40+ loosing power

[anne-marie]

Hi
I went out with my 40+ running on 25/1 with villiers kit, but the engine was losing power to a stop, with lot of smoke (vapor?)
the motor seems to have exessive heat, but the water flow does work.
i thought by reading this forum that was a leaking head gasket symptom, but the joint seems ok. the piston rings are looking good to, and the inside of the block shines, exept around the spark plug where it is darkened (coke due to explosions?)
when i turn the flywheel with spark plug off, i heard kind of "couic crouic" like something too dry.
no cracks inside/outside the blockcase.
i undo the head bolts-they didnt broke! but there seem to be a strong sealing there.
maybe it comes from the cancrase gasket? it comes out very easely....and there seem to be old marks of sealing on one part.
do you have some advise?
shall i still change head gasket, or just the cankrase one?
i dont wanna make a mistake, i had so much fun with my babe!

[Stelios_Rjk]

Could you show us pictures? As many as you can. I suppose that the engine is in parts now. It may give answers if you show us the cylinder, the head and especially the copper gasket (both sides). But in the case you have "clean" the gasket or any other part that would prevent the recognition of a head leaking gasket. So if the parts are untouched, show us!

The "couic crouic" noise may indicate a destroyed bearing. Have you seen tiny bits of metal in the crankcases or any other part of the engine? Sometimes the flywheel touches the coil while turning, could be that also. Are the water jacket clear? Heat is always a bad factor.

[anne-marie]

sorry for the pictures but motor is in my cave and there is a bad light there, but i'll manage to.
piston rings can move more than i expected...the head gasket is not undone, juste the bolts are removed`.im gonna take pictures of the block chamber and the piston.i cant see the waterway yet, but i flushed it before when it doesnt work and there it goes. i bring pictures back, but i think this may comes from cankrase gasket wich comes out too easely...

[Stelios_Rjk]

The copper gasket is the most essential part to see. Why the head is not coming out? What sealant has been used? Is it one gray solid thing?

Since you removed the cylinder, can you see tiny bits of metal below the piston?

What do you mean that the piston rings can move more than expected?

[anne-marie]

here is some pictures...sry i took it with my laptop wich is to greasy now!
shall i try to remove the head gasket sealant?

[anne-marie]

the head gasket

[anne-marie]

here is the other face

[anne-marie]

inside

[anne-marie]

the piston

[anne-marie]

rings...sry for the bad pictures, im doing it in a hurry while my girlfriend is away...

[Stelios_Rjk]

The gasket is between the cylinder head and the cylinder. Why you can't remove the head?

The endings of both piston rings are the same. You can only measure the piston ring with a feeler if you put them an inch deep from the top of the bore but I don't remember well the gap you have to see. See here for details.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4075&p=31133&hilit= ... hou#p31133

[anne-marie]

sorry for my english, Stelios, but i dont understand what you mean by ring gap, and what is the bore?
i cannot manage to undo the head gasket, and i dont wanna broke the head.
$rings are moving. is that normal? there is an opposite hole on each ring and i can turn one ring hole to the opposite. maybe inside the block they wont move?
there is some dark coke in the head of the piston...due to explosion?
i think maybe if i cannot undo the head gasket that means it is ok...what do you think?

[Stelios_Rjk]

sorry for my english, Stelios, but i dont understand what you mean by ring gap, and what is the bore? No problem! The ring gap is the gap when the ring is compressed inside the bore. The bore is the hole in the cylinder where the piston goes in and out.
i cannot manage to undo the head gasket, and i dont wanna broke the head. I can't help you on that, since you undo the screws then with some tapping with a soft hammer the cylinder head (aluminum part) separates from the cylinder (the cast iron part with the bore)
$rings are moving. is that normal? Yes.
there is an opposite hole on each ring and i can turn one ring hole to the opposite. maybe inside the block they wont move? Yes, inside they don't spin
there is some dark coke in the head of the piston...due to explosion? Don't bother with that, it is not your problem right now
i think maybe if i cannot undo the head gasket that means it is ok...what do you think? None could answer this question without having a look at the gasket.

I would suggest to reassemble the outboard and do a compression test. Then we could be sure if there is lack of compression.

Gasket is a sheet of copper between the head and the cylinder. I am afraid that if a "bad" sealant is used over there, you will have to do some procedures to remove that. Wait the response of other members. They may have something more to suggest.

[Stelios_Rjk]

This a cylinder with a head leaking gasket. The gap on the orange ring indicates the way that compression follows to escape the compression chamber. On of the signs on the water jacket on the gasket, the lower one, is darker than the rest. This is because the gases of the explosion was leaded in the water jacket. By the way you can see a cylinder with a clean water jacket.

[Stelios_Rjk]

If someone used a sealant not such this you can see in my picture (this is RTV, the stuff that collector-inspector loves) or a blue thing, yes it could be quite difficult to remove the head.