Linhai 257: 1) Head Repl Leaks AF Joint w Block 2) Won'tFire  By  bob123456789 (Read 2,864 times)

Just to be clear I did not use RTV on either of my head or base gaskets. I have a very small antifreeze leak that I need to solve. I used new gaskets.

The main issue I am having right now is that I am getting slight liquid leakage from some of my gaskets. It looks like antifreeze. I think is mainly coming from the joint between the block and the head. When I put it together I used a torque wrench and torqued it to the specs in the manual. I used new gaskets with no RTV and cleaned the old gaskets off good. There are three things I can think of doing. The first is do torque it more than the specs indicated (I don't want to damage anything). The second is to wait and see if the gaskets might swell a bit on there own. The third is to pull it apart and use a new gasket and/or RTV.

How do I solve the leaking?

The next issue is when I turn it over nothing happens with everything together. It doesn't ever fire. When I pulled the air box off it will fire and run briefly if I hold my hand over the air intake on the carb. This indicates to me that the air/fuel ratio isn't correct on the carb. Is my thinking right? When I then put the air box back on and moved the a/f screw to several positions I could never get it to fire.

How do I get it to fire with the air box on?

Thanks Dollartwentyfive. I pulled the slow jet and soaked both it and the main carb cleaner. This made no difference when I tried to start it. Both jets looked relatively clean before I cleaned them. I posted a video in post 15 of this link showing the fuel provided by my fuel pump. Does it look adequate? itistheride.boards.net/thread/9999/linhai-help-removing-vacuum-head?page=2

The big issue for me right now are the leaks from the head. I have confirmed it is both antifreeze and oil. When I put them together I torqued the nuts to 16 foot pounds and the bolts to 7 foot pounds.

The main issue I am having right now is that I am getting slight liquid leakage from some of my gaskets. It looks like antifreeze. I think is mainly coming from the joint between the block and the head. When I put it together I used a torque wrench and torqued it to the specs in the manual. I used new gaskets with no RTV and cleaned the old gaskets off good. There are three things I can think of doing. The first is do torque it more than the specs indicated (I don't want to damage anything). The second is to wait and see if the gaskets might swell a bit on there own. The third is to pull it apart and use a new gasket and/or RTV.

How do I stop the leaking from the head gasket? Any good ideas folks?

The Copper Coat would be the next step after verifying that the dowel pins are not too long. Sometime replacement heads are machined a bit shallow so shorter pins are required while other times the heads just are not flat and won't seat no matter what you do aside from haveing a machine shop true them up however the vender that sold the head should make good if its defective.

maybe you have done NOTHING wrong.
if the above is true then you must assume some sort of manufacturing defect, either with the dowel pins being too long, or their cavities being too shallow, or the mating surfaces aren't exactly true.

i do not recommend overtorquing aluminum.

i would give those dowel pins a going over.
or, make sure there isn't some kind of contaminant inside the dowel cavities.

also, are you sure you got the headbolts back into the holes they came from?
i don't see how this would matter, but leave it to the chinese to make it happen though.
added to that, are you sure nothing fell into the headbolt holes?

if you MUST modify the head, then document why and then return it as a manufacturing defect.

i can't overstress that, although aluminum engine blocks aren't pure aluminum, aluminum is very soft.
i do not recommend any type of metal scraper be used when removing gasket material, unless you are very, very, very careful.
even sandpaper can have very bad consequences.

from the above, it seems obvious to use gasket sealers that are easily removed.
or maybe none at all, although i have never replaced a gasket without some type of sealer (even just a film of grease)

If I look at things objectively the odds are pretty high that it is something I did incorrectly. The head is new. It is my first time and I was working on it alone. I did follow a shop manual step by step. However I did not use the gasket that came with the head. I used one from a gasket kit I bought.

I will not over torque the nuts and bolts.

Do these seem like good next steps?

1. Pull the new head off the block apart using the shop manual steps.
2. Inspect the block, the head, the head gasket and the dowels for any damage. Check the dowel pin fit in the new head.
3. I have a new head gasket that came with the head. Use it.
4. Spray the new gasket with copper coat.
5. I have one new dowel. I will use it.
6. Put everything back together following the shop manual.

I only have one new dowel pin. Should I get another before trying the steps above?

Should I use anything other than copper coat on the gasket?

dollartwentyfi The head has four nuts and two bolts. I am pretty sure that I didn't put them in the same order they came off. The head is new so there shouldn't be an junk in the dowel pin holes. I don't recall seeing anything in the dowel holes in the block. Four of the six head attachments are nuts so nothing fell in them. I did carefully use a razor blade and gas to remove the old gasket from the block which is steel.

RockyNV I am not 100% sure what the gasket material is. I think some kind of plastic.

rockynv. I compared the head gasket that came with the new head and another gasket that came in the gasket kit I bought and they are very similar in thickness. The one that came with the new head may be just a bit thicker.

It is hard to say for sure since the one that came with the gasket kit is still on the engine.