Gardner 4LW. Clearance above the engine to remove cylinder head.

[Pierre Thomas]

My 4LW. 

The next problem with the engine is water in the oil. It overheated the last time it was used properly and now the oil level has increased and the texture indicates water. It is definitely not diesel  

The best scenario is  head gasket failure, switching off fuel to 3 or 4 makes very little difference to available power  

The engine is in a confined space with very little room above. It is possible I might have to cut a hole in the deck above. 

Does anyone know how much space I need to lift the head to remove it from the studs?

i don’t have a manual so I may have many more questions  

Once again thank you for your help. 

Edited December 29, 2017 by Pierre Thomas

[Wrinkley]

Before I go and find my manual the easy way to find out is measure the distance of the long studs to the head/cylinder joint.  You need this as minimum clearance.  Did this job on my 2LW a couple of years ago.  Easy!  Well it ended up easy after I worried my self about the job for a week or so.  I'll look in my manual as it has all the clearances needed and get back.

[Flyboy]

1 hour ago, Pierre Thomas said:

My 4LW. 

The next problem with the engine is water in the oil. It overheated the last time it was used properly and now the oil level has increased and the texture indicates water. It is definitely not diesel  

The best scenario is  head gasket failure, switching off fuel to 3 or 4 makes very little difference to available power  

The engine is in a confined space with very little room above. It is possible I might have to cut a hole in the deck above. 

Does anyone know how much space I need to lift the head to remove it from the studs?

i don’t have a manual so I may have many more questions  

Once again thank you for your help. 

If these are the studs, you will need about 6" clearance for a bare head.. Surely it's not that difficult to measure.

http://gardnerspares.com/product/stud-12-bsf-x-5-14-long-cylinder-head/

Edited December 29, 2017 by Flyboy

[Wrinkley]

Well that was quick.  The manual I have does not give a clearance for the head.  Only Cylinder blocks and heads and that is 31 1/2 inch above crankshaft centre-line.

[Flyboy]

2 hours ago, Pierre Thomas said:

My 4LW. 

The next problem with the engine is water in the oil. It overheated the last time it was used properly and now the oil level has increased and the texture indicates water. It is definitely not diesel  

The best scenario is  head gasket failure, switching off fuel to 3 or 4 makes very little difference to available power  

The engine is in a confined space with very little room above. It is possible I might have to cut a hole in the deck above. 

Does anyone know how much space I need to lift the head to remove it from the studs?

i don’t have a manual so I may have many more questions  

Once again thank you for your help. 

If you don't have enough clearance to lift the head over the studs you can possibly unscrew the studs from the block. Put the nuts back on a bit to lift them just clear of the block. You then don't have to lift the head (complete with studs) much to remove. You should be able the remove the studs if they are not rusted into the block by locking two nuts together.

[RLWP]

Are you sure it's the heads? It couldn't be a water pump spindle for instance

Richard

[Pierre Thomas]

I suppose I associate the overheating and the water in the oil but it is true the water pump is easier and as I have to drain the cooling for both I could go to the cylinder head after the water pump. As far as I know there’s only one other possibility and that’s a crack between a water chamber and an oil way so I approach them in the easiest first. 

[RLWP]

4 hours ago, Pierre Thomas said:

switching off fuel to 3 or 4 makes very little difference to available power  

OK, checking back it sounds like you do have something more happening

Do the exhaust stubs for those cylinders get hot?

Richard

[MtB]

6 hours ago, Pierre Thomas said:

The engine is in a confined space with very little room above. It is possible I might have to cut a hole in the deck above. 

 

I'm very curious. This presumably is not a narrow boat?

Cutting an access panel in the deck above seems a very good idea for a million reasons, if access above the engine is that poor. 

Edited December 29, 2017 by Mike the Boilerman

[Pierre Thomas]

No,  it's not in a narrow boat, the engine is below the cockpit sole in a yacht.

I assume that somehow, it was put there before the cockpit was built. I see no other way of installing it.

I agree with you that an access panel would be a good idea, the difficulty is to make that watertight so that water entering the cockpit can't fall through into the boat. 

But this may be easier to do than to remove the cylinder heads. If I did that I would be very tempted to replace the engine. It is an inappropriate engine for an 11 metre yacht. 

[Pierre Thomas]

18 hours ago, RLWP said:

Do the exhaust stubs for those cylinders get hot?

Once run until the water temperature 45 deg.  the exhaust manifold, close to the cylinder are 50, 88, 66, 52 (1-4), when first started number 2 rose quicker than the others, my first reading 25, 70, 43, 25 - water temperature too low for reading. 

Your suggestion of water pump will be my first thing to investigate

And now I have to leave it to celebrate the new year with my family. Thank you for your suggestions and happy new year to you all.

[RLWP]

Quote

the exhaust manifold, close to the cylinder are 50, 88, 66, 52 (1-4),

So 2 and 3 are doing most of the work

You've got a really weird set of symptoms because that doesn't match

Quote

switching off fuel to 3 or 4 makes very little difference to available power  

Either 3 is doing the second most work, or it isn't working at all - can't be both

Richard

[Wrinkley]

My 2LW will not get above 40C on tick over, even fast tick over and thats with the skin tank shut off.  After an hour it may crawl up to 60C on the canal, if I come to a lock it soon drops back to 40Cish.  The only way to get it hot is give it a spanking up a river.  I am sure the engine appreciates this treatment as it runs so sweet for the next 2-300hrs.  Must be difficult to get a 4LW up to temperature in a small boat/yacht.