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MG MGA - Head re-torquing leak

As part of my spring tune-up on my 1800 engine I was re torquing the head studs. I loosened the nuts half a turn and as I was beginning to re tighten them I noticed water leaking along the head gasket above the spark plugs.

I went on with torquing the nuts and the leaking stopped. I checked the oil for water and found none. The engine was missing a little at first with some steam out the exhaust but quickly smoothed out quickly and ran normally. No water is showing up in the oil.

Do you think I may be headed for a problem with the head gasket integrity. Obviously water had gotten into the cylinders and wet the head and block surface. It has a Payden gasket.

Jim
Jim Ferguson

Jim, is re-tourquing the head part of your service? It shouldn't be. Once the head is bolted down and tourqued, it should be left alone until it needs to be taken off. I would suggest that you ought to remove your head now that you have disturbed it, and at the very least, replace the gasket. It would certainly be worth getting it checked for straightness while it is off. If it aint broke etc!
Lindsay Sampford

Im a bit puzzled about your water leak Jim.

The head gasket is below the spark plugs and so if you did loosen the head bolts enough to allow water to leak through the head gasket, it could only appear above the spark plugs if it was leaking upwards through the head bolts.

I suppose it also could leak via this route into the valve cover too so it is worth checking this area too.

I think that you will probably find that the leaks will seal again now you have re-torqued the head down again.

I think it is worth running the car after you have re torqued the head, keeping an eye on the water levels, looking out for bubbling into the radiator header tank, water leaking through the head bolts and for water in the oil.

If these are ok I think you can safely run the car and forget about the gasket until the next time the head has to come off.

You could check the head for trueness then.

So best of luck,

Colyn
Colyn Firth

Jim,

It sounds as if you loosened all of the nuts at the same time. Whenever I have retorqued a head I only loosen and then retorque one at a time. I would say that only time will tell if you are going to have a gasket problem. If you want to avoid the possibility of it being a future problem you could replace it now.

Charley
C R Huff

For peace of mind, change it now. Not a fun thing to do on the road when you least expect it. Marvin
Marvin Stuart

This thread was discussed on 14/03/2011

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