Moley's R

Thats shit luck mate. .... I wish i even had 2.5 to lend lol so do you think its going to be a full strip and inspect for the engine mate. ... ?

Ill be giving it to Bob to do probably, ive got an engine in my garage to rebuild, just on a smaller scale; 2 cylinder golf buggy engine From what has happened im thinking it will be a head skim and a new h/g but ill see what results i get from the compression test, whatever the outcome it will need the head off i reckon...

Yeah mate i think your right wichever way it goes id guess it will be head off and hopefully your see a weep in the gasket

just read this pete
yes it does sound like a h/g failiure which is initially leaking water into cylinder hense soaking the plug.
hopefully its just the h/g and not a crack in either head or block liner
the cosworth mls gaskets very rarely fail tbh

Not good mate, you did say at the pub you thought the head gasket was on its way out. Hope its not to serious and you get away with just having it skimmed

Yeah thats what i thought Bob, i always let the engine get up to temp before i open her up, still just one of them things i guess. I've done about 16,000 miles since you rebuilt it over 2 years ago. If it is just h/g, then i guess it would be best to get the head skimmed and the block checked? What do you reckon it will roughly cost me Bob?

Cheers Mark, not too bothered as im used to it; previously owned a rover with a k series engine just means i have to borrow a car as i wont drive it anymore so i dont make it worse.

Ok so got round to looking at it today, i started car and it started fine; coolant has dropped about an inch again. Took it for a little drive and it felt normal so left it running till the fans kicked in: Ok. Took the compression readings twice; did the first while engine was warm and second once cold:

1. 142psi/150psi *done with fuel pump relay removed and removing one plug at a time with a fully charged battery.
2. 152psi/151psi
3. 139psi/147psi
4. 140psi/145psi

Excuse me for being thick but i was expecting the hot readings to show a higher compression than the cold due to thermal expansion or am i thinking about this wrongly?

On both tests only 2-3psi lost on each cylinder after about 20 seconds.

The plugs all look similar colour and the only other thing i noticed was cylinder 4 had some droplets on piston whereas all the others just looked damp.

Struggling a bit now as to what it could be...

theres nothing wrong with the comp readings pete and they are all pretty similar across the board.

it would only take a slight blow into one cylinder in order for you to lose some coolant, so the one i would suspect could be no4 with a few droplets lying on top of the piston

if you have an old spark plug or adaptor then connect it to compressor airline and set compressor to around 40 psi whilst no 4 is at tdc with valves closed.
remove the radcap and wee if you can see or hear any bubbles in coolant system, if so then the head gasket is leaking on that particular cylinder

it sounds like its only a slight blow at the moment but obviously thats no good and will need sorting.....in the meantime i would just use the car as per normal and just check water a bit more often and top up if necessary, if shes kicking out clouds of white smoke and fowling the plug often then i wouldnt use her anymore untill its sorted as you dont want to risk cracking either the head or block

Ok well i think i can attach a compressor to the pipe in the kit i have so will try and do it that way, i hate getting things where you cant put your finger directly on the fault
Cheers Bob

In effect same procedure as a leak down test but without the regulators. ..

yes or pop it down to me and il put a chemical test on it for you pete

Ok Bob, is tomorrow your last day or are you making Lee work xmas eve?

no last day tomorrow pete

Ok ill pop down and see you in the new year

Right bit of an update as its been a while. Car is now off the road as the mot run out and dont wanna get it tested with its current problem. Been in contact with the guy who's gonna do my headwork and hes busy so wont be done till end of march. Not too bothered as i have many things to do to the car while its not working; got to look at rear left brake as not biting disc properly. Probably gonna get some upgraded discs and pads to go with the front brake conversion(yet to be fitted!). Also got front cv gaitors, steering rack gaitor and god knows what else ive forgotten

Just need some decent whether and to find time to do it

Also thinking about buying another vehicle but struggling to choose a 4x4 to buy, thinking a 300tdi discovery is an option...

You know the list is always endless once you start pete why such a big car are you using it for towing etc ?

Yeah want something capable of towing my car trailer and thought a disco is ideal as its heavy and ill use the 4wd on my field where my horse is kept and where i store some of my trailers(very boggy at the minute). Also having 7 seats would come in handy.
You get close to thinking ive done all i want then something else creeps into your mind and the list is neverending...

You have a horse aswell .... not my kind of thing i prefer something with more comfort and predictable lol ... sounds like a disco is one of your best choices then i had a look round one of them the other day as the fella want me to do some welding work on the chasis for him .

Well its not mine its my mums, thats her hobby and my dads is fishing. But i plan on collecting hay/straw for her if the field is too wet for my dads car. Also will be handy for collecting machinery when im doing private jobs. I've heard that they can suffer with rust in certain areas...

Dont know to much about them tbh mate it was only a couple of plates and it had been jacked up so i didnt mind doing it always good for abit of pocket money all goes in the pulsar fund for me to spend lol

i had one for a couple years 300tdi and there bloody good motors for the amount you can pick them up for, think i gave £600 for mine and pxed it with dooie pop pop (whos an old skool forum member on gtiroc)for his gtir, he then moved from essex to scottyland and its still going strong up there.

things you have to watch for on them is blown h/g as they are notorious for it
check to make sure the heater works....if it dont and just blows cold air then thats a good indicator that the gaskets gone or heads warped as it pumps air into heater pipes so you have to constantly bleed the system.
obviously check underside for rust as a lot of them are used to put boats in the drink so suffer from bad rot where theyve been backed into the salty stuff
other than that there great cars and comfy to drive too

Think i remember your one bob is was parked in the corner when i come down to pick me pulsar up from you at the old gaff.

I was aware of the rust issues but not heard a lot about h/g so ill keep an eye out. Typical 300tdi with 160,000+ miles still in the £2K region. Also gonna look at others such as hilux surf etc

Things are now in motion with the old girl, dropped my head off yesterday and had a good chat with the chap doing the work and had a good look at some of the heads he was currently doing. Now got to clear the back garden and get the car round there and up in the air so i can have a fiddle with a few other things.
Normally i would be unhappy with not being able to use it but im still enjoying my new motor so its all good

What head work did you decide to go for in the end pete ?