Head Gasket Confusion

[James Cornell 10]

I have been having some issues with my engine after a HG failure, I was looking water at the front of the block so I changed the HG/water pump/cam belt etc. however after the rebuild I developed a steady oil leak from the HG just below the cam vernier.

 

I have removed the head and sent it off for a skim but one thing I noticed whilst it was off was the HG does not seem to have the same holes as the block. (Please see the pictures below)

 

As you can see there is a small oilway in the left has side of the HG

 

 

When you look below the HG you can see the oilway is much bigger then the hole in the gasket

 

 

Is this correct??? Because this is where the oil was coming from and I can't imagine it is just coincidence

 

If you look at the RHS of the engine you can see that the oilway hole in the HG is the correct shape

 

 

Also I have noticed that in the Haynes manual that apparently there should be a small metal straw which comes from the cylinder head (I think it is referred to as an oil gauze or filter) I do not have one of these in the cylinder head and there is nothing in the block...could this be the cause of my oil loss?

[welshpug 1,626]

Looks fine, forget the size of the holes in the block, look at the ones in the head.

 

quite unlikely that the gasket was the cause of your leak as the high pressure feed is at the front of the head not the rear.

[James Cornell 10]

Do you mean this hole is the high pressure feed?

 

 

If that is the case, it was very oily when the head came off so maybe that is why I had such a consistent leak...

 

With regards to the little metal straw that is shown in the haynes manual, is that anything to be concerned about?

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

All looks fine to me but you should really have that filter in the head as it is the last defence against crap entering oil spray tube above the camshaft. How does the new gasket compare to the old one?

[James Cornell 10]

Ahhhh you see the bin men might have come last night so I may be struggling to look at the old one