Head oil seal.

S

Steve C

Member
Hi, my car p6 2000tc needs the oil seal in the head changing again, !!!!!!. this will be the 3rd time in not many miles.

when i first brought the car it was leaking oil at back of the head ( between block and head) , after reading various threads on the forum I changed the o ring at the same time checking all the other basic items to check when ever the head is off.

After about 100 miles the o ring started leaking again, this had been fitted dry. after further advise I stripped the head off again and fitted a new o ring, but well coated with hylamar , this one has lasted about 300 miles, and needs changing again!!!!.

What could be wrong with my head/block or what could i do to try and make the new one last,

Apart from being a days work fitting the new o ring, what with a new head gasket needed every time the cost of nearly £100 on a regular basis is getting me down.

any advise would be great
Regards Steve
 
thanks for the reply, both times I have used a dedicated O ring ( from Wins ), and when the head was removed both still looked brand new, perhaps I need to check my torque wrench ( ten year old Snap On ).
 
It does sound like you may have a warped head. Very unlikely the block isn’t flat but not impossible.

If you weren’t torquing the head down enough I’d expect you’d have other problems, so I suspect your torque wrench is OK.

Yours
Vern
 
thanks for the advice, when the head comes off tomorrow I will double check with a flat edge, every thing else seems fine though.
Many thanks Steve.
 
I agree with Vern and Quattro. If you're using a proper O ring, my next port of call would also be to check the straightness of the head.
 
Got the head off today, the O ring was sat in its recess looking as good as when I fitted it, except there was no trace of any Hylamar at all.

checked both the block and head with a good straight edge, and both are good, no warping etc.

bearing in mind that the Hylamar seems to have disappeared without trace, would wellseal be a better option? has anyone ever used it?
 
This is really strange. How long have you had the car? And was it able to keep oil inside before you changed the head gasket?
 
Stag Wellseal is mainly to seal machine fitting surfaces, and it's a non setting product so I wouldn't think it would be any better than the Hylomar in your situation.

It does seem a bit weird that there is enough oil escaping to clean away all of the hylomar? Did you check for a blockage further up or is your oil pressure very high?
 
Thanks for the response and advise, so looks like wellseal is a non starter, car history, brought the car in December, engine at the time best described as dirty, next day after a 50 mile drive home, and seeing the oil all over the garage floor, and cleaning the back of the block ( and reading threads on here) decided a new O ring was required ( leaking from the block/head joint at back of engine). so fair to assume the oil leak was there prior to my purchase.

O rings changed as per post one above.

the oil pressure stays at about 55/60 at all times, the oil passage down into the block and up into the head are nice and clear, the hylomar used was the blue gel and not silicone.

regards Steve.
 
A bit of a wildcard, but what gasket are you using? A TC should have the later type gasket (either steel-asbestos-steel or composite). Very early 2000s had a copper gasket, which was much thicker. Early 2000s have a slightly shorter block to accommodate the thickness of the copper gasket. If yours is a later block but has a copper gasket on it, the clearance on the O-ring could be too great. What's your engine number?
 
on the subject of head gasket, i think I am correct, car is 1972, engine number 44607407A and the three gaskets i have brought from Wins are on their website as VCG661 roverp6 TC 1966-1973. thinking along the similar line, could I have an head from an early engine? or is that not possible.

regards Steve
 
redrover said:
A bit of a wildcard, but what gasket are you using? A TC should have the later type gasket (either steel-asbestos-steel or composite). Very early 2000s had a copper gasket, which was much thicker. Early 2000s have a slightly shorter block to accommodate the thickness of the copper gasket. If yours is a later block but has a copper gasket on it, the clearance on the O-ring could be too great. What's your engine number?
Click to expand...
Uhm, no. It’s the reverse. Very early cars used a thin steel head gasket and it is the later engines that have the shorter deck height on the block. The heads are the same for all cars.

Yours
Vern

Scan Jul 25, 2023 at 8.37 AM.jpg
 
Vern Klukas said:
Uhm, no. It’s the reverse.
Click to expand...
Well! I stand corrected! I must have read that section of the workshop manual a hundred times over the years, and every time my mind has chosen to read it as the complete opposite! Well at least we can rule that out.
 
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