Hello Good People. Good morning
I've been talking with a fellow NY'er and former Forum Member about some problems he's been having with his car... 1992. What seems like steam from the driver's side tail pipe. He has had the suspicion that he has a head gasket failure and it's been generally confirmed by a shop and mechanic that he's been working with.

So the mechanic can't just tell him any old thing, give him the run around and charge him a MILLION, what facts or ideas should he be armed with going into the negotiating about cost with? What does he need to know? Does the engine have to come out? Does the timing gear need to be completely pulled and removed - then replaced? Things like that. What about reassembly.

Of course he's nervous.

I will link him to this thread and hopefully he'll jump in with some questions of his own...

Thanks in advance. Everyone 😊

 

One of the few things I have learned about these classic cars is that it is essential to meet a good mechanic who knows these cars well. So I think the first thing you should do is find a good mechanic who knows what he should do, and don't be nervous about this job.

 

100% agree with Fergolf.
White smoke from one side can be excess fuel from a bad injector. To diagnose a head gasket - which happens but is very rare:

• test exhaust for excess hydrocarbons when engine warm
• test coolant for presence of hydrocarbons
• test coolant for excess pressure building up fast after startup when coolant still not hot
• test all 6 cylinders on that bank for compression

When fully warmed up, is the "steam" still there?
What other symptoms is the engine displaying (eg erratic tickover, loss of coolant, loss of power)?

 

I will add to this list,
run the engine, let it warm up, then let it cool overnight. If it still has pressure in the cooling system you almost certainly have a blown head gasket.
You will very likely have a misfire on one or more cylinders, probably on cold start.
pull the spark plugs on the suspect bank, a blown head gasket tends to steam clean the plug on the leaking cylinder.

If you are not loosing coolant, and there is no coolant in the oil, and you have no misfires, you probably do not have a blown head gasket.

 

Thank you all...for the dude,,,

I don't know what happened to the dude,,,
Maybe he's going to just take these ideas to the mechanic and report back when he gits the LIST the mechanic gives.

About the cam sprockets. They are a bolt on to the cam shaft? Can the bolts be removed and zip ties or something applied so the timing chain and sprocket keep there orientation to each other, then snake it thru that top space in the head - making it so the timing stays on? The guy seemed to imply the mechanic said the front end of the engine needed to be taken apart because of the timing chain and gear...?

Anyways. I'm interested to hear the tests and the findings of the mechanic.

​​​​​​​And dude,,, if you're reading this - as I have heard - tell him to NEVER turn the crank in the wrong direction. Anticlockwise, I believe...?

 

all these posts are good , gotta start checking things!

 

First of all many thanks to JayjagJay for starting this thread! Appreciate the help and suggestions everyone has provided so far.

As of now the mechanic had a scheduled vacation right before he took a look at my car so he has yet to work on it. I mentioned a lot of what was stated in this post to see if he had tried the things suggested.

He's a recommended former Jag master technician and his shop specializes in Jags from what I've read online and in his reviews.

He informed me he filled up the cylinders with compressed air to see if the air came out through the cooling system.

The last time I drove the car years ago, I was losing tons of coolant and the car was misfiring.

The reason I took the car to this mechanic is because my old mechanic wanted to charge $5k and also diagnosed the problem as it having a head gasket issue. I thought the price was ridiculous and will never take my car back to him again.

This guy is quoting me a ballpark figure of $2800 in labor and $575 for parts.

I still think it's expensive for the labor and will try to negotiate that especially if he may find more issues with the car.

I'm also very nervous in that he stated that the tensioner on the timing belt can break on this car when trying to get to the gaskets. He said it's never happen to him but it's a possibility and it can potentially drive up the price more.

I definitely don't want to switch the engine and love this car but the job is pretty pricey. Any thoughts?? Thanks again fellas.

 

I suggest doing a compression leakdown test. If it is a head gasket, the compressed air will start bubling in the coolant cross over tube at the front of the engine with that radiator cap off.

I agree that a sticking injector will cause white smoke, but you will notice the gasoline smell coming from that side of the exaust.

Do you know the history of how often the coolant has been changed, and what color is the coolant? I experienced a head gasket failure because the car had the yellow green Prestone in it and there was corrosion on the head surfaces that eventually spread under where the head compressed the head gasket against the top of the cylinder liner. The head gaskets on the V-12 are clamped between the head and block around the perimeter and between the head and cylinder liners.