Head gasket failure?

[wolfgang]

Hello everybody,

does this picture look like coolant could be leaking out of the head gasket? I use blue Antifreeze and I think this looks like residues of coolant with blue Antifreeze. I really don't want to take off the just because of my suspicion. What do you think?

Thanks and best regards

Wolfgang

 

[RobPearce]

It does look like a possible head gasket weep but it's hard to say how fresh it is. How far back do you know the history of this engine? Is it at all possible the gasket's been done but the marks not cleaned up?

Also, because of the way the engine sits, you can get marks like that from pooling of spilled coolant, perhaps from disconnecting the heater hoses at some point in the past.

[yorkshire_spam]

Does the tr7 head have a water way at the back of that gasket you have in the pictures?

On the Dolomite 1850 head there is one there and it's difficult to get it to seal - resulting in coolant on the top of the block like your pictures.

[wolfgang]

Thanks for your help. As far as I know it is the first head gasket fitted to the car. She did the 2013 RBRR, and three 10CRs since she came into our family. Last year I noticed a leaking heater matrix, and this is why I dismantled the car and found the blue residue. At the moment she is still partly dismanteld to have a new matrix . Normally I would take the head off without another thought and change the gasket, but I have heard so many horrific stories about the difficulties to remove the TR7 head that I only would like to do this job if I can be sure that the gasket is faulty.

Another question - at the moment the water pump is easily accessible. Should I change the gaskets now, or should I leave them as they are? Up to now the pump was working well.

Thanks and best regards

Wolfgang

[RobPearce]

When I changed the gasket on my 1850 Dolomite, it was fine. You will need to use decent stud extractors. However, even on a Spitfire I wouldn't change the head gasket on a whim. If you haven't noticed coolant loss then it's unlikely any weeping is bad.

On the water pump, again I'd be tempted to leave it alone unless you have reason to think there's a problem. Once disturbed you have the risk of internal seal failure (leaks out of the pressure relief hole in the side of the block) and fixing those requires a dismantling step that may result in a broken pump vane... and suddenly you're precautionary gasket change has turned into a new water pump.

[yorkshire_spam]

Not sure about the TR7, but the gasket on the 1850 water pump needs to be "set" to the right thickness, it's not just for sealing it's for spacing as well.

My 1850 head came off ok, I used the "2 nuts" technique to get the studs out. 1 stud had the thread damaged by the removal and had to be replaced.

 

[Beans]

Looking at the rust patch it might as well be the tube underneath the manifold that is leaking.

If the gasket is leaking there should be signs of coolant between cylinder head and engine block

[wolfgang]

Unfortunately there was a loss of coolant, but I thought this was because of the leaking heater matrix. First I will check the tube. It's really difficult to say, in there is coolant between head and block

thanks and best regards

wolfgang 

[yorkshire_spam]

Viel Erfolg.

It is worth checking the pipes/hoses first as Theo says.