I gave the engine a look-over and noticed that coolant had started dripping -Eventually I discovered that it appears that one of the head unions leaking badly. Must have been removed/re-fitted at machine shop, so off come the carbs, battery etc., drain some of the fluid and I fit a new O-ring.
Leak appears to have been cured.
Go to top-up coolant.....
....Find 'mayonnaise' in the coolant.
Drain coolant and flush through, replace with water.
Run engine
...more mayonnaise in coolant....
I can only assume that I've not torqued up the head bolts correctly.
My thoughts are that the torque wrench I was using wasn't suitable for
the job. I was working at the bottom end of the scale and don't know if it is was accurate.
The engine has only been ticking over, with a couple of blips to 3000rpm so this does not bode well
Questions:
Could this oil in the coolant really have happened after only a few minutes at tickover?
Am I going to have to do the whole job again?
If I find that the head bolts are too loose and then torque them up correctly and replace the oil and coolant, will the head gasket blow in the near future anyway?
Have I wasted the past 2 days and all of my 'garage tokens', beyond learning that I should have removed the engine completely or broken the habit of a lifetime and taken it to a garage and never borrow a torque wrench?
Edit: Just thought, the head bolts sit under the cam bearings so I can't just torque the bolts up again without removing the cams. Damn.
Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 23 April 22:36
ridds said:
Did it leak before you took it apart? 
If not it would tend to point towards not being fitted correctly. Either way it sounds like it's coming apart again. Has it got an oil cooler? Is that plumbed correctly? :heh:
Nope, but the head has had considerable heat and machining applied. If not it would tend to point towards not being fitted correctly. Either way it sounds like it's coming apart again. Has it got an oil cooler? Is that plumbed correctly? :heh:
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