Peter Hunt

28 February 2014 at 18:27 #50693

Well the leak down test pointed to Mike’s suggestion of a valve problem. Infact two exhaust valves were leaking so badly there was barely any compression hence the poor running. Sadly I had to walk away as the prospect of explaining to my wife why, having spent twice the cost of my first house on an old car I was now consigned to the garage for a couple of weeks, was not not an attractive one. Hence I am still in the market for a Lagonda but one that will work long enough in the short term to satisfy my wife that I have not lost my marbles. I am sure I’ll regret it as a cylinder head job is not one that I would normally shy away from.

Peter Hunt

21 February 2014 at 15:05 #50691

Mike, thanks for your repsonse and it’s good to hear that these old machines are still capable of high mileages. I have ordered a leak down tester to pressurise the cylinders in the hope that the escaping air might point to where the problem lies. At worst I suppose it could be a cracked block and at best a question of the valves not fully seating through poor valve clearances with a number of other causes in between. I was surprised how rough the engine ran as I suspect these run very nicely when set up correctly. It certainly starts well. I should add that the compression test was run cold but when I checked the 60psi cylinder after a run it was down to 50 psi which I would imagine is barely enough to cause a meaningful explosion in the cylinder.