is it the head gasket?
Turbo Mini Forums

i've noticed that the rocker cover cap gets covered in a frothy stuff? and its also started losing water, about a pint a day! thats on about a 50 mile drive,although its not overheating at all.also there's no sign of it leaking anywhere.

it still seems to be running fine though, except for the masses of smoke from the turbo, well i think its the turbo?

the only thing i can think of is the head gasket!

am i right? or could it be anything else?

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

sounds gasket - esque to me :S

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

hi adam,
well all that water must be going some ware
what you can get with head gasket is a few faults like.

1 inter boar failure thats blown between each cylindar which i have had due to detonation inbetween 2&3 boars twice comon on the turbos.

2 oil into water jacket, filling rad with oil.

3 water into oil, thats water flooding the engine oil

4 water into boar basically coolent is lost directly into the combustion camber,

thease are just to name a few, check the dipstick if thats the same as the rocker cover or simlar, its sure fire bet its the head gasket. BENROSS

dipstick is fine, and the oil looks o.k, so i would say that the water is probably going into the bore?

is it o.k to keep driving it?, as i havn't really got time at the moment to do a head gasket change!

would this also explain why it smokes a lot in stop/start traffic?
maybe not a smoky turbo but steam from water getting in the combustion chamber???

Edited by adam1330 on 6th Nov, 2004.

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

nope...

alex

AlexF

alex; nope to what?

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

I think thats a nope to "is it ok to keep driving it". You had better make the time to check what your problem is or its just going to get worse and damage something expensive

"I'll get there in the end"

probably means don't drive it, you dont know what damage its doing.
DAN :)

thats what happens when two posts come together!

Edited by clubman_dan on 6th Nov, 2004.

smokign on stop / start / traffic could be anything from leaky valve guides to jsut running to rich!

if the rocker covers getting covered in mayo then waters getin into the oil, and only place it can really do this is the head gasket.

if you sort out al lthe tools etc you can do a gasket change in a few hours. if you have never done one before then 2 evenings (say over a weekend) should see you alright :) without infringing on life to much

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

adam, you have got to fix this problem it will only get worse, so go for it ,
& make sure the head is torqued up correctly
run the engine up to operating temp and then re torque the head down again then reset the valve clearences to correct gap again,
some oils like duckhams many years ago did cause this slime on the rocker cover, but in your case iam sure we all agree its the gasket.
BENROSS:

OH BUGGER!!!

looks like i'm now busy next weekend!

is it worthwhile changing the valve stem seals at the same time?

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

if you've got a spring compressor then yeah you might aswell, they come in a head gasket set anyway. would be worthwhile lapping the valves in aswell while they're out.

Nick.

what is involved in lapping the valves in?

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

Adam, basically lapping in the valves requires some lapping paste & a lapping suction stick you can buy from any decent motor spares shop. The first job is to remove the valves and keep all the parts in order. Clean the valves up placing the stem in a drill cleaning the carbon off using say, p80 grit production paper followed by, say p180 paper to finish off with, then finer if you wish. Until they are nice and shiny.
Then Apply the paste only to the valve seats, attach the rubber suction cup to the valve and grind away until you see a nice grey line around the valve & the valve seat on the head, Don?t forget to apply a little oil to the valve guides to lubricate the them as you don?t want these to get worn. Make sure no lapping paste goes down the in the valve guides. When all done clean the head thoroughly & assemble. Applying oil to the valve guides. If there is excessive pitting on the valve seats in the head especial on the exhaust side, these will require re cutting at your local machine shop. But there aren?t many good ones around; most of them make a balls of the job.
This is only a guide for you Adam and I am sure there will be websites out there which will give you pics and more info on the subject:
QUOTE: take your time & do it right.
Good luck.
BENROSS:

Edited by BENROSS on 10th Nov, 2004.

dont touch the snad paper on the valve seating area!!

alex

AlexF

o.k, the head is off at last!!

going to be lapping in the valves tonight, and hopefully refitting the head tomorrow!

in the metro haynes manual it says to torque up the head then drive it for 5-10 miles the undo half a turn and re-torque.
is this really a good idea? do you guys do this?

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

yeah definately re-torque the head down. the way ive always been told to do it is run it up to temp then let it cool down fully, overnight is best, then re-torque and re-check tappets.

what about this undo half a turn first idea?

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

i think this is worthy of the faq for how to do the valves i had no idea before reading this but never thought of asking!

Btw, i did my head gasket in 3 hours the first time following the haynes, takes a bit longer on a turbo one but its quite straight forward.

Previous Engine: 1040cc Morespeed engine, 1275 turbo head T2 Turbo Mirage Manifolds Megajolt
Previous engine: STD metro turbo, megajolt
Drives: 399bananahp (flywheel) Honda Civic Vtec b18c4 T28 Turbo 1968 Mini

Megajolt maps to download: http://www.jamesfawcett.co.uk/cms/index.ph...&gid=3&Itemid=3

really? i find it a lot easier to take the head off my turbo than off my old n/a 1275.

for starters the manifold nuts are a hell of a lot easier to get at. plus i don't have to drop the exhaust or anything, just undo both my top engine steadys and pitch the engine forwards a bit.

i've done it!!!

not half as bad as i expected...

and it doesnt seem to be smoking now either!

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

nice one
DAN:)

OH BUGGER!!!!!

just having had a check on the engine this evening, to make sure all is as it should be, and i find yet more.........

creamy mayo foamy stuff in the rocker cover!!!

WHY??????

““A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”” - Jeremy Clarkson

this can also be caused by condensation so see how much water your loseing

no longer a series, but still 1.3 turbo.