charles_wif_xf

OK guys and gals, here's one for ya.

The old girl is leaking coolant from bewteen block and head (4.1l carb) just above the engine number boss. That to me is the head gasket is shot and would need changing.

Now here's the dilema. My mechanic told me that he'll charge 350 gorillas to change the gasket. But he said that don't spend that much money on the car. Try this product he said. It's called Chem-I-Weld, made by Goss, the fuel pump people. You pull off the top radiator hose, drain some of the coolant and pour it staright down into the head.

My questions are few. One, have any of you fellow forum members used the stuff in your cars, two, how hard is it to change the gasket myself and three is it worth it since I have no idea what condition the cylinder bores are in?

Thanks in advance cause you fellas have always been a help.

edv8wagon

The same happened to mine, '90 XF ute, the water jacket in the inlet manifold has a steel plug under the curb where it mates to the head. This rusts out. I bypassed the water supply to the inlet to fix the problem. Cheap and easy. The only trick is the water temp sensor for the TFI needs to be shifted but this is no big deal.

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MLS

Going by where you said the coolant is leaking from I would just about guarantee that the water gallery in the head has corroded and will need some welding and machine work to repair it properly.

Chem-I-Weld is good, however its not real good at attaching itself to corroded alloy. Worth a try at about $15 but don't be too surprised if it only fixes the problem for a month or so.

deankdx

i have had this a few times with differwnt cars ive owned
i would NOT use chemi weld as each time i've used it, its blocked heater core or radiator as well as stopping leak
I NOW USE AND RECOMMEND silver seal, comes in a cardboard tin from repco etc. its cheap gauranteed not to block anything"i think its gauranteed??"
my car i'm driving now has had a blown ead gasket for about a year and about every 3 months i need to add another can of silver seal.
MY CAR IS ALSO NOT WORTH SPENDING time or money on.
i have a gasket ready but the water is not getting into oil yet so i'm not changing it.

WhiteOx

I'd recommend this, it works better than Chemiweld.
http://www.afcinternational.com.au/m...ic_seal_up.htm
You can get it from Big W for about $10
250ml will do up to 20 litres cooling capacity.

But it would be better to fix the gasket properly if you're keeping the car.

deankdx

might give that stuff a try on a bad inlet manifold water leak on a niisan pulsar(silver seal did not fix that one)

needturbo6

i also hav used chemi-weld in an alloy head '83 meteor, worked 4 a bout a month prob cause it then started to "fill in" the radiator core.
radiator was 90% blocked by it!!

wouldnt use it again....

stockstandard

I cracked the block in a old magna and chem-i-weld held it together for another 6 months. I wouldent use it in a car I was planning to keep for any length of time, but as a quickl fixed it worked alright.

charles_wif_xf

After reading some of your responses last night, I gave it a whack this morning. I got a bottle of Chem-I-Weld from Repco for about $6 and drained the coolant. Tossed it into the top radiator hose and filled her up again. I had it on fast idle for about 20 mins and it seems to have done the job. I dont know of its possible, but the car pulls harder through the gears now. Maybe more compression. Does it fix up compression chamber cracks and gaps as well?

If it starts up again, I just found out a mate can get cost price gear from Bursons. Gasket kit is $30 and head bolts and other nick nacks are about another $50. Plus a regrind (skimming of the head, whatever its called) and pressure test of the head is another $75 (obviously not form Bursons).Which means I'd be changing gaskets myself.

deankdx

[QUOTE=charles_wif_xf]After reading some of your responses last night, I gave it a whack this morning. I got a bottle of Chem-I-Weld from Repco

if you read our responses id be keeping an eye on the temp guage for a couple of weeks
GOOD LUCK