Heard something interesting today and now I'm back in procrastination mode ... and it is all to do with head gaskets ... in particular degredation over time.

As part of all the mods I am doing re fueling and injection it has been recommended to replace head gaskets, well the phrase was get them checked but if I'm pulling the heads I sure ain't re-using the gaskets.

If the engine was

A : Running reasonably well (despite crunchy wiring, clogged injectors)
B : Has been drained of any coolant for the last 4 years
C : Was a factory crated engine 'refurb' some point before I got it
D : Car has only 56k on it so engine can't have much

Do I really want to pull the engine back out just to check / replace head gaskets or is this a step too far - OR - am I in so deep that the extra mile is warranted. Consider that every nut and bolt on the suspension has been replaced, every bush, mounting, spring, joint, steering rack refurbed, diff refurbed, rear hubs refurbed, drive shafts refurbed, new front hubs including uprights and stubs, refurbed brake calipers all round ... you get the picture I'm in deep .... 4 years deep and a significant 5 figure sum ....

What is the experience here for head gaskets to deteriorate with time in a dry engine, I am not a race team with unlimited time and funds ... I'd like to see this car done and actually drive it again before the maker calls time on me ( am already past retirement age ) and I've not even started the interior yet.

So much for a little weekend cleaning - which is where this all started .....

 

Don't do it !

Head gaskets are not a chronic failure point on these engines.

It's time to enjoy driving the car. IF a head gasket problem develops you can address it at that time.

Cheers
DD

 

Agreed.

Doing that just to look, oh boy.

One of my PreHE sat for years, and them was recommissioned, now at 840000 or more Kms, and the engine is AS MADE in the UK.

The other 3 are all over 300k and still as made.

 

It shall be so ... didn't want to do the job but needed the moral support because the seed was planted.

Just turned the engine over and fogged it again, set it to TDC ready to pull the pulley off, zero issues, there really aren't many miles on this engine I can tell by the cams.

 

Unless they leak, why? Original head gaskets in my 86, i will never touch them unless they fail.

 

That would be my approach also, hence I posted here just in case there is some super secret that a decade of Jaguar ownership has not exposed.

For me opening up an engine without good cause has more potential to create problems than fix them.

 

LEAVE THEM ALONE BEN! At 56,000 they will be perfect. No backsliding about the matter either!!

 

Me - backslide - as if ...

But rest easy this is one topic that I won't because I really have had enough of the endless jobs which are sometimes fun, mostly not these days.