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Triumph TR6 - Head Gasket leaks

I rebuild an engine for a 71 TR6. Now I have water leaking down the entire right side of the block and oil leaking down the left side (both water and oil leaks are very bad). The head was checked for cracks, rebuild, and shaved for this rebuild. All torques were set properly. Is it possible for the block to be so far off that both sides would leak profusely?
WIl
Wil

Wil
As for the oil leak on the spark plug side there is very little metal between the oil passage and the outside of the block. It is very common to have seepage there. An easy preventation is to apply a small amount of sealant (Hylomar) along the outside of the passage before installation of the head. On the carb side are you sure that your coolant leak is not a leaky freeze plug? When I did my rebuild I had seeping from a couple of the plugs. Radiator stop-leak took of that. I was told that the factory made use of the stuff to prevent warranty claims. Worked for me. Good luck.
Mike Crane '71 TR6
mike crane

Yewww. I'd say the head gasket is f-t'up - maybe didn't seat properly (duh - leaks). I'd get a new gasket (the other is shot) and spray it down with coppercoat (opinions on it vary, but I like it), then pull the head and replace the gasket. Once a gasket is "crushed" from the torque, it's used - replace it.

Won't argue the Hylomar suggestion, but that's not really for head gasket seating. The gasket probably got bumped when the head was dropped on and got crimped where it shouldn't...

Brent B

Wil-Any chance you could have used the later type head gasket designed for the later block with recesses around the bores?
Berry Price
BTP Price


I assume the oil is leaking mostly from the rear of the head since that is where the oil is chanelled up the head.

If it is truly leaking from between the head and block you're going to have to pull the head off again. You might see something obvious then. Maybe something fell between the gasket and head. Or something that is keeping it from sealing even with proper torque.
If nothing is obvious you'll have to check the head for flatness and twisting.

Good luck
Henry
HP Henry Patterson

Wil,
As for the water leak on the right side of block, you may want to check the steel or stainless steel pipe running from the heater core hoses that uses a compression tube fitting and pipe thread adapter at the rear of the water pump housing. Maybe the 7-13psi pressure building in the coolant passages is spraying a stream and hitting the block? The block drain plug was already mentioned on the right side block. Check the fiber washer (if you have one) on the plug to ensure it is not spraying from there as well. There were a couple different varieties of block plugs. I think one being pipe thread and the other a straight thread requiring a fiber washer to seal against the block.

Oil seeping from between block and head is rather normal on the left side (for most of us, me too) due to the position of the head studs on that side. Hylomar is recommened but only a thin coat but that is about all you can do other than ensuring you have true surfaces on both head and block, both of which will require a tear down of the head again. Mine is a seep and not that much of a bother.

Good luck and report back so we all can learn. Thanks!
MRankin CC 61212 L
MRankin

Wil
Try retoquing head nuts first. May have loosened after the first heat cycles. I have heared of this on other car engines. Also maybe the new rings are not fully seated yet and causing blow-by. This is pressurizing the crankcase and forcing oil out. Give your new engine more time for the rings to seat. In the meantime keep rpm's on the low side. I just finished putting rebuilt head on yesterday and had no leaks during the cam break-in but got the same leaks after spirited driving around the block. Will try retorquing head nuts today. Good luck.
Steve
Steve Hazelfeldt

Wil,
I just got done retorquing head. It worked! Multiple big leaks turned into one very small one. I can live with that. Quick fix. Just remove rocker arm pedistal and torque head nuts to 70 ft. lbs. Remember to readjust valves. I got about another 1/4 turn on the head nuts. Follow the manual for tightening sequence.
Steve Hazelfeldt

Wil-I mentioned checking for the correct type of head gasket because it seems like your symtoms of leaking both water&oil match what would happen if the later gasket was used on a flat block. The rings around the bores would seal the combustion (for awhile), but would not seal the coolant or oil passages. If you have the early block without the cylinder bore recesses, the head gasket should not have the "tag" at the rear that identifies the late head gasket. The problem is mentioned in Roger Williams's restoration manual on page 83.
Berry Price
Albany, Or
BTP Price

Thanks for all the sugestions and help. Seems, however, that Moss Motors had sent the wrong head bolt washers.
The washers sent were a standard thin 7/16 washer of a larger OD. They didn't quite fit right on the hear so when they were torqued they came up fine, but as soon as the engine was started they flexed into the recess area and released the torque. Also, retorquing became an issue because the washer was soft and the flats of the nut cut into the washer.
The oil leaking was more than a seap, it was a fast dripping in 5 or 6 places, the water was steady stream all along the block.
I will use the sugestion of Copper Coat.
Again, thank you all.
Wil


Wow....How did you finally realize the screw up? Did the washers look bent when you were beginning to pull the head off? That's one of those things that could have driven you nut's....who would have thought that.
What was Moss's response? I would have been VERY PO'd.
They basically shipped you standard hardware store washers! I hope that wasn't their expensive high performance head bolt kit that had those washers.

This is definately a good one for the archives. That helps us all.

Thanks
Henry
HP Henry Patterson

I had the same oil leakage problem after rebuilding my engine. Remembering my old mans procedures with racing engines, I removed the valve train and retorqued the head bolts. The bolts all moved about a quarter to a half during the retorque and the oil leak went away. It's a lot of work, but it solved the problem and was a lot less than replacing the gasket.
Joe justice
Joe Justice

This thread was discussed between 15/12/2005 and 19/12/2005

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