Hi guys,

Looking for some advice and enthusiasm!

I had an over heating problem 2 months back and recored the rad, took the head off and cleaned out the block. All fixed or so I thought for a bit but this weekend I was sad to see steam coming out of the oil bath, took the rocker cover off and yup, water in the top of the head moving with the oil....

Ok, so this eve I’ve done a compression test and it’s all between 118 and 122 psi, and I think that’s good. Must be the cylinder head needs skimming as i did not do that last time, it looked straight with a metal ruler, obviously not.

Any wise words?

Was the oil changed when the last work was carried out? If not could water have been spilt into the oil when the head was removed.
Although the purists will cringe, rather than another strip down, can you try a product like “K Seal” ultimate cylinder head repair along with an oil change ? If it has to be stripped down anyway it may be worth a try. In the short term it could give you a season so you can do the work through winter or it may cure your ills long term. I know mechanics that have used the stuff with good results.

K seal has got to be worth a try. They offer a money back guarantee if it doesn't do the job.
Are the core plugs in the head in good order?
I know Derek Sleigh had new ones made for his car earlier this year because the old ones had gone porous.

Just a couple of additional thoughts,,

1) Did you re-torque the head (cold) after you initial runs ? Im sure this is necessary

2) If you get the head checked and skimmed - get a pressure-test done to make sure its good as well as flat (corrosion round the water points) etc

2) Since you are still getting good and consistent cylinder pressures, it might be worth thinking about the inlet manifold. This is a complex thing in 3 parts,
with gaskets keeping the air/petrol mixture from the manifold water. Again, it might be worth testing the engine by cutting off the inlet manifold water
(it can be run dry if its not too hot outside). If this is seen as an improvement, get the manifold pressure tested as well - again the manifold is aluminium, that's very old and prone to corrosion and cracks etc.

Let us know what you find next..

Whoa! Hold on, don't get carried away stripping it yet.
On my Fifteen, after an engine rebuild I had the horror of a sump full of grey oil but I was certain it could not be the head gasket.
I refilled the coolant, took the rocker cover off and patiently waited, engine still cold, and lo and behold, after half an hour green antifreeze started to appear at the stud holes, crept up the threads from the water jacket and tricked all over the head.
The other possible is the core plugs on top of the head.
It didn't leak when hot, only after it was left to cool overnight.
Worth checking before you expend all that effort and maybe miss the true cause.
Peter

Hi Chaps, as some of you will know, I have very recently completed the rebuild of my LA11 Engine.
In the past I have experienced Water seeping from either side of the Cylinder Head, so this time prior to refitting the Head I used Loctite Thread Locker on all of the Cylinder Head Studs, and then coated all of the Stud Holes in the Head Gasket with some Petrol Tank Sealant that I had left over, and so far, absolutely no sign of any leakage .
My theory is that it would seem that the Coolant permeates along the layer of asbestos that sits between the Two layers of Copper, and eventually finds it way out down the side of the Cylinder Block, like I said, no sign of leakage at all ......so far

Cheers Al