El Andrew

It is indeed. Must be beer at my desk time soon.

Awesome - thanks!

Thanks. Actually BCW have a good video about resealing a Barra and he goes through the block prep process. I should be able to use any old valve spring tool given I won't be doing it in the car?

Cool thanks. I'll look into but might go factory style if that is easier to seal. If I get the head checked they can probably do the springs and save me buying a tool I'll never use again. Leak is enough to be making a decent mess wherever I park. Maybe I should cable tie a rag in there and just change it once a week

I'm leaning more towards doing this myself. Best quote I've had for head gasket replacement has been $4500. Just can't see the value in it - seems better to go cheap myself or pay more and get a total refresh. But not the inbetween option. So far I'm thinking: Atomic reseal kit with MLS head gasket Standard head bolts - can't see for my purposes that I need to shell out extra for head studs Crow or Atomic valve springs (which I'm guessing will be a reasonably straightforward swap with the head off) - good opportunity to do this cheaply From the workshop manual it looks like the most important part is the sequence and torque procedure for the cam carriers and head bolts. Maybe a new crank pulley if they are a common issue and I have to remove it anyway. Should probably get the head checked but seems unlikely to be problematic if it is an oil leak only and haven't had overheating. Paint the rocker cover properly - I tidied it up a few years back in car but that was always going to be temporary. Am I asking for trouble if I don't worry about replacing the timing chain? I'm only 300rwkw and no limiter bashing. For tools I think I'll need a generic valve spring tool and a specific puller for the crank pulley (unless I grind down my gear puller) Other than that, a clear bench and lots of plastic bags and a Sharpie! Any thoughts from those of you with experience?

Looks like the timing cover seal is dry as a dead dingo's donger

Haha I tell you what - when you start adding up costs and then think about what I could sell my motor for secondhand, it isn't a bad option Edit: another option I thought if to keep costs down could be to remove and install the engine myself, but get the actual engine work done at a nearby engine builder. Should save a heap of labour but keep me inside my comfort zone. I need to make a few calls and zero in on a solution

Doing some research before I commit to anything (and pending proper clean and confirmation of diagnosis). If I did the job myself I'm thinking I'll need a full seal kit (head, inlet manifold,valve stem seals, etc). Plus head bolts obviously. I don't want to go crazy replacing things for the sake of it, but think crank pulley and valve springs would be sensible. Anything else? Good chance to powder coat my slightly daggy rocker cover too. I'm thinking my safest course of action would be motor out and then do everything cleanly and slowly. Can I reseal the timing cover and rocker cover while leaving the sump in place? I seem to remember that timing cover and sump had to be done together.

Haven't had a chance to clean yet, but might not need to. In the dark with a torch I can see everything is clean above the head gasket and seems to be a leak around cylinder 2. Is wet there and then dribbles down.

Gravity stand for my mitre saw. Soooooo much easier than carrying it around and using a folding stand

Yeah the plan was to quickly use the mop for a couple of coats then hit the road. But then a) I wasn't happy with the first mop coat so switched to the brush and b) got sick in the guts. I'll recoat in the next month or so. I think it is worth spending the extra time with the brush. Just wish it wasn't over 60 square metres in size!

Yeah I don't think I could swing Tassie this year with my fixed rate ending next month. Keen for Snowies though if you guys are. Haha I was trying to remember why I was late to Tumut on Friday. That's right I was redecorating the toilet.

Awesome work Gaz!

Yeah I wasn't super impressed when I saw that (the clean inlet manifold I mean, not Puff's Cornflakes videos.) Finding someone decent in this location is not easy.

Just checked for myself the reported "a lot of oil in the inlet manifold". I could use it as a cereal bowl for my cornflakes it is so clean. Also checked an intercooler pipe and the turbo inlet and was all nice and clean. So I think the turbo seals are ok. Next stop engine clean.

Thanks I'll give that a go - yep have a compressor. Or maybe I'll grab the safety goggles and say "Hey kids, who wants to earn 5 bucks? You get to use the air compressor..."

Yeah good plan - need to try and clean and see where I end up. The oil staining is in very difficult locations unfortunately. I also need to pull the throttle body off and have a look inside the manifold for myself. I haven't seen any other signs of oil in the coolant or vice versa that might suggest a head gasket issue. Not a heap of oil loss. Haven't even needed to top up. I had about a 5cm diameter pool on the ground after parking up for the past 4 days. So enough to need sorting out but nothing outrageous.

I'll get some pics later to explain this more. Car was dumping oil on the driveway so took it back to where the sump was recently done to get it diagnosed in case it was more issues with that. Sump is fine. There is some oil present on the passenger side under the head and under the inlet manifold. Mechanic said there is also a lot of oil in the manifold. Thinks it is either a) head gasket leaking or b) turbo is worn and putting oil into the manifold and then leaking out of there. I had previously checked and all of the turbo oil feed, oil pressure sensor and sender etc is all completely dry. His suggested next step was to pull the manifold and piping off to get a better look at everything and then replace the turbo and/or head gasket from there. He said if the head was coming off and everything had to be resealed anyway at considerable cost it was worth thinking about a bigger rebuild so everything was good. He thought it was time to either ditch the car or invest for the long term. I think that is a bit over the top, but agree it is worth thinking about things like water pumps while the motor is out. I'll add more detail later but some of my options I think are: 1. Get a second opinion - no brainer really. 2. Not really inclined to let someone start pulling it apart for further diagnosis as it is hard to know where it will end. 3. Throw a new turbo on. A Pulsar 3584 Gen 3 looks like a decent upgrade and bolt on other than needing a different elbow for my turbo side intake and I'm guessing a wastegate port. My factory turbo has 150k so isn't exactly new. 4. Consider doing the head gasket myself if that's what it turns out to be - good chance to do valve springs etc while I'm at it. 5. Ignore it. 6. Sell it. 7. Put a built Atomic motor in it Hopefully this isn't another oil leak thread that turns into a welcome to the 600+ thread. Anyway I'll come back with more but interested in what anyone thinks.

Morning Keith. 5 year anniversary for the FG and me today. Has more power and more market value than when I bought it so can't complain!

Yep - all booked with Qantas. Apparently Sydney has one runway out of action so bulk arrivals and departures getting cancelled.

Fark it my 5pm flight just got cancelled and I got moved to a 9:30pm.

Don't forget to floor it in reverse too. Bloody Sydney airport - on my way to Brisbane to meet up with a friend. Had to fly from Canberra via Sydney and second flight got cancelled. So a 5 hour wait instead of 1 hour. Earlier this year I had a 7 hour delay coming back from a work trip. At least for this trip the only flight I could get on Qantas points from the credit card was business class, so camped out in the lounge. Could be worse. Will save my beer intake for when I meet up with a mate tonight, so on the free Pinot in the meantime.

I bogged a Forrester in sand once, just after the 78 series I was with (with a shovel, winch and all kinds recovery gear) had left. Ended up digging by hand and ripping up saltbush to use as recovery tracks. Rocked up at the hotel for dinner an hour later with hands covered in blood and dirt. Looked like I'd been out committing crimes.

Haha whoops I could have spent the day watching it then! Even the 15 min highlight was tense without knowing the result

I was hoping it would be on Kayo today so I could watch it without knowing the result, but it wasn't. Not sure who has the rights. Watched a 15minute highlight this morning. Amazing game.