Matt Sheppard

Duke

Your car is beautiful.

Retorque, . . . it's worth a try.

mochman

That gasket is viton coated no sealant required head bolts should be replaced sometimes the layers in the mls gaskets don't line up either just my .02 besides that kind of always happens to me.

Duke

Bump..
Need info about the steps to retorque the head correctly.

Perhaps I should just put on a OEM headgasket and leave the MLS for the future if I rebuild the engine completely and deck the block etc.

David Floyd

Just do the final torque step again, that's it.

Duke

That would have been nice!
But I usually do the latest procedure as recommended by Porsche and it uses 2 90 degree turns as the last two steps.

So I guess my procedure will be something like this:
* Unbolt all the head nuts (leave the headers untouched)
* Oil the head bolts and nuts.
* Torque it down with 20 nm, 90 degree, 90 degree.

Also use new allen head bolts on the water jacket.

If it still leaks after that I'll probably switch out the MLS gasket for an ordinary gasket.

David Floyd

The 20/90/90 is for stock parts, you have added a non stock metal gasket, if it were me I would retorque 1 step a 75 ft lbs, then if that does not correct things, do your above steps. Might work and can't hurt. IMHO

Duke

My only concern was that I forget to oil the bolts during my first torque down.
I'll give it a try and se what happens!

I think cyl 1. is almost top filled with water, perhaps I should remove the spark plug and turn the engine my hand and press most of the water up the spark plug hole.


BTW.... all major problems I have had with my car, and my friend with his 951, is water related... Perhaps Porsche was better at air cooled designs at the time...

Luis de Prat

Meanwhile, take a day off and borrow Dad's 951 Cab. You're guaranteed some smiles and will be fresh to take on the retorquing task.

David Floyd

Well...... if there is that much water in the cylinder, I don't think the retorque will solve the problem.

Yes, take the sparkplug out and remove water before you turn the engine over.

Peckster

You probably have water in your crankcase too.

dand86951

Duke, for your info I put the new MLS gasket on my fresh rebuild last year, however I used Darton liners. I had my engine run on a break-in stand sans water and compression checked out fine. Engine was installed filled with fluids and started. It started quickly and everything seemed fine. I drove it for a very few miles brought it back to the shop looked it over closely to check for leaks etc. Then came back later with my wife to pick it up and drive it home. On the way home I followed and saw disturbing puffs of smoke coming from exhaust . Got the car home sitting in the driveway and it started spewing antifreeze out the overflow. Pulled the plugs and #1 plug was wet and steaming.

Pulled the head and could not find a positve indication of a leak path in #1 cylinder. Took head to machine shop, had it pressure tested, no leak found, had it checked for flatness, checked ok, had the machine shop that did my engine come to the car and check deck trueness and flatness, checked ok. The machine shop guys felt it could only be the MLS gasket.

Assembled head with stock widefire gasket. No leaks for several thousand miles and spark plugs show no signs of water in them. If you have water pooling in your cylinder, pull the head and look it over closely and drain your oil and replace it . I know the MLS gasket is sensitive to surface finish and block and head flatness, have yours checked by a reputable shop. These gaskets have worked well on some engines but they obviously don't work so well on others.

Good Luck

Duke

That's a great idea Luis!
Too bad it's in another town.

Duke

Many thanks for all replies!
Your opinions and encouragement are invaluable in times like these.

It really seemed to be pouring water in cyl 1 and I also had external leaks that I couldn't trace down to any hoses or other bolts.

Seems like I really should install a stock gasket and save the MLS gasket for another day/engine when I can have both the block and head freshly machined.

Comes to think about it... I also had some loud knocking sounds now and then that probably was bad pinging due to half water filled cylinder.
Sounded like a metal ball being dropped on a stone floor. But it sounded like it came from the alternator and not the block.

Let's just hope nothing was broken!!

Bill

I just spoke to Mike S this weekend about the MLS headgasket. On his first installation he used the copper spray. Like yours it leaked. He took it apart and cleaned off all the copper spray and now has no leaks. Based on Mike's experience, I would not just re-torque, I would remove the head and clean off all the copper spray.

David Floyd

I just wonder why the copper spray causes problems with some and not others ? I used copper spray on my MLS gasket and no leaks.

The MLS gasket is my only choice for a headgasket that will fit my 106mm bore (that I know of anyway) It would be nice to know the best way to install, spray or no spray, torque specs and so on.