Announcement

**Silversurfer** · 29 January 2005, 20:43

Block Photos

The cylinders look pretty much OK to me. The carbon on the top of the bores, is as you say, just the area that isn't swept by the piston rings. Unless it is really thick don't bother to clean it off - it actually helps to seal the bores.
I blew a head gasket on a Ford Granada 18months ago whilst towing a caravan. As I was 200mls from home I made the decision to drive on stopping frequently to let things cool down and to top up the radiator. When I did eventually get the head off it was pretty obvious where the gasket had blown. Between no.3 cylinder and the water jacket. The other 3 pistons had 100,000mls of carbon on them whilst no.3 looked like chrome where the coolant had scoured/steam cleaned it. There was no lasting damage and a replacement gasket fixed it.
Read your other posts on coolant loss and what you describe seems to be a Surf trait.
I have a 3lt Surf and I have the same symtoms with the coolant level as others have described - it does use a little bit, no obvious signs of leaks so must blow out through the expansion bottle. Decided to stop topping it up to see what happened - result...nothing. It appears that if you fill the rad right up when the coolant warms up it expands and the excess blows out of the expansion bottle. Eventually finds a level that does not blow any out and is fine with that. I still keep an eye on it but once it dropped to it's current consistant level it hasn't lost anymore.

**scottidog** · 29 January 2005, 21:09

hi

It all looks fine to me mate, although i would pay more attention to the head rather than the block as its usually the head which takes the damage and not the block, if you are unsure take it to your local engineering firm, they wont charge alot to do a crack test, its best to be sure otherwise its a big job to take the head off again and you will have to buy all the gaskets again

**Silversurfer** · 29 January 2005, 21:18

Good point Scottidog - I did take the Granada head in and had it crack tested - cost �35 - found it to be OK but was worth it for piece of mind. Also had it lightly skimmed just to clean up the surface and make sure it was true and not warped.

**JimSuperSix** · 29 January 2005, 21:37

thanks guys - I certainly am paying attention to the head - once I manage to remove a jammed exhaust manifold bolt it's going to be crack tested and checked for warping etc.., but I wanted some other opinions on the possible problems evident from the top of the block such as water routes under a blown gasket etc...

I really can't see any obvious damage to the gasket, head or block, so perhaps there is no real problem after all. A friend has noticed that the water galleries look very bunged up, so perhaps cleaning those out will help.

Also, when removing the head we found 3 of the 4 head bolts around the inlet manifold were rattling loose, so that certainly wouldn't help seal the head properly.

I'm going to clean it all up, get some new gaskets and a few new bits of pipe to replace the crispy ones, get a new thermostat and rad cap, and assuming the head isn't warped or cracked put it all back together and see how she runs.

I really miss driving my Surf, but I'm getting there with this head issue (I hope!)

thanks for your advice.
James

**marky** · 29 January 2005, 21:40

[QUOTE=JimSuperSix]Finally got the head off today, and I can't see any obvious cracks and no massive rusty leaks or anything. However, if you could just take a quick look at these photos of the top of the block and let me know if anything looks bad - I'm not really sure how to spot the signs of a gasket leak or crack.

The cylinder bores are completely smooth - no scouring or anything that can be detected by running you fingernail around. The only thing is the carbon deposits at the top cm or so of each cylinder - is this normal? Presumably this is where the piston rings don't clean the bore. The front 3 are smooth deposits but the back cylinder's deposits are a bit lumpy and rough. What does that mean?

Finally, the flash on the camera really makes everything look rusty - in real life it looks a lot less orange!!! Image 6 looks most like the real thing (ie. mostly grey).

thanks
James
You need to look for hairline cracks between the valves.

**Koi** · 29 January 2005, 22:29

Give the head a good clean, the crack/s may be very small and hard to see first off. Mine were but a little clean and they soon became evident.

**stevo** · 30 January 2005, 16:17

block

James your number 4 cylinder is showing classic coolant contamination corrosion around the top of the bore, this is usually a sign of a cracked head, you will probably have the same corrosion signs on the cyl head, take some close up piccies and post them up for any further advice.
Cheers,Steve.

**JimSuperSix** · 30 January 2005, 16:32

thanks Stevo,

I'm going to have the head crack tested locally to see what the situation is.

Presumably there will be no problems with the block itself after a bit of a clean, new gasket and possibly a new head (ie. the corrosion won't have damaged the block?)

**stevo** · 30 January 2005, 21:12

block

The corrosion does'nt look too deep so you should be ok, make sure you spend a fair bit of time cleaning the top of the block,why not just post a pic of the head face instead of paying for a crack test, there will be a lot of chaps on this site to offer advise.
Cheers, Steve.

**JimSuperSix** · 30 January 2005, 23:53

Well, no doubt now - 3 lovely great cracks between the valves on cylinders 2,3 and 4. The top of cylinder 4 looks very pitted as well, sort of matching the rough carbon deposits at the top of the bore, only much worse.

http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/cyl1.JPG
http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/cyl2.JPG
http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/cyl3.JPG
http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/cyl4.JPG

Anyway, new head it is then! I'm slightly peeved but very relieved to have found the fault, so hopefully my Surf will be good as new soon.

Stevo - you have been recommended as a supplier of new heads by many people here, so can I contact you directly by phone about it?

thanks
James

**marky** · 31 January 2005, 10:54

Originally posted by JimSuperSix

Well, no doubt now - 3 lovely great cracks between the valves on cylinders 2,3 and 4. The top of cylinder 4 looks very pitted as well, sort of matching the rough carbon deposits at the top of the bore, only much worse.

http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/cyl1.JPG
http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/cyl2.JPG
http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/cyl3.JPG
http://www.jameskett.dsl.pipex.com/cyl4.JPG

Anyway, new head it is then! I'm slightly peeved but very relieved to have found the fault, so hopefully my Surf will be good as new soon.

Stevo - you have been recommended as a supplier of new heads by many people here, so can I contact you directly by phone about it?

thanks
James

JAMES i spoke to Steve this am & he said yes call him.
There is evidence of changes to the new Modified Heads but i will let STEVO fill you in on this.

**JimSuperSix** · 31 January 2005, 11:35

Thanks, I shall probably be able to call him tomorrow lunchtime.

Cheers
James

**jamief1** · 4 February 2005, 00:13

I had the same problem with my surf.
Head was ok.
Problem was a crack in the bottom of the piston liner, which I had re-lined
jamie

**defendersv** · 4 February 2005, 23:36

2.4 Td head removal

I've just read all your posts on water loss and head removal. I have just started to remove one myself, did you get a manual for this or are you doing it by feel. I've got a Haynes manual but it doesn't include the turbos or any detail of the A/C unit etc. Did you have to take the turbo off and disconnect the exhaust or did you just unbolt the exhaust manifold? I am redoing a botched job by a garage and believe this one has a corrosion problem on the block face as well. You can get a product called wellseal which you spread either side of the head gasket to soak up faults on the two faces this may help in your case as well. Any tips you can give for the removal of the head will be gratefully recieved as i am currently removing loads of bits.
Cheers John

Announcement

can someone look at these photos of my block?

can someone look at these photos of my block?

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment