SeanR

Russ, when I pulled the WP, the insides looked pristine, seriously, like new. The car has been a DFW car it's entire life, that should tell you the temp degree fluctuation, relatively none in a garage. When doing the front end of the engine, it was like working on a brand new car. The juice used on the bolts was as good as new. It was a joy to pull apart compared to like years with 3 times the miles and wrenches put to it. The only issue was a dumbass putting the air pump on w/o using the bolt in the bracket. Don't ask......

SeanR

Doc, call me, can't find my phone to call you.

largecar379

Geeeez Sean...now I'm really curious about what you'll find....

Makes me want to go ahead a jerk my 4.5L out and see what's up with one cylinder pushing oil, huge amounts of blow-by, and down on compression numbers......

and I still have yet to get it to the paint shop----


--Russ

docmirror

Stuck or cracked ring.

Daniel Dudley

Not to get OT, but try a teaspoon of marvel mystery oil down the plug hole. Don't use too much.

I had to replace the head gaskets on my OB when I first got it. My guess is that the heads are fine. For some reason, the gaskets seem to sacrifice themselves, rather than the heads. In any case, it is not worth speculating on.

Also, there is no way I would send out the heads if they look good. I would invest in a machinist's straight edge, like a Starret two foot ruler, and use that with a set of feeler gauges to determine straightness. Just offering up the straight edge, and shining a light under it will tell you everything you need to know. A wavelength of light way smaller than a feeler gauge. Go down the sides and do the diagonals. Many heads are skimmed as a precaution, but in reality this is often a waste. And then they want to replace all the guides, also as a precaution. A very expensive precaution that is rarely needed on these engines. BTDT. The T shirt reads OUCH !

Also, assuming a worst case scenario, and the owner doesn't want to proceed with reassembly, who do you think will get first refusal ? If I had Doc and the gang offering to help, I'd be buying propane for the grill right now.

FBIII

I have a mid 70's Aston Martin with 30k thats been sitting over 15 years. They have a porosity issue with the cylinder heads. The first thing I did when sitting it up was drain the antifreeze

ROG100

Thanks for posting Sean. This car is factory new in every sense of the word.
The owner bought it new here in TX. The car was in storage and started every month.
Rodent damage was an issue and the local Porsche dealer (not Autobahn) replaced the damage to the tune of $10k.
The car is worth saving and the owner wants to fix it and pass it to his Grandchildren.

Out she comes 8>)

SeanR

Right O Roger.

Glad to hear it.

Daniel Dudley, my thoughts exactly. When the heads come off that will be the initial procedure. Thanks for 2nding my internal thoughts.

marton

Sean posted
How will you answer the call when you can't find your phone?

Can't believe the head gaskets would deteriorate like that, especially if it was started every month. Guess you are lucky it did not hydrolock!


Marton

dprantl

Maybe this car was repeatedly romped on (back when it was being driven) when the engine was still cold?

Dan
'91 928GT S/C
'86 928S 5-spd w/LSD *sale pending*

hupp

I agree that a reseal would be your best bet after the car has sat so long. Otherwise you may be chasing gremlins for years.

Wouldn't an oil leak above the headers be an issue with the cam tower / valve cover gaskets? Is the 86 16v?

There is a pressurized oil channel, which uses the head gasket to seal, located above the oil filter but it is below the headers. I would think anything above the headers is cam gasket/valve cover gasket related.

mj1pate

I can't believe that re-torqueing heads that are profusely leaking will adequately reseal. It sounds like an engine pull is in the offing, and the additional measure sounds worth it, based on the youth still left in the car. Before you do anything like milling heads, I would very carefully measure the trueness of the head surfaces. Something about mountains and mole hills.

Mike

mj1pate

OH...the sooner you get around to doing this, the sooner you realize the actual limits of the problem and put away unrealized fears.

Mike

Mako 928

I am doing this job now on my MY85 due to an external leaking head gasket. The car has 105 k on the clock. My vote is pull the engine and do the heads, if you go to retighten the bolts you have to pull the cams any way so you might as well take the heads off and have a machine shop look them over. You probably only need them to be resurfaced. I would check the valve cover gaskets for the oil leak but I was getting a slight oil leak from the return oil passage also due to the bad/old head gasket. The other thing to look at is the chain tensioner as I am currently looking for pad replacement for mine which is different from 87 forward modles.

Bill Ball

BINGO! That's what I was thinking. The headers, uh, bolt to the head, not below it. Leaky cam cover gasket is the only good source above the headers (cam end plugs would leak down the front or rear, not side). The coolant could be anything especially on the passenger side where all the hoses and fittings run, even if they think it isn't one of them - it's real hard to see all the potentially leaky parts directly. If it's running down the bellhousing, there is a block off plate below the fuel pressure regulator that could be leaking. Also, there are some freeze plugs in the head.