Engine: 140 1986cc B20A: Head gasket issues

[rocketron2]

apart from the difference in thickness of the headgasket, the waterseals
( towards thermostat ) are avaible in 2 different sizes ( according to the thickniss of the headgasket)

[Computer Jones]

Originally Posted by arcturus

Are you sure that you have fitted the correct head gasket and is it Volvo or e bay?there can be very slight differences, not noticeable at first glance and yes, gaskets can be fitted upside down and wrong way round, I know because I've done it! Water can pass from jacket to cylinder at mating surface if not correct or corrosion on block top.I think that you need to lift the head again to check everything. Reminds me of a problem I had way back with an Opal Record. Turned out that during a rebuild a cir-clip that holds the gudgeon pin had been left out and the gudgeon pin had scored all the way through the cylinder wall!

I used nice Glaser head gaskets each time. Yeah, good call- I did actually get the gasket upside down the first time round, but correct the second time.

Originally Posted by Derek UK

What car is this? If it's an auto with an oil cooler you could have cross leakage from the tanks in the radiator. That will also kill your gearbox.
No that doesn't relate much to the head gasket and also your lack of compression. With taking the head off to do your gasket you'll have put clean coolant in and that would take a bit of time to go black again. I can't see that the engine would run at all with those compression numbers. If the valve clearances were nil or less on the 0 figure cylinders that could account for that. Easily checked. All of the exhaust valves could be burnt out as an alternative but they would have to be really bad or have chunks missing.

Nope, it's a manual.

The coolant didn't seem to get dark slowly... it was absolutely fine for a couple of weeks, then bam, nasty and brown, and a rough-running engine.

Exhaust valves are brand new, new valve seats, 3 angle valve job. Lash set to 0.45mm all round.

Originally Posted by rocketron2

apart from the difference in thickness of the headgasket, the waterseals
( towards thermostat ) are avaible in 2 different sizes ( according to the thickniss of the headgasket)

Interesting. I did replace the water seals the second time. They seem to make a good seal and I was using the normal thickness gasket, so presumably that's OK?

[Computer Jones]

Anyone got any suggestions for making sure the block surface is clean and flat? last time I used a razorblade to remove all the old bits of gasket, and went at it with paper towels and degreaser.

Would it help to use Loctite (thread sealer, not thread locker) on the head bolts?

I will probably have one more go at this myself, if it doesn't work I'll have to save up and either get the engine professionally rebuilt or perform some kind of engine swap...

[arcturus]

Try a piece of plate glass larger than the area.Wet the surface with some lightly soaped water and press down and spread the water. You might be able to detect high or low spots and it should drag but not rock.

[Volvo_133]

Another issue i have had with engines though not volvo, ensure the head bolt holes in the block are clean and not partially full of corroded crud, thus preventing the head bolts from correctly torqueing the head down. After cleaning the holes, screw the bolts in (without the head on) to ensure they go in deeper than the depth of the head.
Chris.

[arcturus]

And plenty of "copper ease"

[Computer Jones]

Originally Posted by Volvo_133

Another issue i have had with engines though not volvo, ensure the head bolt holes in the block are clean and not partially full of corroded crud, thus preventing the head bolts from correctly torqueing the head down. After cleaning the holes, screw the bolts in (without the head on) to ensure they go in deeper than the depth of the head.
Chris.

Yeah, this is probably my main worry. The bolt holes were quite cruddy. I tried to clean them as best I could with cotton swabs and WD40 last time, but there was still a little bit of rust coming off on the swabs at the point at which I gave up after an hour...

Maybe next time I will go at them dry with a brass brush, then vacuum any debris, then maybe brake cleaner or something... I just hope there's enough good thread left for the bolts to torque correctly.

Thanks for the idea about copper anti-seize!

[teacherman]

CJ do you solve the problem???
You did evriting before absolutaly corect.
Try the next test.
In Low compresion cilinders feed with inner compresion (From compresor) air via spark plag aproximately 10 bar and be careful from where will leak the air.
Think about if it is possible to have the head a crank near to the oil hole.
The head dismantle easy and you know that.
My opinion is to take off the whoole engine and tho dismantle part from part.
The spare parts to the engine aren't expensive and you have to chance to overlook every part in details.
I have done this and I dont forget now couse most ot the parts were over warn-out including pistons and rings. You can see a few if you took off only haad.
It's vintage car with many miles.
I have overhauled engines few times and i will do this for the next time.
Regards.
kaloyan

[arcturus]

Is that a turbo I can see in photo? It's a strange looking set up.

[teacherman]

It's not a strange at all, Simple B20A red block engine with custom inlet manifold and trotle from 740 series, custom air filter box and many other improvments. front gril from 144 de luxe and so on.