N9TE Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 OK. So I've been chasing down what I thought was a coolant leak for quite some time. Ever since I re-did the hoses. Funny thing was, the system always held pressure. I could go back two days after it last ran and it would still have pressure in there. If there was a compromised hose, surely those conditions wouldn't exist. Anyway, I've been taking it to work for the last three weeks and all is fine. But Friday the low coolant light goes on. Not overheating and I'm a mile away from home, so I just go home. Start it Saturday and it runs rough - like a plug is fouled. Warmed it up and took it on my standard 'test leg' (about 4 miles, bring it home and park it. I go to move it 5 minutes later and whooosh - tons of white smoke. Repeated test and got the same results. Come to think of it - the cooling system gets really pressurized. Blowby making its way into the cooling system? I've put about 5000 miles on it and never overheated it. I'm pretty damn disgusted as this car was sold to me with all the major work 'done'. To be exact... First owner was a mechanic specializing in Peugeots 25,000 miles on the NEW CLUTCH 30,000 miles on the REBUILT THE ENGINE (new head, new turbo...) About $6,000 work. Whatever. I'm in for a head job. I'm not going to scrimp on this. I'm sure a number of you guys have wish lists when this time comes for you. What would you focus on? Specifically: Who do you trust to weld it - Anybody besides Ericsson? I've got an OEM HG - but should I use the Corteco? ARP Bolts or studs? And most importantly - retorque. Book says to do it. Thoughts? Fun days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcal505 Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Pretty sure I know who the original owner was; more specifically my dad does..so it depends on how long ago the 2nd owners (also on here) bought it. Good to know you are running all through it again though, at least you'll have the peace of mind. Not to knowledgeable on the n9txx engines, but isn't Stefan selling the last of his parts? [via Peugeot-L] Perhaps he may have a spare HG? Good luck with the repairs. -S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 That sucks man - I suspect mine has started to crack as it's starting to present with some of the symptoms but not all of them, and not all the time. I would find out who is the best engine shop / head specialist nearest to you and call them up. It's not rocket science to weld up the head, they just need to be familiar with the alloy heads. It basically cracks from the exhaust valve seat to the nearest water jacket so it's easy to spot. From what I know they just V out the crack to fully expose it, and then tig weld it back up. If you pull the head and disassemble it so that they can do their thing I can't see it being very much. While they have it I'd get a fresh 3 angle (5 angle maybe?) valve job and get them to ensure the valve guides are goood. New valve seals and you're good. I'd use a Cometic head gasket - pretty sure they're in your neck of the woods anyway, but I know Nick Cota stocks them. They were very impressed with the Cometic ones. ARP studs are on my list - I even just found the forms for specing them out. I can't remember if Nick posted the part # for the ones they used - pretty sure he did. If you use ARP - then you follow their torque procedure and spec - there is no retorque I'm quite sure. One thing I've been thinking of doing as well is to get the head cryotreated after all the machining work has been done. If you really wanted to get fancy you could check out some of the fancy engine coatings you can get for the combustion chamber and valve faces. (Probably not needed for a stock build - but some COOL stuff out now) Not sure if you were going to leave the turbo as is, but www.mercedessource.com has a nice T3 turbo rebuild kit that should work great for the stock turbo. Doesn't take much to pull one apart to do the seal and change the bearings. Really does suck that you have to go into the motor like this, bit at least you know the work is going to be done well this time. There's no telling what was done, or more importantly HOW it was done. I know I'm pretty anal with this kind of stuff - but when I'm done it's bullet proof. I know when you do a job - I feel like I'm a slacker compared the detail you go into - so it will be worth it in the end for sure. Careful with the "while I'm at it..." talk in your head as well. I know the same job is in my future and I keep having the "while I'm at it..." thoughts that usually spiral out of control. (See T25 turbo discussion as a PRIME example... lol) Keep us posted! Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N9TE Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Rob, that would be Frank Cerrone, no? Some kid had it before my seller rescued it from the junkyard. He beat it without mercy. Funny you should mention Serfan. I have two motors I bought from him 3 years ago when August, John, Kevin and a bunch of us went down to Olympia. I'd be pulling one of those heads. I'd like to have everything ready to go. Yup, I might as well do the turbo while I'm down there. Didn't Nick do the ARP bolts on his last head? He does these things in an afternoon. It'll take me weeks. Fasteners are another story. The whole re-torque garbage is because of the TTY bolts. And from everything I've learned, TTY bolts are not reuseable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N9TE Posted September 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 So I've been doing a little research. W-H has Meillor headgaskets RockAuto has BGA (British Gaskets Automotive) Corteco was sold to ROL Mfg by Friedenburg-NOK What are people's opinions about the above brands without regards to cost? Here's an awesome article by Larry Carley about headgaskets. http://mk3ukr-supra.net/What%20causes%20head%20gasket%20to%20fail.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick@nite Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 If your OE HD gasket is stamped Curty Paine on it, use that... Corteco gasket as long as it's not cooper. The Silver Cali Auto turbo that we did was a Corteco gasket and it looked fine, but the tech that just did the job ripped the gasket when he slipped the head on poorly when your getting the cam sprocket on, a little tricky.... Madu did have a aftermarket headset... Exhaust manifold gaskets are almost non exsistant.... When I order some more Cometic gaskets I'm checking with them to see if they can make some up... I have only one Cometic slightly higher compression gasket in stock and it's got a little shuffle abuse in the move. It would be fine to use on a stock head. I wouldn't risk the BGA gasket... I haven't used my ARP Studs yet, still here with me.... I did post the PN# on the #45 thread as well I could sell mine if needed... A VW tech friend of mine did a monster VR6T, used ARP studs and he found out you do need to re torque them after 500 miles... https://www.facebook...seman.77?ref=ts Valve seals I think I bought the last set in the U.S... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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