Topic

When Russell did the head gasket on my F at 57,000 miles (didn't need doing) the original gasket that came off was showing signs of burning between two cylinders and Russell said that it would have lasted about another 10 to 15,000 miles. I have now done about 6000 miles since he did the job, coolant level steady and very clean and car acts like a dream.

Have you got any signs of water in the oil, ?

The gunge in your expansion tank looks like the dreaded K seal to me !!

The oil looks fine Bryan.As for k seal anything's possible although I'm pretty sure the coolant wouldn't have stayed or looked clear.
I'm pretty sure it's emulsified oil,hard to tell from the picture but there are lots of circular blobs and it's floating.

If K seals been put in an engine how would one go about flushing it out??

Think ours has had a dose of it.

Glad to say my car had 4LIVE in it and this changes colour if the head gasket starts to go, so was warned and had it changed before any harm was done

Andy the tyre man wrote: wrote:

If K seals been put in an engine how would one go about flushing it out??

Think ours has had a dose of it.

You need to flush the system throughly until everything runs clear, then refill the coolant system.

What, like the olden days when you just bunged a hosepipe in and ran it through??

Andy the tyre man wrote: wrote:

What, like the olden days when you just bunged a hosepipe in and ran it through??

Pretty much. I've also heard that some guys put a dishwasher tablet in and run that for a while too. Anyone??

Andy the tyre man wrote: wrote:

What, like the olden days when you just bunged a hosepipe in and ran it through??

Yes,

Leigh Ping wrote: wrote:

Andy the tyre man wrote: wrote:

What, like the olden days when you just bunged a hosepipe in and ran it through??

I've also heard that some guys put a dishwasher tablet in and run that for a while too. Anyone??

Isn't that to clear oil, not sure it would work with K seal etc,

You wont shift K seal with water alone, its almost like grease, I bought my car with headgasket failure and brand new metal coolant pipes and an engine heavily dosed on k seal because the metal pipes were new and I had another rad to fit I connected a pump to the pipes and used water as hot as I could get mixed with a dishwasher tablet and fairy liquid and left it pumping round for hours, the pipes still have a slight greasy feel to them luckily I have changed most of the coolant pipes but when the engine gets fired up the heater matrix will need cleaning and will gundge up the header tank etc,so this will mean running it with water and some sort of coolant flush then several flushes if I am lucky, only glad the engine I've just fitted wasn't the one with k seal in!
All the brown staining above the exhaust ports and down the front of the block is k seal and that nice coppery looking coolant elbow, its going to be part of the fun of rebuilding this motor.....

Update to my

Russell has been and fixed my car so I'm very happy

He's a great guy as I'm sure most folks on here know,and I couldn't believe how fast he changed my gasket.He did have more than a little help from his son but it took less than three hours .My ZT's gasket was done recently in the local garage it took three weeks
He was thoroughly proficient and professional just as advertised by the members on this wonderful forum.
Thank you MG Rover Solutions.

I can't wait to get out and about in my TF.

Glad to hear it Bob, Russel came to Cornwall, not sure if he'll come again, I might have to kidnap him. Did a great job for me.

Ref removing any oily sludge from the system I've tried all sorts and I mean all sorts and the only thing that worked for me was the stuff below. You will not believe what this stuff can do. Anybody trying to remove any sludge and oil and that goes for removing old anti freeze try this. It even cleans the header tank to like new.

http://www.powerenhancer.co.uk/product.php/671/bardahl-radiator-oil-remover

Tone