Hi

A few weeks ago I installed my new rebuilt 1700 xflow, and ran it up left it idiling for a while
only problem I had was the oil pressure at idle was 90+ psi ???
yesterday did the same again, but I had been losing a lot of water, but no white smoke, but the oil is now a brown colour, so I presume water ridden ! and a milky froth in the breather cap

Can a brand new head gasket fail with in an hour of the first run ?
or is there any other way that I can get water and oil on a xflow to mix together

pissed off !

steve

Y'know, I had a similar thing with mine this week.

No signs of a blown gasket, lots of water loss (mostly to the floor) slightly, but not terrbily grotty oil and just a spattering of engine mayo in the rocker.

But, it has been sat for years with not a lot of love, figure the most cost effective approach is drain, clean, replace oil (£10 for 5L of ancient ford grade 20/50) then see what happens. if it's a buggered HG I'm out a tenner, whereas rebuilding the thing if not needed, I'm out a few quid more, and in trouble for weeks while there's engine all over the house.

Either faulty gasket (was it a good make?), cracked head (pos' block) or you've messed up fitting it (It happens... I get paid to do this and I've fitted one the wrong way around/upside-down once. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that).

Common bleep up amongst apprentices used to be not blowing all the bits of old gasket out of the galleries after scrapping it off (been there,done that). Then a bit falls out, unseen, onto the new gasket as they lower it on.

Guess you need to take it off and have a look.If you can't see anything on the gasket then get the head presure tested.

When refitting remember, cleanliness is next to godlyness... except on h/gaskets and clutches where cleanliness comes first.

Know the feeling I blew a head gasket a fortnight ago through my own stupidity, due leaking hose that I was putting off changing because of the cold weather, 5 hours (90 minutes of which was spent trying to get the alternator belt tensioner locked back ***!!! ***!!!) and 2.5 litres of antifreeze later normal service is resumed.

Thanks for the replies, looks like the head is coming off again

steve

Although I mentioned a cracked head as a possible... I've never seen one crack between oil gallery and water jacket. Commonly cracks are between water jacket and cylinder/port.