Nessy head gasket failure - 200k project failed!

Post by **foggyjames** » 30 Oct 2006 09:05 pm

Nessy's HG let go properly today, having been 'seeping' for the last 10k+, so it's time to source a replacement. Hopefully I'll be sorted on that front courtesy of Mr Husky, but the long term plan is to rebuild the current lump, maybe with a Oeltinger head

I guess that means that I've failed in my challenge to get a B14 car to 200k on the original engine and box. It gave out at 196k. Arse.

Sunday looks like engine swap day....tasty-ass food will be provided for anyone who wants to play

cheers

James

Post by **SteveP** » 30 Oct 2006 09:13 pm

Aw damn! Nearly... nearly...

Post by **petefarrell360** » 31 Oct 2006 01:40 am

D'oh! Well, we all new it was on the cards, good try though, the Nezzle will never die!
Pete

Post by **shimon340** » 31 Oct 2006 02:17 pm

hi guys!

You meeting up this sunday? Meeting in Newark?

I'd love to come along so i'm going to see how far that is from manchester.

so are the plans to change the head gasket? I've never done these on the 1.4 ( my J reg might need one ) but I'd like to work with someone to do it or at least see it done first.

if your changing it, I think I'll come along!

Shimon

Post by **shimon340** » 31 Oct 2006 02:18 pm

if you need a gasket I;ve got a few gasket kits.....

for the 1.4

Post by **shimon340** » 31 Oct 2006 02:25 pm

newark is 150 miles... thats cool... Im not driving a 340 as a daily driver anymore so it'll be a 480... I know I know, front wheel drive, renault engine ( I dont think volvo made any changes to these unlike the 1.4s which has different piston and liner sets plus other things Im trying to find out ), questionable build quality and potentially temperamental electrics

BUT..... it looks cool and it was developed by the Dutch volvo team responsible for the 340 and the project started in 1979.

anyone seen the 480 prototype pic with it wearing mark II 340 wheels!!

nice

Post by **5lab** » 31 Oct 2006 02:57 pm

why engine swap rather than just do the gasket? seems like a waste imo. you could just bung some radweld in there and be done

Post by **A M R** » 31 Oct 2006 04:41 pm

actually theres this stuff that costs about £10. its a liquid with some chemicals in there (looks like copper and oil IMO). well you shake the bottle and the 2 things get mixed and then you pour it into your water. when the heat gets to it, it finds all the leaking bits and seals them - better than radweld. its meant for fixing head gaskets if theyre not too far gone and it works pretty good.

if only i could remember what it was called...

edit: yeh i remember now. its called CarGo Seal-up

Post by **shimon340** » 31 Oct 2006 08:58 pm

hi guys!

so will this be sunday?

looking forward to it!!

Shimon

Post by **foggyjames** » 31 Oct 2006 09:37 pm

Day 2: Car 2

So I leant Ryan my 240 to use to go to work in, and he's managed to break that too! That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

The old radiator union cracked, and Andy heroically bodged the hose back on, but today it let go for the second time, and Ryan couldn't get it to seal again. So I set off in Nessy to take him the new Rad...plenty of water in the back...but we didn't get there...

About 2 miles short it lost power and stalled. The HG failure had worsened, and it had been throwing mayo into the carb via the breather to the point where it was impeding combustion enough to make the misfire badly, stall, and fail to restart.

At the roadside I pulled the short breather hose off the air pan base, and routed it towards the rear of the car. To anyone who says change the HG, or use a 'radweld' style product...I say look at these pictures. This mess happened within about 15 miles. You're looking at a massive HG failure coupled to huge blowby from a badly worn engine to throw that up through the engine and out of the breather.

cheers

James

Post by **pettaw** » 31 Oct 2006 09:44 pm

I would say with blowby as spectacular as that, I wouldn't be looking at HG failure on that one. I would say that's much more likely to have cracked a liner or blown a seal somewhere in the bottom of the engine.

And yeah, if a 10 quid product could fix something that serious then everybody would be using it and saving thousands in rebuild costs

Nice pics BTW, mayo for the win

Post by **foggyjames** » 31 Oct 2006 09:55 pm

I'm not sure we'll know until we take it apart. The blowby (or the content of it!) has got a lot worse in the last day, which would suggest to me that it's not a crack. Could well be the 'bottom' rather than the top!

The plan is to swap in a tidy B14 to get us up and running again, then rebuild this one in slow-time. The meet is Saturday to Sunday, and I think we'll probably be doing the bulk of the swap on the Sunday. You'd be more than welcome Shimon. Sorry I didn't reply to your second text....I'm a touch short on credit, and have been a bit too preoccupied to top up!

cheers

James

Post by **5lab** » 31 Oct 2006 11:12 pm

radweld and gaffatape will sort that. or just plumb the tube back into the top of the filler bottle, jobs a good un

Post by **Chris_C** » 01 Nov 2006 12:52 am

Nice one Hugh

Foggy, great pictures, shame about the car(s)

Post by **foggyjames** » 01 Nov 2006 01:37 am

The 240 is back in action tonight courtesy of a new radiator fitted about an hour ago. The tow-truck driver insisted on putting his beacons on to unload (at 11pm), making every curtain in the road twitch. Bastard.

I have a full hose set and a Volvo water pump sat here. The NS engine mount is cracked in half, causing the engine to tip over on heavy acceleration, and the exhaust manifold rub on the steering column, making it feel seriously wierd. I pick up the new mounts tomorrow. All of that goes on at the weekend....probably Saturday.

I'll try to get Nessy stripped down to a bare longblock (but leaving sufficient hand-holds / roping points) before the weekend.

cheers

James