I'm contemplating replacing the head gasket. I have two questions:
1) Should I do it? The reasons I'm thinking of doing it are that the compression on #4 dropped from it's normal value of 105lbs to somewhere between 85 and 90. The engine starts with difficulty and sometimes sounds like it's running on 3 cylinders for a minute or two. The last time I changed the oil, there was some water (although it might have been in the oli changing thing to start with). I don't hear any valve slap, but the PCV makes a moderate amount of noise on that side of the engine.
Are there any other tests I can do to confirm it's the head gasket and not something else?
2) I've read the relevant section in the Moyer Marine manual thoroughly. When I've got the head off, I can take it to have it cleaned and trued, but how about the top of the block? How clean is clean? The manual talks about clean the gasket off with a chisel, people I've talked to say: "No use a hook scrapper, you'll gouge it with a chisel". Any thoughts? Has someone who has done this, care to tell me about any snags they ran into?
Thanks,
SG
1) Should I do it? The reasons I'm thinking of doing it are that the compression on #4 dropped from it's normal value of 105lbs to somewhere between 85 and 90. The engine starts with difficulty and sometimes sounds like it's running on 3 cylinders for a minute or two. The last time I changed the oil, there was some water (although it might have been in the oli changing thing to start with). I don't hear any valve slap, but the PCV makes a moderate amount of noise on that side of the engine.
Are there any other tests I can do to confirm it's the head gasket and not something else?
2) I've read the relevant section in the Moyer Marine manual thoroughly. When I've got the head off, I can take it to have it cleaned and trued, but how about the top of the block? How clean is clean? The manual talks about clean the gasket off with a chisel, people I've talked to say: "No use a hook scrapper, you'll gouge it with a chisel". Any thoughts? Has someone who has done this, care to tell me about any snags they ran into?
Thanks,
SG
Comment