24 replies to this topic

[mk3 Cooper S]

Slightly off topic but if you head gasket looks Ok then I would check the flatness of the head and consider giving it a clean up skim?

 

I thought it may avoid a drama for you after you put it back together?

[Stu.]

Does this help Rob ?

 

 

Edited by Stu., 06 March 2014 - 08:25 PM.

[cradley-heathen]

i had this happen to me for the first time about 2 years back, i had never had it happen EVER before, but since then i think its happened on almost every head gasket change on 998 engines!

[KernowCooper]

i had this happen to me for the first time about 2 years back, i had never had it happen EVER before, but since then i think its happened on almost every head gasket change on 998 engines!

It is the way your removing the pushrods as Cooperman pointed out the stiction of the oil between the cam follower and pushrod, if you lift the pushrod the cam follower follows suit. The way is to hold the pushrod  the way you hold a pen, you use your middle finger to exert pressure sideways and hold the pushrod with thumb and first finger as the fulcrum, once you feel the sideways movement then you can lift th pushrods clear. This was part on a apprentice training when we did 5 years.

[Earwax]

Just thinking about the 1275 block with chest covers on the CooperS..... the exception to the 998/1275 rule

 

pushrod lengths are different 998  vs 1275 ....???????

 

are the followers the same ......???????

 

does anyone use oversize followers these days  and if so where sourced from.

[bigrob]

Yeah i checked the head with the edge of a steel rule and all looks fine.

Stu those pictures are a fantastic help thankyou very much

[HarrysMini]

Just be glad you didn't do what I did. I removed the cam without removing the followers first, 4 of them fell into the gearbox which I have yet to find, 4 of them luckily stayed in place. A rookie mistake.

[bigrob]

Oooo man bad luck

[tiger99]

Just a reminder to anyone who is removing the camshaft and/or followers. ALWAYS get each follower back on the same cam lobe, or moderately rapid wear will occur. See how they are labelled in the photo! And, if either camshaft or followers are new, so must the others, or extremely rapid wear will occur. Sadly, there have been many newly reground high performance camshafts ruined within the first few minutes by people who did not believe that.

 

In this case, only one follower needs to be put back in, so there is no real difficulty, and it literally is a few seconds once the cover is off. A clean finger, preferably gloved to protect yourself from the nasties in used oil, is the only tool needed.

 

The recommended tightening torque of the cover bolt is not very high. Best to check the manual (Haynes will do) for the exact figure, but it is nowhere near the 25Nm you would normally apply to a 5/16" UNF bolt. From memory, I think it is 5Nm. I just use very moderate hand force on a short open-ended spanner. To discourage them from working loose, a small amount of one of the weaker grades of Loctite may be a good idea. If you overtighten them, the cover dents, and tends not to seal again. (Same for the rocker cover.)

[bigrob]

Thanks for all your help guys. It was sitting over its hole on its side. The trickiest bit about the whole thing was getting the gasket to stay in place!