Cylinder head

[bluefish]

I have just striped my 1984 190e engine to remove the head ( there being more oil in the water resevoir than water). Howver having removed the head nothing appears to be that wrong. The only thing that is out of the norm is the gasket is ic completely covered in oil/water though no signs of failuer.

Can someone suggest what the problem could be and how I can check to comfirm (warped head, cracked head etc)

Your help is always appreciated

Regards

Bluefish

 

[teky]

probably a warped head a skim will sort that, unlikely a crack as there would be oil and water mix, if the engine overheated and caused your problem change the thermostate chances are this is what caused the problem in the first place and when its back together ensure the cooling fan cuts in

 

[NormanB]

probably a warped head a skim will sort that, unlikely a crack as there would be oil and water mix, if the engine overheated and caused your problem change the thermostate chances are this is what caused the problem in the first place and when its back together ensure the cooling fan cuts in

You clearly know your stuff but.................if he found oil in the expansion tank then he has either lost effective sealing at the head joint or there is a crack twixt oil passage and water passage - somehere - I am not knowledgeable on the exact construction or layout.

 

[teky]

hello normanb
i understand your thoughts and have dealt with this sort of problem many times and the most common cause was overheating which would lift the head and cause the gasket to leak internally between oil and coolant ports, but as i try to understand his problem he dosnt say in detail what the main problem was "did he strip it down just because there was oil in the expantion tank" answers could be did someone fill the coolant with oil?? as there is no water in the oil just the coolant ( you would be stunned how many people dont know where the oil filler and the coolant filler is and the difference between them, but as the cylinder head has been removed then i would normall have had it skimmed as a safeguard unless he is compitant to check for a warped head and this is very difficult without the correct tools so a skim would be the most productive way, as for cracks in the tract i doubt that very much but only a pressure test could prove that and that could be expensive but as i said there would be oil in the water and water in the oil and as there is only oil in the expantion tank is it possible the water has been filled with oil by mistake, its very difficult to guess the problem without being there :wink:

 

[NormanB]

Thanks Tecky ( and hello too :wink: ).

I agree now that he has the head off a trip to a machining shop is essential.

With engines it is difficult to determine leakage paths and different engines have different 'fault lines' so to speak.

But in my limited experience, it tends to be the case that oil ends up in the water, rather than the other way round. This is because the oil pressure is much higher than the cooling circuit. I know that apart from the 'fault lines' issue general weirdness can also occur where coolant will track along a gasket fail into an oil drain gallery - then you get water in the oil.

However, before removing the head, too late in this case, I would always put a squeeze of say 10 psi on the cooling circuit via expansion tank cap (suitably modded) to see if it held/ or passed through!

Regards