is there anything I should do when I start my car after a new h/g? ie, can I go out and drive it straight away or should I let it idle for a bit to heat up etc?

I was going to run it at idle with plain water in until its fan came on, let it cool fully and drain it off, then put water/antifreeze in. does that sound alright?

any tips appreciated

I would suggest not idling.

Before starting, turn the engine over with the plugs out. Make sure the oil pressure light goes out, and make sure you have oil at the top of the engine.

Fast idle is better than idle, IMO.

Cheers

D

would it achieve the same thing if I unplugged the coils? to get the oil pumping round the engine, or would it upset the ecu?

The idea of removing the plugs is to take the compression away so that the engine turns faster without any load.

Cheers

D

right you are!!

so, what about when it is running? drive it straight away? let it warm slowly, or get it to warm quickly?

Just drive it

It's gonna stand up to at least 50K miles of abuse, so the first few miles are gonna make no difference. If it all went back together ok, it'll just work(C)

Kristian

levemir said:

right you are!!

so, what about when it is running? drive it straight away? let it warm slowly, or get it to warm quickly?

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Drive it, don't labour it, don't rev its nads off, just sensible driving to make sure everything is functioning. The gasket being on the right way round is the only real possible problem, but you'll know thats OK after the oil check.

Cheers

D

personally i didnt drive it till it had got up to temp and had been at the right temp for a while. i wanted to make sure the metal expanded slowly to 'set in' the new HG and head bolts properly... theres probably no need but i wanted to be on the safe side also gave me chance to make sure the cooling and oil systems were working properly before i put any load on it.

got it started briefly but the thermostat housing was leaking from its seal, gonna check and fix that tomorrow, it was a bit tickety though from the top end, and quite lumpy idle [I did disconn ecu though], fuel pump would not prime at first, you know when it makes that noise when you turn the key, I pressed the reset button after ages trying to find it, nothing. undid the ecu connector plugged back in, nothing. undid battery neg then on reconnect, it was then ok and started!

started raining by then so had to give it up for the day

levemir said:

got it started briefly but the thermostat housing was leaking from its seal, gonna check and fix that tomorrow, it was a bit tickety though from the top end,

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Did you get the oil pressure up and check for oil at the top end before starting?

Cheers

D

rallycinq said:

Did you get the oil pressure up and check for oil at the top end before starting?

Cheers

D

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yep, mind you, it was only running for a few seconds before I stopped it after seeing the leak