Cylinder head weeping

[STAG1973]

While having a look under my car i noticed weeping of coolant between the head and block i have noticed the car using coolant from runs out and constant topping up, there is no contaminationof water/oil and the car runs fine with no misfiring, smoke etc.

Theengine wasrebuilt in 1996 and hasdone less than 10000 milesand alot of standing, but now is getting regular use,

Do i need to change the head gasketsas soon as orwill it be ok for awhile

Forgot to mention that it`s both heads but the left hand sideis theworst

What do you guysthink i should do!!!

Adrian

[stustag]

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Hi Adrian

Is the leak from the cylinder heads?

Is it from the inlet manifold or from the water pump housing?

You need to try and determine where the water is coming from before making a decision. This is not easy with the engine fully assembled but if you use some chalk dust and an expandable mirror you should be able to trace it.

Me being the most paranoid stag owner here I would strip it and rebuild.

Stuart

[STAG1973]

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The weeping is from the bottom of the heads by the exhaustmanifolds, looked in the vee and all is dry,

Adrian

[marshman]

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Hi Adrian,

Sounds exactly the same as mine. It was rebuilt in 1997 and has done 4500 miles since. Rust stains on both sides of the block behind the manifolds and using water every trip BUT it ran fine.

I have just removed both heads and replaced them - still finishing the job so haven't fired it up yet. Both heads were badly corroded and waterways were full of corrosion. Infact heads were so bad I've replaced them with another pair. Water was leaking into cylinders 7 & 8 and both bores had evidence of watermarks in them.

My personal opinion is that you will be OK running around for a while longer provided you keep an eye on the temperature and coolant level but in the near future you should remove the heads and investigate fully. The longer you leave the worse it will get with possible damage to your bottom end:shock:

regards

Roger

[STAG1973]

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Cheers Roger

The coolant runs down the block covering everything in coolant, i was thinking of leaving it until the end of the year and have a look at doing it then, as i have found more items that need attention

Adrian

[Giles]

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you could try some K seal or similar - worth a try?

[loudnproud]

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Hi Adrian, As Giles says try some K seal and it might be worth re-tourquing the cylinder heads you never know half hours work may pay divedends.

Peter

[15tag]

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I had the same problem. Car has done about 70,00 faultless miles. So I added a bottle of Bars Leak. Problem gone away!

Robert

[STAG1973]

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Thanks for the suggestions i will try the coolantsealers but i still may have to take the heads off just out of curiosity just in case anything nasty is lurking under there.

Adrian

[15tag]

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Adrian,

If it ain't broke - don't fix it.

Robert

[STAG1973]

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Cheers Robert

I think i am being a bit paranoid

Adrian

[jbuckl]

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Bars leak and K seal will at best 'mask' an underlying problem.
O.K. if thats what your looking for.

Re Torquing is worth a try.

[STAG1973]

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jbuckl wrote:

Bars leak and K seal will at best 'mask' an underlying problem.
O.K. if thats what your looking for.

Re Torquing is worth a try.

I will try re torquing the heads i need themto last till Autumn,i need the excuse to helicoil the spark plug ports i`ve done one but the other 7 feel dodgy, change the timing chains, and may be some nice tubular manifolds so i am going to start saving

Adrian