OK, here is a question for all, based on my recent painful and expensive
little driving experience. Some might remember that I bought my little
yellow car, my first MG, as a learning experience... I think I may have
hit another speed bump in my learning curve.
A long, 65mph, two and a half to three hour drive in 95/100F heat...
check out the engine (especially after losing a lot of oil) and see a
lot of "seepage" and bubbles along the head gasket on the distributor
side of the block. I assume that the gasket has gone because this is
meant to be a "seal"... surely... and I am nowhere near my usual,
trusted, family MG doctor to ask advice. Nor am I near a computer and
Internet access to ask you guys.
I have now been informed (from a trusted source) that after such a drive
this sort of "seepage" is quite understandable and it will simply "seal
up" again once things cool down and get back to "normal" driving again.
In fact this source said that he had seen racing MGs that had
distributor problems because so much water came out past the head gasket
under such stressed conditions.
Now I will tell you that if I saw this on my Ford I would come to the
conclusion that the gasket was shot and I wouldn't find many who would
think otherwise, but my problem was that the mechanic who did the work
for me did NOT do a compression test before ripping the head off (it was
too late by the time I dropped in to witness further work being done)
and I only found this out when I saw his report afterwards.
Any thoughts on this? Was my head gasket going/gone or did I just make
another payment on this mechanic's Porsche for no good reason?
Eric
'68MGB MkII (resting)
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