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Section : Engine
Engine, cooling system, fuel system, exhaust system.
Posted By : Andrew Parry, 19-Sep-2006,
02:59pm
Dear all,
I suspect this subject may have been covered sometime in the past but I'm not sure where.
I solved most of my overheating and pinking problems by replacing the rather tacky gasket I first fitted with a decent quality, slightly thicker gasket but
I am still left with a persistent weep of oil and possibly some coolant aswell from the rear l/h corner of the block by the engine number.
I didn't use any gasket sealant as most people I speak to prefer to fit head gaskets without any. The cylinder head nuts are all torqued correctly - I
checked the head for warps when I rebuilt the engine. The engine seems to run very well and the loss of coolant/oil is neglible but the occasional smell of
hot coolant and oil can be disconcerting. Any suggestions?
Andy.
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Posted By : Peter & Mick (son) Lewis,
19-Sep-2006, 06:30pm
did you run a die nut down the stud threads to make sure the nuts are not torqued up on
crud in the threads ?? peter
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Posted By : Andrew Parry,
19-Sep-2006, 09:39pm
Peter,
The studs were brand new so I doubt that's the problem. However, when I get round to removing the head at some point I will make sure there are no
problems with any threads or nuts.
Thanks,
Andy.
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Posted By : Chris Taylor,
19-Sep-2006, 09:43pm
Possible the head (or block?) is very slightly distorted. If so, provided the leakage is truly minimal (at least of coolant) then I'd just live
with it. Any slight oil drips will soon be joined by others from other parts of the engine or transmission!
BTW, did you retorque the headnuts after 500 miles? Worth rechecking the nuts are still done up to correct torque as things can settle with
engine in use, especially after a rebuild.
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Posted By : John Davies, 19-Sep-2006,
11:07pm
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Posted By : Geoffrey Griffiths,
20-Sep-2006, 10:39am
The symptoms you describe are typical of those commonly seen in this area and are probably due to modern head gaskets. There is an internal oil
feed to the rocker gear which picks up on the rear rocker shaft pillar. It has been suggested that when fitting new gaskets a smear of sealant
around this feed hole in the gasket will cure the problem. I haven't tried it but because of the reports of similar oil leaks from lots of people ,
next time I change the head gasket I shall try this.
Geoff
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Posted By : David Rumens, 20-Sep-2006,
06:59pm
The loss of oil from the rear of the engine block has been a problem for many years and I can remember rebuilding an engine some 40 years ago and
having the problem then. The only way I have found to stop it is to smear a very small amount of sealant around the oil rocker feed hole in the head
gasket. But make sure the oil feed hole is clear of sealant before finally fitting the head. As the engines on new Triumphs did not have this problem
and it only appeared after the head had been off I reckon the factory must have also used sealant!
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Posted By : Andrew Parry,
21-Sep-2006, 10:59am
Thank you all for your suggestions; much appreciated. Chris, I did retorque the head nuts. John, there is no evidence of any leakage from the
sealing bolt.
It looks like this year's Christmas present is going to be yet another head gasket and a tube of sealant. I will report back on the success or
failure of this method.
Andy.
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Posted By : Andrew Parry,
15-May-2007, 11:35am
Dear All,
Resuming this thread from last September....
Two weeks ago I finally got around to replacing the head gasket in an attempt to rectify the seep of oil from the rear corner of the block as
described earlier. Once the head was off I found evidence of leakage in a another area hidden by the carbs and although I could detect no head
or block warping I decided to apply gasket sealant to all faces of the the gasket, block and head. A sticky smelly job but it certainly seems
to have solved all the problems and the engine now runs beautifully. With new front springs and Gaz adjustable shocks I now feel reasonably
safe with its new found performance.
I did have a few problems resetting the timing when things were back together as I have lost the TDC mark from the timing chain cover, probably
rusted away years ago. I had to do it by trail and error more than anything else. I had problems trying to set it by a road test listening for
'slight pinking' when accellerating in top from 30 to 50; I couldn't get it to pink at all even when the timing was about 15 deg BTDC. (Super
unleaded with Castrol Valvemaster Octane Booster.) Previously I had trouble avoiding pinking so presumably the new gasket has altered the
compression ratio. A guess at 13 BTDC seems to have worked and the engine is running better than ever before. Does anyone have a photo of the
TDC mark on a MKII timing cover I could use to remark my own?
Cheers,
Andy.
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Posted By : Colin Wake,
15-May-2007, 12:11pm
Andy
That may not have been a sensible thing to do long term.
I have spent many happy (NOT!) hours trying to remove heads that were fully sealed.
The sealant glues the head to the block.
Cheers
Colin
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Posted By : Andrew Parry,
15-May-2007, 12:34pm
Colin,
I am aware of the delights of removing old gasket sealant and removing stubborn cylinder heads but I was told that the sealant I used
was an improvement on the original stuff (it doesn't set hard) and I weighed all this against all the time it took me to sort out the
problems and costs associated with leaks - three cylinder head removals and three new gaskets so far.
Regards,
Andy.
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Posted By : Spencer
Allen-Scholey, 24-May-2007, 07:21pm
Andy,
I have been having some issues with my Vitesse (see white smoke from exhaust thread) and I have now narrowed it down to a head
gasket blown due to incorrect head nut torque setting. I have a new gasket and will be having a go at fitting it next week. What
sealant did you use? I am wary of glueing the head to the block!!
Spence
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Posted By : Mark
Astley, 24-May-2007, 07:36pm
I used ( and TLD who built my engine) wellseal. It is red and gooey stuff. But it doesn't set hard, gasket removability is one
of its quoted benefits.
When I rmeoved my head afetr a couple of K and a year and a half it jus lifted straight off with no problems. No sticking of
the gasket onto either block or head.
Yours
Mark
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Posted By : Andrew Parry, 27-May-2007, 07:45pm
Spence,
Like Mark I used Wellseal on the advice of a Triumph specialist and am delighted to hear that he was subsequently able to
remove the head without problems. As you probably understand from the 'white smoke' thread I was annoyed with myself for
not using the correct torque settings in the first place and would now probably only use sealant at the corner of the block
that is prone to weeping. Having said that, the Wellseal compound seemed to solve the leaks even at 45 ft/lb torque so if
you want a belt and bracers job then it should be fine.
Cheers,
Andy.