Morris Minor Owners Club

Nothwithstanding the hot weather, seem to be going through a lot of water suddenly...

dipped oil & there is obviously water contamination, it is a cloudy brown colour.

Head off tomorrow then (I have a spare gasket), but is there any other way water could get into the oil than via the gasket?
I can't really think of one, but perhaps someone else can

Engine is running OK, except, perhaps, a little rough running for the first few seconds after start up, then smooths out & is fine.

Chris

cracked head or block

Oh yes, I just wasn't thinking life could be so cruel!

prob not they are robust

They are cast iron, the epitome of tough!
Don't listen to Job's comforter.

Just been out to have another look about & I'm no longer convinced, as I was before, that the dipstick shows water/oil emulsion.
Must have been seeing things. Perhaps I'm affected by the heat!

Looking in the oil filler, there is some mayo inside. Blew some out of the pipe to the air cleaner too.
Should not get mayo in hot weather?
Car is mostly used for very short runs though.

I may take just the rocker cover off tomorrow, clean it out & keep the situation under frequent inspection.

Still don't know where the rad water is going...the cap appears to have very little pressure to it, water may be just going down the overflow pipe when running at speed, good and hot.

Thanks for the input Aupickup & your kind words, Marky

Let the water find it's own level, as long as it's above the fins.
There is always some space for expansion in the header tank.
The weather is lovely, go for a longer run somewhere

Chris Edgar wrote:
Car is mostly used for very short runs though.

Take it for a good long run out.

Put a plastic 'catch' bottle on the overflow pipe - to see what comes out. Also - have a look at the spark plugs - are any suspiciously 'clean' which indicates water in the combustion chamber. Other test is - leave the plugs out overnight and in the morning crank the engine over on the starter to see if any water comes flying out any of the plug holes.........

Good ideas, Roy.

I have looked at the plugs, all OK.
I will use a catch bottle today & leave plugs out overnight.

many thanks!

Well, the plastic bottle did catch a little water, but not really enough to explain the loss.

next test, as suggested by Roy, was plugs out & spin engine over......

the result was a geyser of water from No 3. Quite amazing, never seen anything like it!

Head off & relaced (fibre) gasket with a "proper" copper one. I checked head for warping, cleaned all up...the WAS a huge amount of sludge lurking under to rocker cover.

With the benefit of hindsight a few clues:
No 3 plug was INCREDIBLY tight to remove.
Every time the engine was started, it ran rough for a few seconds ..presumably until the resident water was passed out.

Finally, oil & filter change.
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Although the plug looked no different to the others, the crown of No 3 piston was lovely & clean


many thanks
Chris

My headgaskett gave way on the waterway into number 2 cylinder. Didn't really notice as it was just a bit limpy when pulling away, but cleared once moving. Assumed it was because i had changed dizzy, but that was just a coincidence in the end!
Only when it started to billow steam from the exhaust did i suspect HG, once that happened it was fairly obvious! Took plugs out and number 2 had water on it.
Had it back on the road the next day and running like a dream (a slow 948 dream!).

Well done Chris - don't forget to retorque the head after the first heat cycle (44 ft lbf) and then reset valve gaps to 12 thou in lets and 15 thou exhausts.