Head Gasket ???

Had a run out bank holiday monday... came back on what I thought was 3 cylinders... new leads... plugs.... dizzy cap.... and... still same... except only running on 2 !!! Checked spark to the offending cylinders, 3 and 4 no problem with the spark... I'm leaning in the direction of the head gasket... or am I missing something ? No apparrent water in the oil by the way and not overheating.... suggestions welcome ...HELP !!!!!!!!!! lol

Theres a couple of things you can try first, one is check all the inlet manifold bolts are tight, an airleak might cause this, then do a compression test on all 4 pots, you might have dropped a valve or something odd.
If water is getting into the chambers then the top rad hose will be rock hard when the engine is running, also put a milkk bottle on the exhaust when the engine is running, if water is getting into the pots it'll condensate on the bottle.

Any oil in the water? Bubbles in the radiator? Is the top hose hard with pressurisation? All point to the head gasket. Are the rockers on 3 and 4 going up and down? Unlikely, but I suppose it's possible the camshaft could have broken past the oil pump/dizzy drive.

Thanks guys... all good stuff... got a funeral today ( no not the landy ! ), I'll put the overalls on on Monday and let you know how I get on ! Where's cheapest for a compression tester ??? lol

I am sure you can get them cheaper - but Halfords are £16.99 or something, which is cheaper than taking it to a garage so all good

Just a thought, you did put the new plug leads on in the right order didn't you? I got this horribly wrong once 'cos I forgot which way the dizzy went round - It ran but very badly.

Yeah thats a good point, thats happened to me, check that out I bet its summat mad like that.

Glad I'm not the only one!

Leads, plugs and dizzy cap - but did you change the condensor? when they go they can give misfiring symptoms.

Solid top hose give away clue - also black sh 1t in over flow bottle. SOunds stupid but check timing - both leads and also see if dizzy is secure - mine was messed with and not fully tightened....

Took ages to find it.....

do the obvious checks as above, timing, HT leads etc, then go for a compression test, make a quick not of the readings, then do another compression test with a squirt of oil doqn each plug ole to seal the rings and test again, check manifolds forst as air loss / intake is a common one,
if thers no heating or cooling probs and no mayo in the water, its not the HG

Right here we go... just checked ht leads... they're in the right order... just run her for 10 mintes on three quarter throttle.... top hose soft as putty... no muck or mayho in the oil... I guess this is all pointing at it NOT being the HG.... I'll hunt for a condensor tomorrow.... thanks so far guys... I'll update as I go.... and when it stops raining this week !!! lol

is your landy still running a leaded head, may be a worn valve / valve seat that is how mine went on my s111 a few years ago.

graham
_______________
03 d2 td5 auto e.s.

You can run the engine without the condensor to see if its that, but dinna do it fer long, the points will weld up.

Ah well.... now done the ht leads, dizzy cap, points, condenser and plugs... still running horrible ! When driving it there seems to be a metalic rattle ( ? ) (sounds like an exhaust rattle) coming from the rocker cover, I've had that off..... run it without the the cover and nothing seems out of place.... it seems to be running on all 4 ???

Its really hard to diagnose by proxy, but the rattle you explain might be pinking or pre-ignition, if it is it'll feck the engine if you keep running it.
Pinking is caused by too weak a mixture, incorrect ignition timing (too advanced), or sometimes iffy petrol.
Might be worth checking the compression ratio with a compression tester, maybe the heads been skimmed a couple of times too many.

Had a mate round for inspiration and double check all the bits I've done so far... thats what mates are for eh !
Anyway... what we did discover... having the benifit of two sets of hands... when one of us removed the plug for number 3 cylinder the rattle stopped !!!
Theres no rattle when the rocker cover is off !!!

Head gasket between 3 and 4..... just goes to show... follow your first instincts eh ! Oh well.....

Boltonphil said:

Head gasket between 3 and 4..... just goes to show... follow your first instincts eh ! Oh well.....

Click to expand...

I’ve blown two in the last two years. Luckily it's a quick cheep fix to replace the gasket.
I can now do it in a morning.