Bozz Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Went to the garage tonight to find a puddle of water under the front of the engine, looked and smelt like coolant (slightly pink). On further investigation there appears to be a slight water leak from the head to block joint at the front of the engine just in front of the number 1 primary, but nowhere else that I can see. *mad* Also the coolant level doesn't appear to have gone down noticeably. I ran the engine for a short while on Sunday and apart from the slight whiff of anti-freeze as it warmed up (as usual) nothing appeared amiss. The car's done about 22K miles and as far as I know the head's never been off. *mad* *confused* Is this head gasket failure and should it be run like this? What next? *confused* Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 1, 2005 Author Share Posted December 1, 2005 BTTT for all those returning home from the pub 😬 Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Englishmaninwales Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Don't assume this is a head gasket failure.....This may be due to a leak from the water rail to head joint adjacent to the No4 primary. The coolant runs along the head gasket joint to the front of the engine and then drips off. This happens as a result of the water rail fixing bolts being too long and bottoming out. The joint then does not seal properly. Partly drain coolant remove bolts and water rail. Shorten the bolts and refit with a new gasket, and refill coolant. Happened to me, DVA gave me this tip just before I removed the cylinder head Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 Thanks Malcolm I'll check along the head gasket to the water rail connection tonight and see if I can confirm this. I hope you're right Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Hi Tim, If it turns out not to be the gasket weeping, whatever you do don't use it without the right level of coolant and properly bled or it will develop head gasket failure. K head gaskets seem to go after a coolant leak. Air gets into a spot in the head and cooks the gasket. The fault normally shows itself as water gushing out of the expansion filler cap as the cylinder pressure is powering it out. A Rover service guy I know (and respect) told me once that if they saw an MGF in with low coolant they reckoned that between 2-3 months later it would be back for a head gasket. Filling and bleeding was all too late by then. Hants (north) / Berkshire club here Area meeting pics here My Racing here Edited by - stevefoster on 2 Dec 2005 08:45:42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Jason's has just reported that his 1.8 'tuned' K has just spat a lot of coolant on the ground at work... He's either going to get more ethylene glycol or call Green Flag. I recommended that latter. Hants (north) / Berkshire club here Area meeting pics here My Racing here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazerBrain Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 I'm sorry to hear this Bozz ☹️ apart from the slight whiff of anti-freeze as it warmed up (as usual) Not something I've noticed with mine... cheers, Darren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 It's not Friday the 13th is it 🤔 Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Have a look here half way down the page there is a section detailing our coolant leaks. As Malcom says, don't assume head gasket (in fact, does the 'normal' head gasket failure actually result in coolant on the floor, or is it more likely to be 'internal?) - our water rail gasket leaked, the coolant ran along various lines and grooves and looked like it was leaking along the head gasket split line, at the front of the engine..... www.mycaterham.com here 88,500 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 oes the 'normal' head gasket failure actually result in coolant on the floor I know of (or rather, heard of one from a local - Pete Cox) that p*ssed coolant out of the side at anything above about 4krpm on his way back from an Italian tour a few years ago... Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpy the 7th Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 As for shortening the water rail bolts Use caphead Hex bolts (cut to the correct length) they are a lot easier to get at with an allen key rog C7 TNT - it's Dynamite!(Honda Irish Green and Peugeot Graphite grey) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 Roger Do you know what size they are? Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 Had another look at this just now and can't see any signs of a lead from the water rail to head flange Think that I may have to take the exhaust manifold off so that I can get a good look over the full length of the gasket on that side ☹️ More tomorrow. Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 This looks very similar to my problem..... here ☹️ Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Mupferit Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 Looking on the positive side though, whilst the head is off it would be criminal not to have it ported...............oh and since the cams have to come off, you don't want to be putting back those nasty old standard ones do you ❗ Brent 2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive R 417.39 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 3, 2005 Author Share Posted December 3, 2005 Funny I've just e-mailed Oily about the various possibilities Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Mupferit Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 Harry always did employ 'right thinking' engineers. Brent 2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive R 417.39 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 3, 2005 Author Share Posted December 3, 2005 Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Oily Did you get an e-mail from me over the weekend? Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilyhands Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Bozz, just got back from my daughter's wedding to over 150 emails.... I think I have one from you but I need to catch up, the suggestions on here look sound. The socket headed bolts required are M6 x 20mm. Oily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Dave Thanks for the response. Hope you had a good and happy weekend 😬 I'd appreciate a response to my e-mail when you ghet a chance - but no panic. Thanks Bozz It's not MANGO it's TANGO (McLaren Orange and Black 1.6SS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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