Anonymous

i dont see how you would seal it.

the block cant be faced in situ

impossible to know what to recomed on the head without seeing it

Dave Henshall

how can u tell if it has gone porous...? is there a test that can be done? similarly, with the block, how can u tell if its cracked? (obviosly with the head off again)

Anonymous

Pressure testing is only well to test on the head really.
Cracks are normally obvious through visual inspection wit ha magnifying glass

Karl

Hello Dave,

As I mentioned in one of your older posts your syptoms sound like a cracked block. Although you may at first think the head is a fault, I find it EXTREMELY rare that the head causes this kind of problem.

It's also worth mentioning that over the years I have found that production 200blocks (i.e. those that come in cars) are prone to cracking. I would check no.2 bore for vertical cracks however they are often impossible to see only becoming a problem when the engine is running.

The only thing you can do now is to completey remove the engine, fully strip it and have the bare block and head castings crack and pressure tested. However I would not advise using old 200blocks unless you are linering and long studding them so consider this your best method to achieve a reliable engine IF you wish to use your engine components, otherwise a brand new 200block will be a 100% success with std head bolts.

Dave Henshall

thanks karl,

have to say though, im on the verrge of saying enough is enough and calling it a day, im not goin to spend another 2K to make the car worth at best 15K, which it should be anyway, so im seriously gonna consider breaking it, there are lots of very good condition parts and components on there that are now neigh on imposible to get hold of and if the death of mine can further the life of others, so be it

rapidcossie

you can get new 200 blocks for under 600 quid

Dave Henshall

but i'd need a block and head and new gaskets etc, would be looking the wrong side of 2K to have it doen right on teh cheap, if i was goin got do it proper bo like, u'd be looknig at 4-5K for a proper reliable engine for runnig stg 3. dont have the money to throw at it,

ive just had an add up and int eh last 18 months ive spent near as damn it 3.5K on bits just keeping it on the road and looking right, and i could easilly spend that much again to make it 100%, as any bufty know there are always things that you can see that are not appartent to the untrianed eye and if you know they need attention (and we are not talking rot or damage here) just little finishing touches etc the things that make teh difference bentween a good sound car and a MINT just out the box car, the word MINT is so ofter overused IMO when describing second hand cars by coonts who wouldnt knwo a mint car if it ran over them.


OOOOOO what do i do, sell as is as a non runner(well it runs but needs possiblty new engine) or break her for parts and get more than the wholre sale price , in bits ?

Beach

Unlucky mate

Dont break it, Give it a last chance

Dave Henshall

where do i get a complete 4x4 half decent running complete engine from? for not a lot of money?

Damo V

Thats shite news... Know EXACTLY how you feel... I bow to Karls superior knowledge BUT Personally I would have the head off, strip it and get it crack tested INCASE.... though obviously crack testing does NOT always give a DEFINITE answer... but it may come up as cracked!!

Seeing as you are able to do that labour yourself itd only gonna be a couple of quid to get a test carried out ..

otherwise...

keep yer eye open, there are a few engines come up from time to time mate, (I believe Ryan may still have one available.. ) ... IMO that'll be your best bet, just source a nice secondhand one and drop that in... As you say a rebuild is gonna be the wrng side of 2k really... as while its apart etc etc... IMO you will have nothing but grief breaking it

Chris Honeywell

M8 i know exactly how you feel mine has just had an oil pump pack up

Makes you wanna drive it into a wall

Dave Henshall

how do you go about having it crack tested, ? any contacts?

Damo V

Any decent engineering firm, probably the peeps who skimmed it for you will be able to do it..

Dave Henshall

hmm, they were useless, took over a week when he said ti would be a day, and i had the week booked off in antcipation of getting it al back together, a weeks holiday wasted,

might try some radweld in it, see if tyhat finds the crack....

Mechanic_Wedgie

Does this cracking depend on how much boost and power the engine is runnin or doesn't this make a difference and is it a weak point of this engine.


Cheers

Anonymous

Take the head off and look at the block......you should be able to see any cracks around the bolt holes......on my T4 engine running 2.3bar held on std head bolts it cracked in many places as the std bolts dont have enuff clamp imo to handle such boost!

Not read it all but i am assuming you had the head checked before it was reasembled?

Lift head off and see where its blown the gasket will hopefully teel you where!!!

Dave Henshall

this is the thing the cometic one didnt show any signs of blowing and this grp A one has gone puf the first time it has come on boost, there are no obvios cracks in or around the top of teh block or in teh head,

like mentioned above, either a porous head or the block is either so warped its untrue or its got a crack in no 2 into the water jacket and when it gets hot it seeps back in under pressure

just lookin on ebay at what price stuff is going for - fookin thing

Anonymous

If it was a warped block you would see it quite clearly on a new gasket thats blown, as there would be tracks across it on the underside where it joins the block or on the top where it joins the head (cause the gasket can flex even if the block is the problem it can still blow above the gasket)

For it to blow that quickly it would be visible it was not flat just by resting the head on it (half on) and using a 1.5 thou or similar feeler gauge i would expect, as its got to be a reasonable amount out of flat to just blow straight away.

So if it isnt obvouisly warped, and hasnt obviously blown the gasket, then a crack seems likely.

PAUL V

Dave i have a sent of snap on cylinder Leak down gauges that you can borrow if you think it will help ?

Dave Henshall

do they work by pressurising each cylinder in turn and doing a leak rate test on each (obviosly making sure all teh valves are seated before u start..?

Anonymous

Yes, you turn so the valves are shut and then pressurize the cylinder to do a leakdown test, im not sure this would really help you find a cracked block though, unless it was very bad, and the engine still needs to be in one peice to use a leakdown test too.

Dave Henshall

ill try doing this first, refill her with coolant and see if i can get bubbles coming nito the header tank, thats after ive seam cleaned teh engine again, its now covered in oil/water and road salt

Anonymous

I dont really see how its going to help you distinguish between a gasket failure and a block failure TBH mate.

Dave Henshall

ah, i get your point, bearing in mind that the cometic shoed no signs of actual failure when removed ( i initiall t thought it was due to how i'd fitted it) i'm wondering whether there may have been nothing wrong with it at all, and its water usage has been due to a cracked block all along??

Rs Gus

iTrader: (2)

my mate had a yb that was split in one of the inlet tracks no1 it was

Dave Henshall

actually in the head? another possibility...

gonna see what happens, with a compreesion test on each cylinder and thena leak down test oon each , just out of curiosity, this is after ive washed it all clean again

Dave Henshall

right, update again


power washed it all off after spraying it all in gunk, foudn teh hose between teh water pump and thermostat housing was very loose ( yet i desintly remember tightening this at both ends(must have been stiff due to the cold) ) the oil was coming form teh bretaher port under teh inlet manifold(again must have disturnbed the seal when i lifted the head off, and there was a boost blank that had blown out frmo teh std DV location, and i hadnt even disturbed this.


fille dit up water cooland/water again, ran her up, bled teh air out and just took her for a drive,, boost ok, no smoke and no steam,


will have to see how it starts in teh morning now its been hot and the coolant is pressurised again, see if it finds its way into no 2 and misses like a b1tch from cold again. will keep u posted

Damo V

JESUS!!!!! Good luck, though a hard drive will detemine if the coolant is pressurinsing

Dave Henshall

will have to see, talk about roller coaster emotions witth a car, its exactly like a hormonal 13 year old teenager FFS, perhaps in a few years when it get to nearer 20 it'll have settled down

GOD, I HATE U!!!!!!

Damo V

Or £cuked off to live with someone else

Dave Henshall

Ginge !

i remember your cossie doing that

Damo V

dont think you do mate.... on way to EA? that was simply an old hose... if you remember it went on the rollers after that..... and was fine till last winter once i fitted my new samco's

Ginge !

the old hose proved the system had good presure was what i was pointing out

Damo V

What I meant was, on boost if there is a major issue Dave will pressurise the coolant system,, with gasses from the combustion chamber

Dave Henshall

and if it does, ill be chucking some rad weld in when its hot and let it find its own way, see if it at least curbs it

lamb chops

Good luck!! my fingers are crossed

Dave Henshall

UPDATE 10/1/2006


its doing exatly the same now again, missing lots at start up, lots of steamy smopke and blue smoke until it get shot. park it up hot for 10 mins try to restart and it hydraulic locks on teh starter.

full engine out job as per karls recommendation. see exatly what is wrong.

i dunno wether to gets RichardPon's complete engine and bung that in, then sell my old one in bits to recoup some of the costs....?

with the block out and fully stripped, would a specialist be able to detect any cracks in teh cylinders...?

Anonymous

yes they would mate

Dave Henshall

cool, as i might do this first and then see if i can get decent block and have that bored to the spec of my pistons and crank etc, may be looking at 500 all in as opposed to spending 2.5K