Some months ago billows of white smoke caused me to pressurize my
cooling system (Stant ST-255) and discover a lot of coolant leaking
into cylinder #2. The head was removed and the head gasket was
carefully scrutinized for any holes/defects, etc. Nothing apparent was
found. I had the head pressure tested and a crack -I believe it was
internal, not in a firing chamber- was found. I bought a used head,
with enough meat on it, that passed the pressure test and had it
resurfaced and had the valves and seats done.
I did a surgical reassembly, though I used a Snap-on click stop wrench
for torquing the head instead of the manual recommended torque angle
gauge. The head bolts were wire brushed prior to assembly and their
respective holes in the block were chased (not chaste) and, again,
surgically cleaned out with compressed air. The bolts were torqued at
60 ft. lbs., and the head re-torqued at 600 miles.
For some days everything seemed problem free and then I began to
detect the smell of cooked antifreeze. I looked and looked but could
not find an apparent leak, though I needed to add .5 quart of coolant
to the system every couple of days. No smoke from the tail pipe, but
the smell was there. I did not detect the smell at the tail pipe, but
in the engine compartment.
A Peugeot guy in Alameda, Sam from SK Auto, put it up in the air and
looked at the rear of the head (by the manifold down pipe). He noticed
some discoloration on the block just below the rear of the head and
said that he thought it was a bad head gasket. He told me to clean it
off (the block under the head), and spray paint it and then run it and
look at it again. Sam told me that it was probably not the right brand
head gasket (It was a Curty Payen) and said that he bought his from a
guy in Texas (I assumed Madhu from Disortex). He suggested that I
re-torque the head at least five additional lbs. to 65.
I think Brian Holm suggested that I drain the block before retorquing
the head. I drained the block and retorqued the head to 65 ft. lbs. I
re-adjusted the valves and put a couple of GM cooling system tabs in
the radiator. Everything seemed fine and the coolant level seemed
pretty stable. After a month of driving I, again, started to smell
cooked coolant. The smell was apparent only sometimes after driving.
The coolant loss is very slight, like a cup or two every four or five
days.
This problem has been driving me nuts. There are times that I think I
can detect the smell of antifreeze at the tail pipe and times when I
can't.
I was wondering if anyone out there had any suggestions -other than
seeing a therapist- that they might be kind enough to send my way.
Again, the coolant loss is minimal and the smell is apparent after I
drive my daughter to school (20 minutes non-freeway) or am idling after
a brisk freeway run. The smell seems to be present at the tail pipe
only some of the time. I put a lot of work into this car and am
thoroughly demoralized with it and looking for a BMW 325is to elevate
my spirits.
Desperate in California,
Ken
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Received on Sun Jul 10 02:10:52 2005
