V6 Head Gasket, Coolant loss, Idling

[helen&tony]

Hi Mike
I reckon it's only an emergency cure...the big problem I've heard about with Kseal is cleaning it out afterwards....rumours say its a real mess.
Ah, you have mentioned that you did bridlemaking...it's a good trade, working with natural materials....I have some of the equipment, but I made things like leather bottles, bike saddlebags and suchlike!....zippo belt pouches, all tooled and embossed....hand stitching sure is miles ahead of machine-made stuff, isn't it!
Cheers
Helen

[Mrs Feynmans Bongos]

Thanks again for all your thoughts and input!
(Lovely photos Mike, I hope my wagon will giddy-up again soon ...)

Just to clarify my rambling saga: Steve @OUTBACK is working on it, sourcing parts no issue.
All the daft questions are mine, not his It was MO'S who did not seem confident, even getting parts ...

I think Steve has spoken to George. New engine may TBD be competitive, but we need to get a bit further.
I am VERY interested in possible failure of a CAMBELT after only 6000km

Helen,
What's the issue with STEEL SEAL or KSEAL if we need to change Head? (former will cost £40-50 for 2 bottles +labour)
Does not one just leave it in, ie it must be water-based so should function as coolant as well as continuing to seal?

[helen&tony]

Hi
There was a thread some while back where a member's head was naff, and K-seal was used, and it took an age to clear the stuff out....The head was eventually replaced, and everything was fixed.
Here's one thread:
http://igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/view ... =3&t=48948
It's not the one I was looking for, but it shows the mixed feelings
It's rumoured that it's based on isinglas (an old-fashioned egg preservative), and it was used in growing "chemical gardens" of crystals in schools many years ago...not sure if that rumour is true, but all manner of things have been used in the trade (where I have relatives), and none work without side effects
I always used to carry such a remedy (not available now, but I still have some), in case of breakdown on a journey, but nothing's permanent!
Get a proper assessment and repair properly
Cheers
Helen

[Mrs Feynmans Bongos]

UPDATE

• Steve found the Distributor "out of position so wound it back" (I think he said). It ran much better over 20km, no misfiring.
• He then looked at CAMBELT, in case it had jumped disturbing Distributor (which had not been removed on replacing Cap+Rotor). It had jumped 2 teeth, with handfuls of mossy nest material inside Cover as if some critter found a nice warm engine (just done its weekly run) before a frosty night in Jan. A week later on its next run, nest got minced causing Cambelt to jump, whereupon poor Idling/Cutting-out, misfiring +poor compression on no.4, was also now running hot which may have led to stress which later blew rad?
• Cambelt looks fairly new (ie as installed 3/2013) but TENSIONER is weak so both will be replaced, Steve will then look at VALVE timings etc, try another test run +compression.
• Steve says TIMING BELT COVER is undamaged, but has apertures where presumably critters went in (awaiting pics, others online are all plastic). Any suggestions how to prevent this? Eg drive more than weekly in winter; scatter poison on bottom tray in autumn? Are apertures there for eg Cooling, Drainage so I should not block them eg with tape?
• No doubt it will still fail SNIFF test, but depending on compression I will then decide about eg STEEL SEAL, eg phone helpline, ask about residues leading to eg WATER PUMP damage