So... Where was I. Oh yeah it was broken.. had the weekend to calm down. Tbh I was calm come tea time Friday. No point being "upset" about it. It's not going to mend it. And if I didn't want to do it, id break it spend my money on beer and pizza and have an easy life (why aren't I doing that again)..
Didn't get to touch it til Tuesday. But in a couple hours managed to get it to the stage where it was ready to lift out (I'm getting worryingly good at taking it out)..
Prop off all loom off basically everything off ready to lift.. called it a day at that
This morning with nowt on for a bit got on with getting it out. Engine crane. Never heard of her
Oh hi there... Least I know how it all goes haha
Quite pleasingly everything I've done looks to be fine. Manifolds are all ok front crossover pipe and downpipe all happy.
Got it mounted on the engine stand (how posh am I) and started stripping. Now I've never "stripped" a V8 before. And I can't say I want to again. Jesus there's sooooo many bits. One thing that nearly cought me out was the split gear on the exhaust cam. It's spring loaded (I'm assuming to help with backlash or noise but had luckily noticed before I ripped it to bits and did some googling) there's a M6 bolt hole to lock the gear before you remove the cam.
Also drew a picture to help it hoepfully all go back together. (I'm going to need all the help I can get haha)
Now I won't bore you with pic after pic of each bolt i took out. Let's get to the juicy bits..
I expected to find a blown headgasket. Think we all did. What I didn't expect to find was the world's supply of kseal, rad weld, concrete, cork and cracked eggs and any other fix someone has tried to do at some point before my ownership..
Were not talking about the bottle of snake oil I put in last week. Most of the ended up in the header tank and blown into outer space when it exploded Friday...
I'm talking water ways in the head blocked SOLID with the stuff. The water ways up the sides of the bores half full! Literally tons of the stuff. Baked in. To the point I've had to use a welding rod a round file, basically anything to try and dislodge it. Here's some badly taken pics and a bad video taken to give you an idea.. just remember this was "full" of coolant Friday...
Also the water outlet in side of block that feeds the oil "cooler"..
And after an hour of poking around. Tipping the engine upside down and shaking it. And general sh1t
Now this isn't ideal.. far from it. The only thing I can think is in its previous life in a ls400 it's had a water leak. Rad, core plug, something... And someone has just added more and more rad weld kseal steal seel whatever until either the leak stopped. Or the car was scrapped...
But I'm in no way surprised it was overheating. There's literally been zero flow round the heads. And the block was half full of the stuff!!
The only cylinder that looks to have had ingress is the rearmost pot on the passenger side bank. It appears to have had something dripping in it. There's no lip and the honing marks are still visible. So the low mileage bit seems legit. Just not it's maintenance.. (you can just see a shadow on the side closest me on this pic)
Now with it this far down it made sense to pull the sump. And I'm glad I did. It also seems someone has been a bit keen with the sealant at some point in its life!! People really shouldn't be allowed to work on things!!
Yes that's sealant all over the strainer!!!
This worried me a bit so decided to pull a couple of big ends. They look ok (to me but speak up if you think otherwise) but a standard size set isn't expensive so may chuck a set in while it's out (and gap the rings)..
Now with that quick 5 minutes over called it a day... Before I go any further and spend any money I need to know if the heads can be saved.. there going to need checking for flat/skimming along with pressure checking and all that horrendous crud getting out.. then form a plan once I know if the heads are ok.
*** We've used Stanwoods a few times with work and always been happy, but does anyone have any recommendations for an engine builders/machinist around south Yorkshire who are good value/reliable/proper****** I'm guessing there going to have to go in an acid bath or summat??
Anyways. That's all for now, until I know if the heads have survived there's not much else I can do. If no one recommends anyone else il get InTouch with Stanwoods Friday and see if there's owt they can do with them
Luckily everything that turns apears to be healthy and I think the fact it's a toy and hasn't been driven in anger for prolonged periods (plus it had the made on the moon million pound oil in) it seems to have survived... Assuming I can get the crud out..
Not the find I was expecting. But not the end of the road by a longshot..
Cheers
- as you say, some people shouldn't be allowed to touch cars.