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Hi guys,

After having a bit of a read of the previous posts here I'm thinking maybe my head gaskets gone. Symptoms of note are when she runs very rough she coughs a bit of oil out of the exhaust, fairly substantial blowby, not a heap of power available and stalls at idle if you don't pull out the choke a bit, and running rough in general. Does this sound like a head gasket problem? Also, having a quick look on the internet there are gaskets for $25 off dollars and $200+ copper ones, is there any reason to shell out the extra cash if she's just a weekend cruiser. If it's gone is it likely to blow again quickly unless I have a substantial play with the engine? Can the gasket be done with the engine in the car - I'll be looking to do the job myself and dont have a engine winch.

Cheers,
James

Mate,
I'd be perhaps starting a little deeper,
If you burning oil, have excessive blow by, Miss firing / rough running, etc
To my reading leads me to think it could be rings.

But first and easiest, I'd be whipping out the spark plugs first and check condition. Oily, Black, or a nice greyish colour. Also check your oil isnt milky also a bit of a sign head gasket is on its way out.

Next step if plugs are dodgy and theres smoke, etc, is to preform a compression test on the engine. (All 6 cylinders.) record the results, then do a wet test a dribble of oil (1/4 a teaspoon or so) in each cylinder just be for you test it. and record these readings.
Basically the oil creates an artifical seal around the rings and allows a compression reading eliminating the rings as a contributer.
(Useful For head gasket and valve seal.)

So if your wet compression test is as bad as your dry test then I'd be considering head gasket, But if wet was better than dry rings are a more likly factor.

Do the easy stuff first, water in oil, spark plugs, etc.

If it is a head gasket, yes you can do it in the car, go with the fiber head gasket (cheaper) as it will suffice for general driving.

Maybe someone has an easier way of diagonosing a grey?

Follow Stroggers and Sunnytims advice as it would appear that something isn't all well inside your engine if you are getting oil out the exhaust.There are really only a few things that can cause it.

Start with the quickest,easiest and cheapest test procedure first ( check for oiled up plug/s ) and then discount each cause as you move up the check ladder to the need for removal of the head.

And as Sunnytim has said, the greys will still run with bad rings.I had one that blew more smoke than a dozen 2 stroke victa mowers and it still ran reasonably well ( just had to clean up the oiled up plugs every few weeks )

Never pulled it apart but I bet it had multiple broken rings and multiple carboned up oil control rings.

If you get to a point where you think the engine is needing a rebuild there are 3 already rebuilt ones on a certain auction site at the moment.

thanks guys, I'll definitely get onto that - looks like im in for some scuffed up knuckles and alot of sweat - the plugs are stuck in solid - I broke the first spark plug rachet set I bought - though it only had a 3 odd inch handle and I assume a foot or so of leverage would make my life so much easier. Oil looks fine, was a little bit of white gunk under the filler cap when I bought her but other than that it looks nice and black, but I don't think the previous owner would have changed the oil at all, and he had her for 2 or 3 years - might be worth just draining and refilling to be on the safe side.

Probably was worth noting shes sporting a 179 red . Maybe I overstated the amount of oil thats getting in - it coughs a little out idling rough in the driveway with the choke out (engines running fast and rich as I had to turn her up to try and avoid stalling at the lights, but thats not working and I'm yet to turn her back down) - at more reasonable settings there no oil coming out and never any blue/black smoke out the rear while driving.

I always presumed if the head gasket was gone that you would have oil in the radiator too. What you think is oil coming out of the exhaust might just be dirty condensation.

Also, if it were rings or head gasket you would be needing to top up your oil regularly.