Bowen Island Paint Job

[jhwelch]

The one time I tried to reuse my head gasket I had the same problem you just did.

[hanleyclifford]

Two gaskets that should never be reused are the head and manifold gaskets because of the torque that flattens them. The manifold gasket is not quite so critical and can be reused in a pinch but may require some gasket sealer. The best policy is to stock extras.

[Marty Levenson]

Head gasket reuse

I did successfully re-use the head gasket once with no problem, after it had been run for about an hour total. Both times torqued to 35 lbs. Third time was the problem: only torqued to 30 lbs.

However, unless there is an emergency, you won't find me reusing a head gasket again. As my dad used to say, "He who steps in same hole twice is a fool."

Head is back on, re-torqued to 30 lbs cold. Hope to fire her up tomorrow and do two hot torques to 30. Will change the oil and filter first! If all goes well I will just run about an hour or less on the new oil & new filter, then drain oil for transport to the boat. Then new oil & filter again once she's installed.

Gotta say I am loving having the Indigo oil filter system. As I posted earlier, my oil brought a lot of rusty crap to the filter right away, even though I had blown the passages out with compressed air. Now it should help me clean up my water contaminated oil a bit faster than just multiple oil changes would.

[Marty Levenson]

shims

Wondering what people use for shims. Local auto stores stock brass that gets cut to size and length. Wondering if the softness of brass makes it thin out over time?

Planning on SS washers for thicker shimming, and then fine-tune with a "real" shim...?

Advice greatly appreciated!

[domenic]

Not to forget that it should be sealed against any sparking gas fumes. Is it designed for marine use?

I was told by a shop in Martinez ca…the Delco has a spark arrestor inside it.

[Marty Levenson]

starter

It did come with a "US Coast Guard Approved" sticker. Seems to work fine....nice to have a brand new one at that price.

[Marty Levenson]

ugly!

The oil that came out was really nasty. Grey, thick, creamy glop. Nice thing about doing this with the engine out of the boat is that I can prop it up at a 20 degree angle and remove the bottom plug on the starboard side just aft of the flywheel to drain the oil. Blew some compressed air on the transmission to help push the oil south, then poured on a little clean oil to help the migration, then compressed air again. Changed the oil filter. Letting her drain over night; fresh oil tomorrow.

[Marty Levenson]

Oh my gawd no!

Ran a test just now with new oil, new head gasket etc. Ran well: good oil pressure. Torqued all to 30 lbs. Pulled the plugs to do a hot compression test: #1 cylinder is FILLED with water.....! Other 3 seem fine.

What should I look at next? What else could cause water in #1?

Help!!

[Marty Levenson]

compression

all four are low: about 68 lbs with an almost cool, dry (except for water in #1) test.

[Marty Levenson]

another stud slipping

Trying to figure out what is going on. Gently tested torque when cold. Found another stud that now started slipping at only 20 lbs., though it held at 30 lbs hot. How does that happen?

Looks like the head is coming off for the fourth time.

As I will be waiting for a new pair of head gaskets (anyone know where I can get them in bulk? joke.), I am thinking I should torque all studs down to 35 lbs and see if any want to slip: then I can re-tap larger or use repair bushings to address any problems.

Why compression now 68 for all four? Still wondering how water got into #1? Any ideas greatly appreciated!

[Mo]

Test the manifold Marty...that could do it.

[Marty Levenson]

manifold

How do i test that?

Thanks, Maurice!

[Mo]

A simple thing you can do is pull all the plugs. Then take the hose of both ends of the manifold. Plug one end with your thumb and blow into the other as hard as you can. If you hear air in the combustion chambers you found the problem. I was going to mention that earlier when you first found water but didn`t because I really felt that the cause was likely the head gasket...didn`t want to confuse the issue. Hind sight is telling me `Mo ( I know it`s me because I recognize the voice) you should have mentioned that when you thought of it`.

Hanley presure test them to 20lbs (I think). If the hole is letting in allot of water and it is in the manifold you should hear it with blow test.

[Marty Levenson]

not the manifold...

Thank you again, Maurice: found your description of the blow test in another thread. Followed the procedure, but no sound in any of the spark plug holes. Great test to know about!

So, does that narrow it down to the head gasket (again)? Saw something about a water pump seal leak as a possible cause, but I think that's about water in the oil....not in a cylinder....? Any other possible cause?

If it does seem to be the head gasket, not much to lose by cranking the head studs down tighter from 30 to 35 and seeing if that fixes the problem. Agree? If any strip I will deal with that when the head comes off.

This is the fourth time I thought I was almost done, which is frustrating as it's time to git er done and go sailing, but I am learning a lot.

[Mo]

Might as well torque the head down. The head looked free of cracks when you had it off... did it? Of course the water pump could dump water in the oil but I don't think it would end up in the combustion chamber. If that doesn't do it I think you need to have the head and block looked at for some investigation.

Hanley or Dave might be able to shed more light on this current situation.