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head gasket

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:49 am
by gregT
hi, i was wondering why the block has so many water ports and when you get a head gasket most of these ports are closed. what is the reason for this.

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 1:07 pm
by ChemCool
me also want to know?? :roll:

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:44 am
by Ero_sennin
would be interesting to know, any body tried poking in the extra holes onto the gasket?

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:52 am
by johansx
Ero_sennin wrote:would be interesting to know, any body tried poking in the extra holes onto the gasket?
The holes will only go through if there are matching holes in the top. The block is mass production sand cast, they need holes to get the sand out again... :lol:

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:37 pm
by gregT
ive put holes in. not sure if its the right way to do it, but im going to find out sooner or later. all that i can think of it doing is that the head will run cooler.

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:37 pm
by Charl
johansx wrote:
The holes will only go through if there are matching holes in the top. The block is mass production sand cast, they need holes to get the sand out again... :lol:
If this is true, your smiley face has me concerned :wink: , but punching holes will obviously only work if the blocked holes actually run in to 'next' the water channel.

On a different note, a flat one, Do ca's like cracking heads? If alliminium is crackable :roll: , in that case warping. because i loose water and it starts overheating. there are no tell tail signs anywhere of leaking water, it expands into the expansion tank but doesn't vacume back. can any one sugest anything? Or do i remove the head, again :evil: :x and have it presure tested etc or am i lucky and it only be the head gasket

It also takes longer to overheat if i run it without the thermostat, so I'm thinking it causes slightly more preasure in the "circuit" before the radiator causing higher preasure pushing the water out quicker.
The oil is 100% so there is no water and oil mixture

[smilie=200sx_offtopic.gif] [smilie=200sx_offtopic.gif]

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:32 pm
by WooHaa
Without the thermostat it would take longer to heat up as the water is constantly flowing.
Not the best thing to be doing as the oil is thicker when cooler.
Unless you want to compensate for this by putting in "thinner" oil.
I used to use Mobil 1.
Thicker oil, higher oil pressure during cold start up.

Another thing to check is the water pressure....."Water pump should be pushing water at a certain bar".
What it is, I have no idea.

I used to clean the fins in the rad, as I noticed alot of muck gets in there & clogs it up.

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:34 pm
by Charl
Oil temp is 100% let it warm up for 5 mins on cold mornings, otherwise drive it off slowly. this was another thing. i thought there was no water flow through the cooler because the oil temp lately seems to be running half a bar less but i think its the change in weather. took it off the weekend and reversed the water through it etc but its ok. next to check is the radiator flow and water pump status.

the other morning it pushed out quite a bit of white smoke as well. i think it is the head or gasket but i think :roll: im trying to avoid all the work of removing the head. haha

Note: use to use castrol txt 5w30 which has now changed to castrol slx. same oil different colour bottel, same LL01C spec or something in that line

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 10:45 pm
by johansx
Charl wrote:
johansx wrote:
The holes will only go through if there are matching holes in the top. The block is mass production sand cast, they need holes to get the sand out again... :lol:
If this is true, your smiley face has me concerned :wink: , but punching holes will obviously only work if the blocked holes actually run in to 'next' the water channel.

On a different note, a flat one, Do ca's like cracking heads? If alliminium is crackable :roll: , in that case warping. because i loose water and it starts overheating. there are no tell tail signs anywhere of leaking water, it expands into the expansion tank but doesn't vacume back. can any one sugest anything? Or do i remove the head, again :evil: :x and have it presure tested etc or am i lucky and it only be the head gasket

It also takes longer to overheat if i run it without the thermostat, so I'm thinking it causes slightly more preasure in the "circuit" before the radiator causing higher preasure pushing the water out quicker.
The oil is 100% so there is no water and oil mixture

[smilie=200sx_offtopic.gif] [smilie=200sx_offtopic.gif]
Any alu head can crack, but not that easy. 1st do a whole water system presure check, the radiator places normally does this. I just use my compressor by finding a place to add some presure. As soon as it gets to around 1 bar, the rad cap vents to the bottle. Look for signs of leakage while under presure. Check all hose clamps, waterpump bearing etc. Also make sure the water return pipe from the overflow bottle does not suck air back into the system when the engine cools down.

Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:31 am
by Toby
This is so obvious it's often overlooked - please check your fan! If it's electric make sure it's coming on. If it's viscous, check that the viscous clutch is engaging at high temperatures (not sure how you'd do this, but a pot of boiling water comes to mind).

Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:44 am
by Daniel
Charl i have the exact same problem now :cry: :cry: :cry:

its loosing f'ing water somewhere!!! :evil:
Oil temp stays normal, Iv'e also removed the thermostat now to try lower pressure, its helped fcukall
I find keeping the heater on max helps keep the std water gauge(however good that is :? ) closer to normal temp.

I fear im doing the headgasket this weekend :cry: but how can i be sure its that? Have pressure tested the system, found 2 leaks. fixing that has helped f'all too

Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:26 pm
by Charl
Toby wrote:This is so obvious it's often overlooked - please check your fan! If it's electric make sure it's coming on. If it's viscous, check that the viscous clutch is engaging at high temperatures (not sure how you'd do this, but a pot of boiling water comes to mind).
Fan is 100% I have bypassed it at the moment so i put it on as soon as i start the car too keep it cooler longer :roll:

Also the heater, it works for a bit but as soon as it looses more water there is less water so i put it back to cold to keep water preassure flow up.

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:20 am
by Charl
Daniel wrote:Charl i have the exact same problem now :cry: :cry: :cry:


I fear im doing the headgasket this weekend :cry: but how can i be sure its that? Have pressure tested the system, found 2 leaks. fixing that has helped f'all too
Geuss who's joining you, someone thought my car looked edible, i found mayonnaise in it this morning :x :cry:

Who can preassure test and skim it for me? Please let there be some place in east rand.

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:40 am
by Ero_sennin
Charl wrote:
Daniel wrote:Charl i have the exact same problem now :cry: :cry: :cry:


I fear im doing the headgasket this weekend :cry: but how can i be sure its that? Have pressure tested the system, found 2 leaks. fixing that has helped f'all too
Geuss who's joining you, someone thought my car looked edible, i found mayonnaise in it this morning :x :cry:

Who can preassure test and skim it for me? Please let there be some place in east rand.
Mayo, WTF. what you mean in it?

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:58 am
by WooHaa
Charl wrote:
Daniel wrote:Charl i have the exact same problem now :cry: :cry: :cry:


I fear im doing the headgasket this weekend :cry: but how can i be sure its that? Have pressure tested the system, found 2 leaks. fixing that has helped f'all too
Geuss who's joining you, someone thought my car looked edible, i found mayonnaise in it this morning :x :cry:

Who can preassure test and skim it for me? Please let there be some place in east rand.
Who said oil & water don't mix?
Sad day dude.