96 replies to this topic

[Dan]

The HG may look okay but from the looks of the block in the third pic, and also the second pic of the HG itself and also the pic of the head it certainly looks like its been blowing across 2 and 3 and also across 1 and 2 by the looks of the black marks on the surface of the block,HG and/or the head itself.

I saw the same thing myself, it's quite an apparent soot mark where there has been gas seeping through. The gasket wasn't sealed to the block. Was it re-torqued after heating when it was installed?

[JakeJakeJake]

Clean up the head as best you can and using a straight edge across the face and a torch from below, check to see if you can see any light between your straight edge and the head. It’s not a perfect way of doing it, but if you do see any light it could suggest that the head is warped.

What is best for cleaning it up?

If you have used 5 litres of oil / 6000 mile in the past year then i would say you also have have a problem with burning oil.
That is excessive, i take it you have not got a major oil leak??? As previously mentioned your head gasket does show signs of bridging between 2 and 3 which will cause a miss fire however did you do a compression test before you took the head off??

Burning oil is normally indicated by bluish smoke coming from the exhaust. On initial start up if there is a puff of smoke then this is normally down to worn valve guides/valve guide seals.
However if there is blue smoke when you rev the engine up when its warm and also on the over run then its the rings i'm afraid and this will need an engine strip down.

Have a look at the bores and see if there is a ridge at the top. This will indicate wear and will possibly need a re-bore, also try to move the pistons by pressing on the top of the piston and moving from side to side. There should be very little movement if any. If its moving a lot then again this will indicate all is not well and will need stripping down.

Back to the head was the head re torqued after it had been fitted previously?? if not then this could have been your problem. It normally states in the Haynes manual or which ever one you were using to do a re torque after so many miles or a time period. If not done then this can have consequences like the head gasket not sealing oil/water leaking etc.

Did not do compression test before head was off

Has slight oil leaks and has never blown out any blue smoke.

I will check the bores and pistons, fingers crossed I do not find anything there. Pretty sure you can't rebore a 1380?

Head was put on by minisport for a previous owner, no idea if it was torqued down after being run.

So who gets the fiver?

Don't worry I have not forgotten, nobody yet as I don't know what the problem was yet. Sound fair?

[JakeJakeJake]

Can upload full 3648x2736 pixel photos if anyone wants a much, much, closer look. They have more detail than real life

[JakeJakeJake]

Found this cleaning up the head



and a bit bigger



What is the significance of this?

[Southy]

That's not going to cause you any problem's as its inside the fire ring itself of the HG.

[JakeJakeJake]

That's not going to cause you any problem's as its inside the fire ring itself of the HG.

Good, I thought so, what would have caused it though?

[JakeJakeJake]

Right, gasket changed and its still *******. Might sound slightly better but nowhere near completely fixed.

This is what it currently sounds like



The amount of throttle I gave it at the start would be more than enough to red line it usually. Really getting ******* off now, costing so much time and money and getting almost nowhere.

[minidaves]

exhaust is or not attached blowing, sounds like timings out, sounds like to me, you need to get someone who knows what they are doing to take a look it will probelry be cheaper

dave

[JakeJakeJake]

Exhaust is fine I think, also timing should be fine as I only just set it with a strobe.

Will most likely have to take it to a garage

[1984mini25]

Did you have the head checked before bolting back on with a new gasket? If the heads warped, even slightly there’s no chance it will seal properly, head gasket or not.

[liirge]

wow that sounds like its firing on about 1 cylinder! i think your best have the engine running, and remove the HT leads from a plug at a time to see if it makes any difference and then put that lead back on

Edited by liirge, 13 December 2010 - 10:11 PM.

[BLUE ITALIAN JOB]

have you checked the valve clearence - if you have adjustable timing gear it may have worked loose and moved if it has'nt been locked of properly , set engine to No1 tdc , rotor arm at No1 lead and check that both valves on No1 cylinder have clearence , do the same for all four cylinders and also compare the amount of compression of each valve spring - if you have a soft cam it can wear the odd lobe ,

[GTIAlex06]

Sounds like a barge.

Chin up for getting it sorted

[JakeJakeJake]

Did you have the head checked before bolting back on with a new gasket? If the heads warped, even slightly there’s no chance it will seal properly, head gasket or not.

Check with a big plane of glass and it looked perfectly flat, isn't a perfect method though

wow that sounds like its firing on about 1 cylinder! i think your best have the engine running, and remove the HT leads from a plug at a time to see if it makes any difference and then put that lead back on

Will try this, did not get a chance last night really.

have you checked the valve clearence - if you have adjustable timing gear it may have worked loose and moved if it has'nt been locked of properly , set engine to No1 tdc , rotor arm at No1 lead and check that both valves on No1 cylinder have clearence , do the same for all four cylinders and also compare the amount of compression of each valve spring - if you have a soft cam it can wear the odd lobe ,

Will try this aswell

Sounds like a barge.

Chin up for getting it sorted

Chugs on idle at the best of times, this is just ridiculous. Use to rev like crazy with a touch of throttle rather than just spluttler

Will check what was suggested above but if that does not cure it will have to limp it to a very local garage.

[liirge]

obviosly what i said earlier is a diagnostic not a solution, if yon find that it makes no difference then you know that cylinder is not firing, and its an ignition related issue. try swapping the leads around see if it swaps the problem, from that you know its a faulty HT lead, then try swapping sparking plugs, if this swaps the problem, you know its a fault sparking plug, if neither make a difference, you have to start looking into more complicated issues...like Dizzy\valve clearances\lift and compression

Edited by liirge, 14 December 2010 - 12:04 PM.