Head gasket repair

[brianMO]

Has anybody used any liquid head-gasket repair? I am skeptical of the results but facing a $111.00 head gasket, and lots of hours of labor to repair my ford 1100. Bars makes a product, as well as, many others. Any testimonies out there you want to share.

 

[AlanB]

I am very skeptical of any and all of the elixers that you pour into the motor and it heals it. Little to close to snake oil in my opinion.

That said, my dad has a V-6 in a Ford Van which apparently that model had some issues and he used it a couple years ago, fixed his problem and he now swears by it.

 

[Soundguy]

Has anybody used any liquid head-gasket repair? I am skeptical of the results but facing a $111.00 head gasket, and lots of hours of labor to repair my ford 1100. Bars makes a product, as well as, many others. Any testimonies out there you want to share.

I agree with Alan.. mechanic in a can type stuff usually doesn't work. However there are things like 'builders cubes' as well as an addative that CNH makes and sells.. and it specifically mentions minor head gasket sealing ability.. etc. I wouldn't be afraid to dump a CNH product into a ford tractor radiator..

soundguy

 

[skipmarcy]

In my opinion something designed to stop up & seal small holes/gaps shouldn't be put in a cooling system - the tubes in your radiator are small holes...

 

[Soundguy]

In my opinion something designed to stop up & seal small holes/gaps shouldn't be put in a cooling system - the tubes in your radiator are small holes...

The tubes in your rad are HUGE compaired to the intended pinhole or smaller sized gaps that most 'sealers' are designed to seal.

Big difference in a 1/4" crossectional tube.. or say.. a hole between a pin or human hair sized..

Gotta keep perspective in this..

soundguy

 

[Bill_C]

...facing a $111.00 head gasket, and lots of hours of labor to repair my ford 1100....

I dunno, I've looked at my 1100 and it looks like that head could be off in less than 4 hrs of work. Don't have to pull the engine!! Just the fuel tank, radiator, alternator, etc. All easy to get to. $111 for a gasket, and maybe $75 to have the head resurfaced, and then maybe 6 hours, lets say 8 to reassemble...throw in a few extra bucks for a gasket or two, and the project is over and done with. Good to go for years with few worries.

Otherwise, it's the very REAL possibility of permanent head or block damage...

My vote is to bite the bullet and do the job right.

 

[Egon]

Head gasket leak? do the proper thing now as you will have to later anyway!

 

[Eagleview]

If you do decide to have the head surface ground , see if you can get an equally thicker head gasket to keep the compression ratio at factory specs .

 

[barneyrb]

If you do decide to have the head surface ground , see if you can get an equally thicker head gasket to keep the compression ratio at factory specs .

Iron,
Most of the diesel's I have torn down have a flat face on the combustion side of the head. Typically with no combustion chamber built into the head you will not raise compression by resurfacing the head.

 

[Eagleview]

barneyrb.// You are dead right . I did'nt realize it was a Diesel . For anyone doing a surface grind on a PETROL engine you can get oversize head gaskets to keep the compression ratio at factory specs . This ensures that your engine will not "ping" on the crap fuel we have to use .

 

[JC-jetro]

I
My vote is to bite the bullet and do the job right.

I second that, Brian Mo this is what you will see with your 1100. The pics are for 1700 or bigger brother to your 1100.

JC,

 

[Creekman]

Has anybody used any liquid head-gasket repair? I am skeptical of the results but facing a $111.00 head gasket, and lots of hours of labor to repair my ford 1100. Bars makes a product, as well as, many others. Any testimonies out there you want to share.

When I used to do tractor repair, this was called jerry-rigging. If the Bars product fixes your problem it is only temporary. Bite the bullet and spend the money and the labor to fix your tractor correctly.

 

[skipmarcy]

The tubes in your rad are HUGE compaired to the intended pinhole or smaller sized gaps that most 'sealers' are designed to seal.

Big difference in a 1/4" crossectional tube.. or say.. a hole between a pin or human hair sized..

Gotta keep perspective in this..

soundguy

Was just at the radiator shop a couple days ago with a friend, they had probably 7 or 8 old cores from tractor radiators laying there. A couple of them that were reasonably "clean" had flue widths of about 1/16". Then you had the ones that were scaled-up, all you had were pinholes left for flow. A sealer would very easily further plug more. I have seen many automotive radiators over the years thus clogged with all types of quick fix gimmicks.

 

[EddieWalker]

When I had issues with the engine in my dozer and then later on in my dump truck, I tried everything I could think of to avoid doing it right. I searched and looked for anything that could possibly create the problems, then spent the time fixing those things with the hope that it would solve my bigger problems. I don't know for sure how much time or money I wasted by doing this, but it was significant.

In the end, I had to do it right and deal with the expense and time that it took. It wasn't fun, it wasn't satisfying, it wasn't anything good. But it's done and I'm glad to be over those issues. When I want to use either piece of equipment, I can without worry that it will break down, not start or not have enough power to do the job.

I'm not sure what an 1100 is, other then a Ford tractor of some kind. I'm guessing that it's got a few years on it and probably never had any major repairs or issues before? Being old, the head probably has considerable wear to it. The valves and valve guides should be replaced. The head should be resurfaced and the injectors replaced. It will add up to allot more money, but you will have a stronger, more reliable tractor for it too. If the head is off anyway, then it's sure a shame not to do all you can at the same time.

At the very least, have it boiled or dipped, to clean off all the build up that will be on it.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[Soundguy]

Was just at the radiator shop a couple days ago with a friend, they had probably 7 or 8 old cores from tractor radiators laying there. A couple of them that were reasonably "clean" had flue widths of about 1/16". Then you had the ones that were scaled-up, all you had were pinholes left for flow. A sealer would very easily further plug more. I have seen many automotive radiators over the years thus clogged with all types of quick fix gimmicks.

Again.. you must have missed that part of my message about keeping perspective.

A plugged radiator is it's own problem.. one with only pinholes is gonna cause you to replace that headgasket again after about 10 minutes of runtime.

A proper flowing radiator shouldn't be adversly effected by a decent sealer.

Many tractor manufacturers OEM a brand they reccomend for their engines. Also.. many engine rebuilders use engine cubes in newly rebult engines as a prophylactic...

soundguy

 

[Eagleview]

Sounds painfull....

 

[Iowachild]

brianMO,

I did one (head gasket) on my 1310 and it was not a bad job at all. Be sure to have a manual on hand so you can follow the proper torque sequence when re-installing. I'd say it's better than hoping an additive will stop the leak. I also lapped the valves and replaced the valve seals at the same time.
Of course with mine I discovered someone had repaired a hole in the block with JB Weld or something similar right after I got everything back together. The hole was behind the starter motor and I found it when it started to leak coolant. I redid the repair (with JB Weld) and it still was seeping so at that point I used some radiator stop leak. Has been holding and working well for two years.
Unfortunately now the clutch has failed. The good news is the price of scrap is the highest it has ever been.

 

[Soundguy]

If you tear it down for the clutch.. why not braze the block.. would be better than jb.. etc.

soundguy

 

[sandman2234]

As a previous owner of a Ford 1100 4x4, I would really like to mention that those tractors were built exceptionally well as mine held up to continous abuse, low maintance and outside storage most of it's life. The only things that EVER broke on it were things that were a direct result of something I or other owners did.
I also realize the high cost of maintaining one of them. There was a post a while back about someone pricing a muffler for one, and it being just short of the value of gold. ($500 range) I purchased a very similar one used and made an adapter block to make it fit for the now current owner of that fine tractor. So if you decide that you aren't going to fix the tractor, I am sure that we can get you better than scrap value for it, and you won't have to strip the tires/fuel/oil/antifreeze out of it prior to it being picked up. My old one has need for a couple of parts that "might" make the trip worthwhile should you decide to take the easy road and find a replacement tractor instead.
I also agree that the sealer idea, even if it works, probably won't be a good long time fix. You might get lucky and get a season out of it, but in the long run, your going to have to bite the bullet and spend some money.
David from jax

 

[Iowachild]

If you tear it down for the clutch.. why not braze the block.. would be better than jb.. etc.

soundguy

Yes that would make sense if I were planning to fix the clutch but I'm not. I made probably the biggest blunder of my life buying that machine and have already spent way too much money trying vindicate myself. I don't believe it would survive being split apart any way. Of the four bolts per side that attach the forward frame to the engine block, only one on the left side still has threads to bite in the block. The rest of the holes are stripped out. I figured I'd run it until it broke apart, it's just the clutch went first.