Im a little worried

[SILICONEKID340HP]

After changing my oil pressure sender again thought it would be nice to have a look around the engine from underneath .Im a little worried ,it looks like there is oil leaking out of the joint between the engine block and the head where the gasket is .Its dry above, thought it may of been comming from the rocker cover gaskets .

Can this happen or would the head gasket be gone if the bolts were not tight enough.!

definitely no oil above the head gasket.

[BIGMIKE1]

Mine also has a tiny leak from the N/S bank between the block and head about 3/4 of the way back, I assume its just a little seep from the oil journal going through the gasket but doesn't seem worth changing the head gasket till it gets worse or I need a re-build. I was hoping mine was Rocker gaskets but changed them at the start of the year and it is a lot better but still appears when you look from underneath.

[SILICONEKID340HP]

BIGMIKE1 said:

Mine also has a tiny leak from the N/S bank between the block and head about 3/4 of the way back, I assume its just a little seep from the oil journal going through the gasket but doesn't seem worth changing the head gasket till it gets worse or I need a re-build. I was hoping mine was Rocker gaskets but changed them at the start of the year and it is a lot better but still appears when you look from underneath.

My engine as only done around 7k .. Do these heads need re torquing. Mine seems to be pg out

[Discopotatoes]

Are you sure it's not coming from the head bolts? They weep!

[SILICONEKID340HP]

sick of it all ! Wish i had kept the Jap import MGR v8 turn the key and drive ..

I`ts took over my life ! spending money with people who don`t know what there doing ..who promise everything ..

[Tri2Tri]

'spending money with people who don`t know what there doing ..who promise everything ..'

Unfortunately that seems to be the way in the UK at the moment....and not only mechanics but any trade.
I take it the MGR had the same engine? so I would imagine difference in mechanical reliability between would be equal or am I completely off track...

[TVR Beaver]

I've always thought this about studs... why would you not have to re-torque them once the gaskett has settled a bit?... You awlays had to in the past....
Obviously stretch bolts were put in there for a reason?....

[V8 GRF]

SILICONEKID340HP said:

sick of it all ! Wish i had kept the Jap import MGR v8 turn the key and drive ..

I`ts took over my life ! spending money with people who don`t know what there doing ..who promise everything ..

Where do you take it?

PM me if you don't want to N&S

[SILICONEKID340HP]

TVR Beaver said:

I've always thought this about studs... why would you not have to re-torque them once the gaskett has settled a bit?... You awlays had to in the past....
Obviously stretch bolts were put in there for a reason?....

I did ask th question ,they said "there is no need to come back and have them torqued up" ..Will the end result be head gasket failure


1 |New engine result heads leaking oil out of the heads

2 Megasquirt install by a established company result need to spend more money grounds wrong(calibration wrong) cold start wrong all wrong ..

3 seats re covered (different colour now got to dye interior to match, leather worn through in two years .) roof top matarial comming off

4 shock absorbers with 500lb springs bouncing me up the road like a silver cross pram .
etc etc etc

Don`t mind spending money but this seems to be happening alot ..

Once they have your money they don`t care !It`s not as if i have had cheap jobs done ,it`s cost me fortune .

The only decent company i have used is Willow sports cars !

Edited by SILICONEKID340HP on Tuesday 20th November 09:08

[ButtonIt]

Whereabouts are you?

[gifdy]

SILICONEKID340HP said:

I did ask th question ,they said "there is no need to come back and have them torqued up" ..Will the end result be head gasket failure


1 |New engine result heads leaking oil out of the heads

2 Megasquirt install by a established company result need to spend more money grounds wrong(calibration wrong) cold start wrong all wrong ..

3 seats re covered (different colour now got to dye interior to match, leather worn through in two years .) roof top matarial comming off

4 shock absorbers with 500lb springs bouncing me up the road like a silver cross pram .
etc etc etc

Don`t mind spending money but this seems to be happening alot ..

Once they have your money they don`t care !It`s not as if i have had cheap jobs done ,it`s cost me fortune .

The only decent company i have used is Willow sports cars !

Edited by SILICONEKID340HP on Tuesday 20th November 09:08

I feel your pain ! I've had similar problems with so called 'specialists'. They seem very helpful when discussing the work but when something goes wrong it's a different story. I wish someone would create a review site so people could share experiences, both good and bad. We could then make an informed decision.

There are good guys out there though; Colin at TVRSSW and Tim at ACT I would put in this category. I've tested both of their aftersales service

[Podie]

Always amuses me when people post "I've had great service from xxxxxx!" - really? So what's that based on? The price you paid?

I no longer recommend anyone. I've had service I'm happy with, and service I'm not happy with over the years from various specialists. Probably good that PH has a "no name and shame" policy...

[V8 GRF]

SILICONEKID340HP said:

The only decent company i have used is Willow sports cars !

I'm surprised you've been messed around 'cos you're not afraid to ask questions maybe you haven't ask enough or looked around enough and just gone for the first recommendation? I don't know but I agree it's difficult to recommend as you can only report on your own experiences, that said I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Paul and Heath at X-Works, I've never heard a genuine complaint against them and they do care.

Loyalty to one decent specialist (once you've found them) also gives you genuine benefits so as it sounds like you've found a decent bunch of guys at Willow so stick with them and I'm sure they'll sort you out.

Never saw you the NEC you should have come and had a word.....

[gifdy]

Podie said:

Always amuses me when people post "I've had great service from xxxxxx!" - really? So what's that based on? The price you paid?

I no longer recommend anyone. I've had service I'm happy with, and service I'm not happy with over the years from various specialists. Probably good that PH has a "no name and shame" policy...

No - as I said it was how they behaved when things went wrong. Things go wrong, people make mistakes. I'm happy to accept that and I think I'm pretty reasonable about it. What marks out the guys I mentioned was how well they communicated and how far they went to ensure the car was fixed. Others wouldn't pick up the phone, weren't available or ignored emails when they didn't like the contents. Price had nothing to do with it.

[Podie]

gifdy said:

Podie said:

Always amuses me when people post "I've had great service from xxxxxx!" - really? So what's that based on? The price you paid?

I no longer recommend anyone. I've had service I'm happy with, and service I'm not happy with over the years from various specialists. Probably good that PH has a "no name and shame" policy...

No - as I said it was how they behaved when things went wrong. Things go wrong, people make mistakes. I'm happy to accept that and I think I'm pretty reasonable about it. What marks out the guys I mentioned was how well they communicated and how far they went to ensure the car was fixed. Others wouldn't pick up the phone, weren't available or ignored emails when they didn't like the contents. Price had nothing to do with it.

My comment was not directed at yours - it was a general observation on having used TVR specialists over the country in the past decade.

[gifdy]

Podie said:

gifdy said:

Podie said:

Always amuses me when people post "I've had great service from xxxxxx!" - really? So what's that based on? The price you paid?

I no longer recommend anyone. I've had service I'm happy with, and service I'm not happy with over the years from various specialists. Probably good that PH has a "no name and shame" policy...

No - as I said it was how they behaved when things went wrong. Things go wrong, people make mistakes. I'm happy to accept that and I think I'm pretty reasonable about it. What marks out the guys I mentioned was how well they communicated and how far they went to ensure the car was fixed. Others wouldn't pick up the phone, weren't available or ignored emails when they didn't like the contents. Price had nothing to do with it.

My comment was not directed at yours - it was a general observation on having used TVR specialists over the country in the past decade.

Ah OK. Fair enough - I did a lot of research before choosing but perhaps the lack of N&S gives an overly positive bias. It was only afterwards that several people contacted me to share similar experiences. I've done the same...at least I know there are some people who will be more wary and may avoid the crap I've been through.

[Manicminer]

If it is leaking from the gasket it could be down to a number of things.

Stretch bolts - if this engine uses stretch bolts did they use brand new quality bolts on the rebuild? If not the clamping force could be insufficient leading to a leak. Good standard practice is the use new bolts regardless of whether the manufacturer recommends or not. New quality bolts are expensive so could be a corner thats been cut.

If it doesn't use stretch bolts - have the head bolts rechecked. On older engines they used to recommend a retorque after 1000 miles as the head to block clamping force could have reduced since fitment.

Gasket - what gasket did they use? Did they use one of those cheap motor factors gasket or a quality (again not cheap) item? I just did a Jap 16v engine gasket and the one that came from Camskill looked like it would last 5 minutes compared to the one I got from the main dealer. Cost difference was £30 for a full gasket set from motor factors against £40 just for the head gasket from the main dealer. Multi layer metal ones were £100 plus.

Lastly surfaces - did they clean the block and head faces properly before assembly? A head reface is normally a good idea and a lot of time spent properly hand cleaning the block face is totally necessary.

If you've only recently had it done I'd suggest getting the garage to sort the leak - no fob offs. It should not leak from that area.

[Ribol]

gifdy said:

Others wouldn't pick up the phone, weren't available or ignored emails when they didn't like the contents.

The problem small garages have is that if they constantly stop working to answer the phone or answer endless flow of e-mails they simply don't get any work done. If they don't get any work done they go skint. If they spend hours doing it in the evening to catch up they have no life. Large garages have no excuse because they pay someone to do all that and simply bung their wages on to your bill!

When a customer chooses a time when they are free, not busy, bored (delete as applicable) to pick up a phone or drop a garage an e-mail or text from the comfort of their desk life may not be quite so cosy at the other end. Or when after a couple of glasses of wine that all important question gets fired off at 1.00 am just before bed it is another response needed from the garage. If they see a customer twice a year and they are busy every day that is a lot of customers to answer. On top of that you have potential new customers that will judge you instantly on your response time. One top of that you have complete messers that get in the way of the garage trying to earn a living. In short a potential complete admin nightmare.

Let me also make the point that for every garage that is supposedly bad at what they do (and there are plenty out there) there are probably a even more bad customers out there that are not worth working for.
Bad garages tend to go out of business - bad customers just keep going from garage to garage because they are the ones with the money to spend and the next garage doesn't know what they are like yet. People are very quick to point out a bad garage but very reluctant to admit they are a bad customer because they never are.

ETA - a general rant and not aimed at anyone in particular.

Edited by Ribol on Tuesday 20th November 10:49

[Manicminer]

Sounds just like a whole list of excuses to me. If the garage is too undermanned and busy to answer the phone, have an answer machine and call the customers at the end of the day or in the morning when they are likely to be home.

Ditto for emails, filter and reply to emails every day.

I know it's easy for me to say and that a garage with a seemingly endless supply of work doesn't need to make the effort but one day that roller door will open and there will be no customers waiting.

There may be a lot of timewasters, awkward customers and problems that the garage doesn't want to deal with but thats business. Just ignoring them all is bad form.

[Podie]

gifdy said:

Podie said:

gifdy said:

Podie said:

Always amuses me when people post "I've had great service from xxxxxx!" - really? So what's that based on? The price you paid?

I no longer recommend anyone. I've had service I'm happy with, and service I'm not happy with over the years from various specialists. Probably good that PH has a "no name and shame" policy...

No - as I said it was how they behaved when things went wrong. Things go wrong, people make mistakes. I'm happy to accept that and I think I'm pretty reasonable about it. What marks out the guys I mentioned was how well they communicated and how far they went to ensure the car was fixed. Others wouldn't pick up the phone, weren't available or ignored emails when they didn't like the contents. Price had nothing to do with it.

My comment was not directed at yours - it was a general observation on having used TVR specialists over the country in the past decade.

Ah OK. Fair enough - I did a lot of research before choosing but perhaps the lack of N&S gives an overly positive bias. It was only afterwards that several people contacted me to share similar experiences. I've done the same...at least I know there are some people who will be more wary and may avoid the crap I've been through.

Nor was it a comment about any of the specialists mentioned in this thread.