Is it time for a new head gasket?

[Nikolaj]

Hi all,

I am in doubt if my head gasket is blown. The car has been parked for around 2 years without me driving it.
The engine is running fairly well – I guess there is always something to improve and finetune – but I have noticed that it consumes cooling water and I can smell gasoline when I open the water reservoir (no bubbles) and as you can see from the picture there is leaking cooling water from between head and engine block. I haven’t noticed any other symptoms – compression test is fine, no oil in the water or vice versa.
Is it possible to re-torque the head ? or is it a new head gasket?

Thanks for any good advice.

Nikolaj

[WRe]

Hi,
I would try to re-torque the cylinder head first.
Bring the engine up to operating temperature. Slightly loose cylinder head bolts, one at a time, in the sequence shown in the tightening diagram (https://www.sl113.org/wiki/Engine/TorqueHead), starting with 1, and tighten to the specified torque (110 Nm/11 kg/80 ft.lbs).
Good luck!
...WRe

[Charles 230SL]

..I would try to re-torque the cylinder head first..

I agree with WRe, re-torque the head first. Have you seen any coolant leaking from the reservoir cap (indicating over-pressurization)?

[merrill]

hi
i had similar leaks on my 66.

i tried re torqueing the head,  with the guidance from Joe.
I went as far as to loosen the spark plugs in addition to removing the radiator cap.
but the re torqueing did not work.

purchased a new head gasket from metric along with a can of spray copper sealant, installed the new gasket and have no issues.

[ja17]

Yes try re-torqueing the head first. It may not always work as merril has indicated, but worth a try.  Don't forget to loosen the radiator cap first to relieve the pressure in the cooling system.