POssibly in the wrong section - blown rings

Hi folks.

Kai has just finished replacing the head hasket on his sister's little punto... (Sorry it is not a landy... I did try!)

However, he is still seeing pressure in the crank case, though there is no longer any oil/water contamination and the vehicle starts and runs... albeit with smoke.

Looking at knackered rings or a crack in the block as far as I can tell.

What's this steel seal stuff like? would it actually fix a cracked block? Is there a reliable way I can diagnose whether it is an issue with the block or blown rings?

Sorry to be asking about a non landy... but you folks are most likely to know the answers I seek!

R

which engine? if its the 1.2 8v then it has positive crankcase ventilation. you should have pressure out of the breather. any smoke from exhaust? how bad were headgasket symptons? if it was really bad the exhaust may have coolant in the silencer which takes an age to burn off.
did loads when i was at fiat dealer. 4hrs book time.

It will most likely smoke for quite a while till all the gunge is burnt out of exhaust, as for the back pressure make sure the breathers are clear first.

Hi guys.... yes it is the 1.2 8v. Positive crank pressure? sufficient to be pushing oil out of the dipstick hole? The head was in a sorry way and needed quite a severe skim by all accounts. The breather that runs from the rocker cover to the air filter... presumably to recirculate unspent fumes, is throwing out rather a lot too. I realise, of course, that there may be residual oil and water to burn off... but this is quite something else. There is no longer any smoke from the exhaust... and it does have coolant in the system

When the head gasket failed did the engine get seriously overheated?? Sounds to me it did as you say the head was in a mess. I fear the engine got cooked and will be in need of a re-bore etc.

did you skim the head?

Thor1950 said:

did you skim the head?

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There's a clue to your question in post 4

yes, i would not bother doing a head gasket without skimming - and yes, it got seriously hot... the engineer who did the skim said was one one of the worst he had worked on. So, is it worth trying this steel stuff to seal potential crack or are we more likely to be looking at a rebore... mind you I would have thought that if the rings were knackered then it woul turn up on a compression test... or am I mistaken?

Ryder said:

yes, i would not bother doing a head gasket without skimming - and yes, it got seriously hot... the engineer who did the skim said was one one of the worst he had worked on. So, is it worth trying this steel stuff to seal potential crack or are we more likely to be looking at a rebore... mind you I would have thought that if the rings were knackered then it woul turn up on a compression test... or am I mistaken?

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If you're absolutely sure the engine breathers are clear then yes, re-bore etc needed, steel seal stuff might work on a minor problem but not on an engine that has been cooked.

have you overfilled it with oil? 4.2ltr iirc. dipstick are crap and often wrong. ive never seen one push oil out of the dipstick.
have you fitted the head gasket correctly? it can be fitted upside down and the oil way to the head is blocked. had a techy do this and the car ran 50 miles a day for six months untill the customer decided that it was a bit noisy. found the cam and followers were nigh on destroyed, but it still ran. tough little engine these 1.2 8v fire engines.

YOREVOL said:

have you overfilled it with oil? 4.2ltr iirc. dipstick are crap and often wrong. ive never seen one push oil out of the dipstick.
have you fitted the head gasket correctly? it can be fitted upside down and the oil way to the head is blocked. had a techy do this and the car ran 50 miles a day for six months untill the customer decided that it was a bit noisy. found the cam and followers were nigh on destroyed, but it still ran. tough little engine these 1.2 8v fire engines.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion:

I am sure that the gasket was fitted correctly... it is the first time for this job and while my lad did the job, we made sure to double check every detail all the way through the process. The 5ltr oil container had some left in it when we had finished filling... so I am guessing that roughly the right amount was added.

I am starting to think that we were correct in our original diagnosis that the engine is now throw away or rebore.