So the head is off and no real signs of oil passing by the gasket into the coolant.
There was no coolant in the oil but a nice coating in the thermostat housing, overflow tank, on the cap etc. The way things came apart so easily leads us to believe the engine had gotten a head gasket not long ago. The heat shields were also visibly new and the bolts came off the studs to the exhaust manifolds fairly easily.
It's interesting to note that a few of the intake bolts were loose, there was some interesting shade tree mechanic hack fixes and given the newish head gasket (non-OE) was in there, the oils hex style head bolts were still used.
Right now the head is at the shop getting pressure tested and milled if necessary. I have a feeling that the block may be cracked somewhere though - this feeling will likely increase if the head is fine and pretty flat. If there's a twist to it, there might be a chance the bottom end is fine but I'm not getting my hopes up.
What's an iX short block worth anyway?
Bottom line is I should have not let my emotions get in the way of common sense and mechanics as its been almost 100 bucks a day it seems since I've gotten the car :)
I'll update more tomorrow. So far so good. The guy working on the motor has a good grasp on the M20 so I have no doubt once we get over the initial hump of replacing everything, this car is going to be fantastic (till the front axle breaks :))
Please share any thoughts. Where do these things crack when they get hot? I never got it hot but I can say that the PO didn't.
Regards,
Nick
There was no coolant in the oil but a nice coating in the thermostat housing, overflow tank, on the cap etc. The way things came apart so easily leads us to believe the engine had gotten a head gasket not long ago. The heat shields were also visibly new and the bolts came off the studs to the exhaust manifolds fairly easily.
It's interesting to note that a few of the intake bolts were loose, there was some interesting shade tree mechanic hack fixes and given the newish head gasket (non-OE) was in there, the oils hex style head bolts were still used.
Right now the head is at the shop getting pressure tested and milled if necessary. I have a feeling that the block may be cracked somewhere though - this feeling will likely increase if the head is fine and pretty flat. If there's a twist to it, there might be a chance the bottom end is fine but I'm not getting my hopes up.
What's an iX short block worth anyway?
Bottom line is I should have not let my emotions get in the way of common sense and mechanics as its been almost 100 bucks a day it seems since I've gotten the car :)
I'll update more tomorrow. So far so good. The guy working on the motor has a good grasp on the M20 so I have no doubt once we get over the initial hump of replacing everything, this car is going to be fantastic (till the front axle breaks :))
Please share any thoughts. Where do these things crack when they get hot? I never got it hot but I can say that the PO didn't.
Regards,
Nick
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