Head Gasket Failure - Update 2

The truck is still in the TCEAS. Top overhaul to fix the head gasket failure (HGF) has not completed. Zam told me when they disassembled the engine, it was very obvious which cylinder was having issues in the QR20DE. Of the 4 cylinders, cylinder number 2 had a nice thick black soot on the piston head. The rest are nice and clean according to Zam.

The HGF replacement was almost complete on Friday but they could not give me the car as they found that all the mating marks did not match and it was off by 1 degree. Something to ponder upon here is that who screwed up? Did they mess up by accidentally turning the camshaft or the crankshaft after the timing chain was removed or did the previous group of people that performed a top overhaul on the car mess up? Hmm...

See below for a diagram of the timing chain and the location of the mating marks.

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Head Gasket Failure

Wonderful, the latest symptoms point towards a failed head gasket (HGF) in the truck.

Which symptom? The spare tank looks like it is boiling. The fact is that the spare tank is not boiling but its steam/air bubbles escaping from the radiator.

The truck is scheduled for a top overhaul at TCEAS next week. The head gasket replacement or top overhaul as they call it will take around 1 week and around RM2000 to fix this issue.

On top of my head now, it currently seems like there were a few indication that the head gasket failure was in the making many months back. See if you could string up a connection in my repairs. I need a bit more data after they disassemble the engine to confirm.

The truck is celebrating Chinese New Year celebration even before I do. Now I need to go resolve my transportation woes for next week.

Tesla Model S Vehicle Engineering

Tesla's Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Peter Rawlinson, gives us a tour of the Model S electric sedan. Malaysia has not even reach maturity for hybrids yet. Full electrics will probably take another 10 to 20 years? Sigh...



Tesla Vehicle Engineering - Part 1 from Tesla Motors on Vimeo.



Tesla Vehicle Engineering - Part 2 from Tesla Motors on Vimeo.



Tesla Vehicle Engineering - Part 3 from Tesla Motors on Vimeo.

First Impression: Bosch Aerotwin

Replaced the aging DuraEdge wipers last week. They don't make them like they used to. These are just barely 2 years. Compared to the DuraEdge I used to use on the Kenari, those lasted me well over 5 years till I sold the car.


RM90 pair of Bosch Aerotwin took the old spot where the DuraEdge used to be. Got them at the usual place - Double Champion. Still find the looks quirky in my opinion.


The Aerotwins had its first chance at action today.The rain was light enough to give the new Aerotwins something to do. The very first thing observed was how quiet it was on the glass. I almost forgot I had the wipers on. 


The Bosch Aerotwins are very very quiet workers. Wonder how long will they keep with this performance before showing signs of needing replacement. 



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Update 12/12/12: The overdued update to this. I'm sticking back to silicon wipers. Currently using SWFs'. The Aerotwins started to cause hazing wiping oil residue all over my windscreen. Windshield cleaners don't help much. 
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Truck Sputtering: Iridium Died

Driving to work this morning something weird happened. The X was sputtering. Pushing down on the pedal it went chug chug chug shake shake clutter sput sput @ 2800rpm on 3rd. Uh oh.. must be one of those days. So I thought maybe its too cold this morning. It will get better during lunch.


When it was time for lunch, at all traffic light stops on either D or N, one moment the engine was idling nicely, the next moment you hear a thud and the engine felt like it was about to die off. The symptom from this morning was still there. If you are thinking.. did the check engine light come on. Nope. I was watching it the whole time.


Drove to ETCM BYB. Zam plugged in the diagnostic but there was no fault generated at all. He was suspecting either it was the plugs or it was the ignition coil. The coils were less likely as if it was the case there would be faults all over and the check engine light would have been lit.


The existing plugs looked visually ok. Only one of them had a little more soot (second one from the left in the picture). I ended up getting some new OEM NGK. 


No more engine sputtering since i left ETCM. Kudos to Zam again.

Now abit more on the plugs, these are Denso Iridiums that I threw in in Aug 2009 at 96000km. The meter currently reads 119499km. Thats like 23,000km only. Quality issue ?


Using a multimeter, I measured the spark plugs's resistance at the core. All gave different readings(see in picture).   Now I wished I had the meter with me while in the shop so that i can measure the new NGKs. Can anyone get me some reading during their next change? =P


Only time will tell if the NGK plugs solved the engine sputtering problem.


Today's damage RM116.