Over heating problem

[Rob]

Just needing some advice on my K series engine.
Just after I bought it it initialy appeared to have a oil water mixing problem so I replaced the Head Gasket about 18 mounths ago. last week I noticed it had returned.
I thought I would continue running it untill I could get some time off work, only its got far worse and I am now losing all the coolant straight out the exhaust in big clouds of steam, the engine will begin to overhead after 3-4 minites. I've just taken the head off and number three cylinder is bright sliver, (I'm guessing this is the problem cylinder) all I can see in the head is a series of small pittings of corrosion in the rim between the water gallery and the chamber. Could this be enough to cause this problem.


My other question is do the cylinder head gaskets differ is size/ layout from the 1.1 to the 1.4 K8/K16 v engines?

Thanks for reading and any help.

[evolotion]

the silver is the water steam-cleaning that cylinder!

i *think* all the gaskets are the same, but you wana make sure you get a later one which has steel dowels and, i believe, a thicker orangy bead bit.

did you ge tthe head skimmed and fit new bolts last time you did it?

[Rob]

No I didn't get it skimmed just thought I see what happened.
I've tried holding the edge of a steel rule up against the head to check for a bow with tourch below to check for light but it dose seem flat (not too sure if it would be visble though).

As for the head gasket I'm not to sure what type I've got, I think I got it from halfords?? and I just quoted the age of the car and model (p reg).
I changed the bolts but left the dowels at the time I didn't think they would do anything other than help align the head when refitting.
Should I has changed these as well?

Are there any products on the market that could fill the pitting?
cheers for the reply

[evolotion]

long as the dowels are metal no need to change them, the pitting is a weird one, i duno. could be the head's gone pourus or somehting, or was there an obvious sign of gasket failure? ar is the head not off yet?

at the very least, its reasuringly cheap to get a spare engien/head from a scrappy :P

[Rob]

Yer I've got the head off at the moment when I first took it off there was no signs of gasket failure and the rubber was still firmly attached to the gasket .

I see there are plent of 1.1 k8 engines from metro around but not 1.4. Do you no if it is possible to put a 1.1 head on a 1.4 block? I suspose this may cause fueling inefficency :?

[MiniRio]

I've done a few k series head gaskets at work. its always best to get them skimmed. Most engineering shops should supply you with a type od spacer plate to restore the correct CR this is bonded to the head its also a must better material that the alloy and as such does not suffer from pitting.
Jon

[BigAndy]

As the engine is being used it obviously gets very hot, then cools cyclically hundreds or thousands of time over the life of the gasket. This builds up stresses in the head.As the bolts are undone to remove the head this releases the stresses in the head and causes it to warp as you're taking the head off, whether the engines been allowed to overheat or not. Definately use steel dowels, not the plastic ones as these allow the head to move slightly as the head and engine expand at different rates, causing premature gasket failure.