I sent this earlier but didn't see it on the list so here it goes again -
sorry if this is a repeat!!
All,
I've looked through the archive and I'm pretty sure I have a cracked head on
my '77MGB. However, some of the symptoms aren't quite the same so I'd like
to query the wisdom of the list to help me figure out if anything else may
be wrong.
As the car starts to warm up I get a bit of steam coming from just above the
#2 sparkplug hole (second from the front). As the car further warms the
steam gets much heavier. It certainly smells like coolant. So far, seems
like a symptom for cracked head. The temperature gauge reads OK (although a
little warm) and the electric fans come on at the expected temperature,
however the head seems to be extremely hot. After shutting down the engine I
get a lot of smoke coming off the head. I can't tell if this is steam coming
from under the valve cover or simply smoke coming from burn off of oil
residue around the valve cover. In addition, it appears that the solder for
the neck on the top of the radiator has melted causing steam exiting from
that area. All in all, seems to be extremely hot, even though both the gauge
and the fan sensor seem to indicate normal operating temperatures. Could the
cracked head somehow allow superheated steam into the cooling system?
I'm hoping to be able to pick up a used head (anyone got one?) (though my
son, who drives the car, really wants to do a V-8
conversion :-). Any ideas as to what might be causing the "overheating"
symptoms? Most of the discussion in the archive regarding cracked heads at
the #2 cylinder seem to indicate the symptom as coolant dripping or leaking.
I just get steam.
Thanks,
Mark Parenti
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