S1 Elise head gasket - Recomendations

[paulh629]

Well checked the water level and found that oil is contaminating the water, all points once again to that HEAD GASKET. Can anyone out there suggest an upgraded gasket set that reduces this problem and is there any garage/ specialist which people would recommend, somewhere close to Peterborough would be great!

[Scuffers]

paulh629 said:

Well checked the water level and found that oil is contaminating the water, all points once again to that HEAD GASKET. Can anyone out there suggest an upgraded gasket set that reduces this problem and is there any garage/ specialist which people would recommend, somewhere close to Peterborough would be great!

your wording implies it's not the first HG that's failed?

if this is the case, then you need somebody to look at it and work out why they are failing, as just slapping in another one is probably not going to help much...

[paulh629]

This is the 2nd head gaskett now. Last replaced in 2006. Oh the pain!!!!!!!

[NWTony]

I'm no expert (really I'm not) but I think the way to go is get your liner heights sorted first then fit a landrover gasket. Possibly a remote thermostat as well and make sure the whole engine is up to temp (not just the water) before giving it beans - maybe invest in an oil temp guage?. Probably teaching you to suck egss there.

Can't help you with Peterborough tho

[fleetelise]

Dave Andrews (dvapower.co.uk) is where I will go when I get HGF - i'll have a little upgrade at the same time i think.

[kambites]

There are various things you can do... different gaskets, uprated locating pins, stronger head bolts, relocated thermostat... I think there's a fairly comprehensive list on SELOC somewhere.

[TIPPER]

Milton Keynes isn't that far from Peterborough so I'd definately be looking to take the car to DVA to get it
sorted properly. The only trouble with that is he is mighty busy and general has a waiting list for his services. Still if you don't ask him.....

[Scuffers]

paulh629 said:

This is the 2nd head gaskett now. Last replaced in 2006. Oh the pain!!!!!!!

that being the case, then I would assume it's just the usual issues rather than anything specific...

unless you want to spend money, it's probably not worth the effort of having it pulled down to find a problem that might well not be there...

I would suggest having the head litfted, check what exactly has failed and just fit a new gasket properly (allong with new dowels/etc)..

if it's just oil in the water etc, then t could just be a bit of the seal has failed rather than the fire rings themselves.

Last bit, DO NOT use an MLS gasket unless you have had the linners all optimised, the MLS ones are not as good as the older style ones where the linners are anything less than perfect.

[s111dpc]

Might be worth trying these guys as they are just outside Spalding iirc

http://www.kelsport.net/

[tpp_uk]

At the risk of semi-hijacking this thread, I've just had HGF diagnosed and the garage are just about to start work on it - I've searched back through the wiki and seloc, but remind me what I should have done whilst the head is off - polishing / porting??