Freezing Water In Wet Lined Block With Its Head Off

[alex205mi16 1]

OK so its not an xu, but same applies to an alloy mi so thought i would ask in here and get a larger response. (its an alloy TU 1300 for reference)

 

Situation is, engine in car with head off. Head gasket failure and lots of crap in the water jacket. So last night i flush all the crap out of the block drain plug. flush the rest of the system etc.

 

Wake up this morning and its bloody freezing.. then has me thinking, bit of left in the in the jacket, no antifreeze, i bet it frozen. Then thinking its a wet lined engine with the head off, i wonder if the frozen water will have moved the piston liners?? feck...

 

so there is the question... do you think i have knackered the seals between the piston liners and block?

 

best way to check? fill up the water jacket and see if water vaishes into my sump?

 

bugger, head is nearly finished as well... oh well there is anyways 16v if its stuffed from my stupidness!

[Butler 0]

Surely a seal would be just as cold with frozen water as it would with antifrozen water of the same temp. So I'd say no it should be ok, but I am not an engine builder by any means.

 

How much water was in there? Enough to move the liners? I'd make its all thawed before poking around.

[Adam B 0]

Its very unlikely to have moved the liners. Normally the problem is due to the ice being contained in the engine and then cracking the block as its got no where to expand.

In the 205 XU though this doesn't happen as its got a plug for this very reason.

Anyway back on track the rubber should be be fine too as the ice would have expanded upwards (least resistance), then again it depends how the ice formed to start with...

Anyway bet its just peachy!

Edited March 23, 2006 by Adam B

[alex205mi16 1]

i think i`m just being a tit, it would have expanded upwards if anywhere.. thus liners should be ok. (he says)

 

i was just worried about the liners moving and breaking the seal. I`ll have a look tonight when i`m back from work

[pug_ham 242 3 Cars]

Should be OK but with it expanding upwards there is still a risk of it moving a liner imo.

 

With the head off I'd replace the liner seals for safety rather than rebuild it to find they have been moved by the frozen water.

 

Better safe than sorry for the matter of £20.

 

Graham.

[mbayley77 0]

Whats the simptons caused by disturbing the liner seals?

[Dream Weaver 2]

Water into the oil at a guess - the coolant travels round the outside of the liners and they are sealed at the bottom with the round seals - move these and the water can leak past the liners into the sump.

[alex205mi16 1]

what is the procedure for changing the liner seals though? i have never attempted anything like that as i sent my xu block away to be rebuilt once i had it in bits so i`m not confident about taking the block apart...

 

for 20 quid ish it sounds worthwhile whilst its in bits if its reasonably simple to do. If its complex i`ll chance it and if it goes wrong i`ll put a 16v in.

 

Looking at the water last night, it was only a small amount that had frozen as i had drained the block, so we are taking about 3-4mm of water that had frozen.

[Dream Weaver 2]

Not done it, but fairly sure you just take the liners out, clean them, then fit the seals around them and re-fit.

 

Dont quote me on that though, check the Haynes first.

[petert 555]

My goodness. What a bastard of a place to live. I guess the dog's water bowl freezes as well? And a good way to cool down a stubby.

 

It depends on how far under zero the temp went. If it only just got to -1 or so for a while I wouldn't be bothered. But if it hit -5 or more for a long time you'd have something to worry about.

Edited March 24, 2006 by petert

[gti_al 1]

That does sound like a fairly crap place to be... And if it is that cold, i doubt i would even appreciate a coldy.

 

Anyway, i would replace the seals. When i had the head off my car i was totally paranoid about moving the liners, and it doesn't look that hard to replace them. (particularly with the engine out)

 

I would do it for the peace of mind, as it would suck to put it back together and discover that they are leaking.

[Dream Weaver 2]

Its regularly been down at -7 here at night the past few months, though i'm in the North of England which is colder than the South

[pug_ham 242 3 Cars]

Changing the liner seals is a sump off job & undo the big ends to remove the liner & piston as one piece. The seal is a tiny 'O' ring around the base of the liner, sometimes they were a paper gasket afaik.

 

If you do decide to replace them remember to mark the bearing caps for orientation (do them individually) as if you fit them 180' out they can nip the crank & stop it turning.

 

Probably looking at about £20 - £25 for everything to do this. Liner seals can be bought either from Peugeot or 205parts.com.

 

Graham.

[alex205mi16 1]

yep and changing a fuel filter last night with fuel evaporating off my hands meant they were nearly numb!!!

 

it was only for say 8 hours, and it was only like -3 round by us... wasnt a really that cold. (although to someone living in australia it would be like hell has frozen over)

 

anyway leave our green county alone and go back to your... er .. hmm...well... really nice golden beaches that are lovely and hot (you lucky INSERT SWEAR WORDS HERE ) anyway our climate keeps our spiders and insects to normal sizes... havn't you got some gaitors to go wrestle? and not the C.V type??

 

lol..

 

i`m going to chance it and if it leaks then i`ll dump a 16v in for a bit of a giggle.