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[Squealey]

Well, Glenn, my brother in law came up today to help me refit this head on the tractor. All seemed to go back together with ease and we both commented on more than one occassion how something just HAD to go wrong.

Getting towards the chequered flag i filled the expansion tank up and Glenn joked that he didn't hear any water rushing out, then, we heard loads of water rushing out!! Balls! Turns out Glenn had left a pipe off at the back of the engine under the inlet manifold. Not the easiest thing to access but 10 minutes later it was sorted.

Filled it with water, crossed absolutely everthing, and cranked it over. Straight away it tried to fire. PHEW!!! After 5 attempts it burst into life and sounded sweet as a nut.

Checked everthing over whilst it was running and all seemed ok, put the heater on and let it warm up. It was about 2 mins later that the day got decidedly worse.

Glenn said 'youve got a leak'. It was up the front of the engine and i thought it was probably the thermostat housing. Didn't take me long to figure that no it wasn't. It was the flipping headgasket itself.

There is an oblong hole in the gasket with a metal edge to it which then has little metal tags which run to the outside of the gasket. It was coming from there. It was about then that a sudden depression hit the whole Boston area. God I was fuming.

I knew it still needed the final 90 degree tightening once it was hot and cooled but i honestly didnt think it would work. So feeling thoroughly pee'ed off I wanted to take my car for a quick drive around the block, just cause I haven't been able to since xmas.

Took it for a spin, got back and its magic, the leak is gone, it seems completely gone.

So now i've got to tighten the final 90 degrees, change the water for antifreeze mix and do a couple of final touches.

Then its a new windscreen, fit new front pads, MOT and tax it and its back to comfort motoring on a budget.

As a side note, this was in all honesty one of the easiest h/g's i have ever done. There is loads of access all around the engine bay and with the help of the manual and all the great advice from you all it was a job I honestly wouldn't shy away from doing again, just not to my car please!

Huge thanks go out to Lee (Wellung) for soucing all the parts, Jaime for the loan of your cam locking kit and Elite Pete for sending me said kit.

[charlie]

well done :ydid you manage a how too? lol

[Squealey]

well done :ydid you manage a how too? lol

Your kidding, it was my first TD headgasket job and I honestly expected (and was told) it would be just about the worst and most compicated job I could possibly undertake.

I am always around though so if anyone needs any help or guidance i'll certainly try my best to help them.

[Squealey]

oh well, as per usual, spoke to soon. Been out there this morning and, you've guessed it, big puddle of water underneath. Obviously the heads cooled, the metals shrunk and the leaks back

Not got time to do anything with it today but to say im hugely pi**ed off is an understatement. I know i still have the final 90 to tighten but lets be honest, this isnt going to cure it.

[jonnycool]

Is it just a case of there being something wrong with the head gasket or what? If it is, will a new one cure it?

You have the power and knowledge to do it again if it will. Inconvenient I know, but not a scrapyard job yet

[Squealey]

oh well, as per usual, spoke to soon. Been out there this morning and, you've guessed it, big puddle of water underneath. Obviously the heads cooled, the metals shrunk and the leaks back

Not got time to do anything with it today but to say im hugely pi**ed off is an understatement. I know i still have the final 90 to tighten but lets be honest, this isnt going to cure it.

[Squealey]

Is it just a case of there being something wrong with the head gasket or what? If it is, will a new one cure it?

You have the power and knowledge to do it again if it will. Inconvenient I know, but not a scrapyard job yet

dunno why my original post repeated there?

I think it is just a dodgy gasket, just a real pain in the backside to have to do abloodygain.

Not much chance that p,ulling it down that final 90 degrees is going to sort it is there

[TheBoy]

So if the HG is faulty, I'd be demanding a new HG and new set of bolts from supplier.

Is it a waterway to outside leak? No sign of water getting overpressurised?  If so, *maybe* the last 90 may help.  When I did it, there were no leaks at all before the last 90 though.


The hardest bit I found was the friggin chain tensioner - took us hours

[Elite Pete]

So if the HG is faulty, I'd be demanding a new HG and new set of bolts from supplier.

Is it a waterway to outside leak? No sign of water getting overpressurised?  If so, *maybe* the last 90 may help.  When I did it, there were no leaks at all before the last 90 though.


The hardest bit I found was the friggin chain tensioner - took us hours

(Fingers in ears) LALALALALALALALALALALALALALA, I cant hear you
Just ordered the bits to do mine

[Squealey]

if you remember when you did it Jaime, there was a section at the front which went around the chain then there was a section immedietly below that right next to where the thermostat is attached so its that large waterway. This has a fitted metal gasket built into it with tags going to the edge of the gasket. It appears to me that the water is coming out where this metal tag comes out.

We had no problems with the chain tensioner, just used a long chunky screwdriver which seemed to do the job brilliantly!

I'll try and post a picture of the old gasket to show you what i mean.

[TheBoy]

if you remember when you did it Jaime, there was a section at the front which went around the chain then there was a section immedietly below that right next to where the thermostat is attached so its that large waterway. This has a fitted metal gasket built into it with tags going to the edge of the gasket. It appears to me that the water is coming out where this metal tag comes out.

We had no problems with the chain tensioner, just used a long chunky screwdriver which seemed to do the job brilliantly!

I'll try and post a picture of the old gasket to show you what i mean.

vaguely, but really cant remember much about it...

[Squealey]

As promised, here are some pictures I took earlier.

This first one shows the general area where the leak is, this is the front of the engine and the black plastic part is the thermostat housing.



This next picture shows it a bit closer, you can just about make out the silver metal tag (although it is blurred). This is where the water is seeping out



This last picture shows the headgasket I removed, the leak is coming from the smaller of the 2 oblong holes.



Going to spend a bit of time on it tomorrow if the weathers ok. The 2  mating faces were, as you would expect, spotlessly clean.

First I'll try the extra 90 degree tighten and make sure I can't get any more on those M6 bolts.

Has anyone got any thoughts at all to a possible quick but permanant fix which doesn't involve removing the head again, or am I living in cloud cuckoo land :-/ :-/

[TheBoy]

Sorry, can't add any more to your diagnosis - its as if the silicon bit hasn't sealed for some reason  :-/

Get the extra 90 on it, but I don't hold out much help

[Squealey]

So, i was out there at 9am this morning, tried the final 90 but it made no difference at all (as expected) so I thought, stuff it, lets just get on and take the head off if thats what needs to be done.

Had a bit of running around to do first but managed to get out to make a start at about 12:45. I have a feeling I may have set a new world record. My eldest came round just as I had lifted the head onto my B&D Workbench, I asked him the time, it was 5 past 2!!! 1 hour 20 to remove the head, on my own.

Then had to wait till gone 3 for Linco to get another gasket in. Soon as it was there I enlisted eldests help to lift the head back on and by 7:30 in the dark and cold of the Boston night, I had a fully functioning Omega again.

I've taken her for a spin and she seems great, no overheating, heater works, no pressurisation etc etc and i've had a quick look over with a torch and all seems ok. Im not going to tempt fate though till ive carried out some final checks in the morning, so fingers, toes, legs and arms are crossed.

Please God, let it be fixed so I can start spending money on a different part of it!

[TheBoy]

Fingers crossed