306 - blown head-gasket after-effects...

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 04 Nov 2010, 07:48

try putting them on photo bucket then put the link on here,

all 4 plugs should be the same colour and if one is diferent from the rest that is almost certainly the cylinder at fault,

regards malcolm

omelette · Unread post by **omelette** » 04 Nov 2010, 17:47

There definitely seems to be something wrong with the forum's 'IMG' option. I changed 'img' & '/img' to 'url' and it works ok - here they are again;

http://ubuntuone.com/p/NeW/
http://ubuntuone.com/p/NeV/

I also had another go at the compression readings today. I presumed they would increase a bit with a hot engine but that doesn't seem to be the case - they just seem to become more 'uniform'. At any rate, they appear quite respectable, all being almost at or above 11 Bars...

Cylinder 1: 155 psi.
Cylinder 2: 155 psi.
Cylinder 3: 162 psi.
Cylinder 4: 160 psi.

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 04 Nov 2010, 18:50

i wou;ld try new plugs and if it has HT leads a set of them also,

what were the valve's/seats like and valve clearance's,

regards malcolm

JohnT · Unread post by **JohnT** » 05 Nov 2010, 17:07

It is interesting that after a decent run you have no loss of coolant. Are you sure the 'steam' is nothing more than a cold exhaust reaching temperature.
If the steam is more than that you will have coolant loss but you say the level is steady?
Your compressions do not indicate a loss and you would expect a variance in an old engine. Also an old engine will 'breath' badly giving you mayonaise type of gungy deposits which should not be a great concern. I suggest you clean the oil breather pipes that allow the sump to exchange pressure up to the rocker cover area or air intake.

omelette · Unread post by **omelette** » 06 Nov 2010, 00:11

@Citronut - Yes, definitely need new plugs, the HT leads seem fine. But that's way in the future - right after I fix the 'steam-issue'! The valve-clearance I would not have an idea about, it was a rush-job on a weekend as I had to be back for work the following Monday, a 200 mile journey, so we were concentrating on the head-gasket problem and weren't expecting additional problems.

@JohnT - The day after my "no drop in coolant" post, I posted that there had indeed been a drop - the following morning I noticed it had fallen by about an inch! Definitely not your normal amount of condensation either, I'm not exaggerating with the 'clown-car' analogy - I might even take a photo to show just how bad it is, even when the engine is moderately revved. But as I also noted, the problem seems to disappear or is much reduced (from the drivers perspective anyway) when the engine warms to normal driving temperature. But even after returning from my 2 hour drive, when revving the engine in my drive, the steam was still far more than there should have been...

For the record, I took the Corolla for its MOT test today - it passed all the 'relevant' tests with acres of room to spare (despite it burning oil like its going out of fashion!) but they still failed me due to there being too much dirt on the underside! Sigh!

Retest in 2 weeks...

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 06 Nov 2010, 18:46

the duff looking spark plug could be due to a dodgy HT lead,

omelette wrote
"failed me due to there being too much dirt on the underside!"

thats the first time i have heard that one, appart from the old minestry HGV test stations,

also you need to have it back in for the re/test within 10 working days not including weekends and bank hol's,

regards malcolm

omelette · Unread post by **omelette** » 06 Nov 2010, 20:12

Understood about the HT lead, pity, I had hoped it was at least a symptom of my main problem.

Concerning the Corolla's failure, had I substituted NCT for MOT I reckoned I would then have had to go explaining what that was as many on this English forum wouldn't be familiar with it - it's the Irish equivalent! I'm surprised though to hear you have never heard of failures for this, 'cos as far as I'm aware the MOT standards have been imported lock, stock and barrel from the UK. I actually spent 12 years there (UK) myself and must admit I never failed the MOT for a dirty underside - maybe it's 'cos the roads here are diabolical!

Anyway for the curious, here's a look at how the oil-guzzler fared and the exact wording of the failure.

NCT Failure- http://ubuntuone.com/p/O3t/

If memory serves, the Peugeot also failed for the same thing but they also did it for an oil-leak as well (which didn't exist) so it had slipped my mind. The oil residue was the result of having replaced a ball-joint gaiter before-hand, so I just wiped off the oil, scraped off all the crap and they passed it. IMO, it's all just another way of scamming money out of people...

I got a break in the rain today so made a little video of my steam-car. Actually 2 videos, the first was a bit too close so you don't get the full effect - it's short though, 2min and about 3meg in size. It was taken with the engine stone-cold. The second one is longer (5min, 7.7meg) and was taken with the engine hot. I wait for about 2min into the video until the fan kicks in. (in case you don't hear it, I toot the horn a few seconds later) Notice how the steam almost vanishes. At about 3min I rev the engine. Note than I am nowhere near 'flooring' it. The resolution is pretty crap, made worse having had to convert it to a M$ friendly standard, but you should get the idea...

Peugeot Steam (cold engine) - http://ubuntuone.com/p/O3Q/
Peugeot Steam (hot engine) - http://ubuntuone.com/p/O3R/

No MOT/NCT to be had for the Peugeot methinks!