[Doug H.]

I have a new to me Reher Morrison 565 that I bought from a friend. I put it in and ran it two weeks ago and it seemed down on power to me. It only had a few Dyno pulls since freshened locally (story in itself). After a disappointing trip to the track, I decided to leak it down before calling Abruzzi about the converter adjustment. I didn't want to blame the converter being tight if the engine isn't making the power to make it work. It leaked from 6-10%.

I then decided to run it this past weekend. After a little tuning it et'd better but mph stayed the same. I should say that since I fired this thing, it puffs a little smoke on fire up and when I go on the chip. I figured the machine shop missed replacing the guides or it doesn't have valve seals. I decided to race Sunday and when I fired the car in the morning, the puff of smoke seemed a little more prominent. After the 2nd tt I couldn't get the car to cool below 140. After verifying fan and water pump, I squeezed the radiator hose and it was squishy and not real hot. When I carefully popped the fill cap, it FOAMED over. Without the water pump running, I fired the car and watched the water. There was movement. So I'm thinking head gasket(s) and put it away. This week I pressurized each cylinder at TDC with compressed air and could not see any movement or bubbles in the filler. Could this be worse than a head gasket? What are the possible scenarios? Thanks in advance.

 

[IMSHOT]

cracked block

 

[Doug H.]

Oh man I hope that's not it! This is a new block from RM last year. It was dyno'd last year after assembly. It was determined the valve springs were weak and sent back to the builder where it sat in the shop over the winter.

 

[IMSHOT]

Let's hope not. Anywhere coolant/oil are close is suspect. Intake gaskets, head gaskets, block.

 

[fastman-99]

have you pressure checked the cooling system?? And is it using water??

 

[Gmr-Performance]

Buy a coolant block tester.. Not huge money and a good tool to have. Will tell you right away if combustion gases have gotten into the coolant side. Leaking head gasket with pressure testor on the rad when fired up should show a psi increase. If you are running a water restrictor only. If a stat pop the T stat for the test. Not a huge help but I try to keep to check the simple things before taking it apart.

 

[projoe87]

block tester is a good tool to have

 

[3gdwrench]

Try pressurizing the cylinders w piston(s) @ bdc .... I think I had seen a thread where Carl had discovered cylinder crack (hairline) in the bore below the rings @ tdc ...

 

[rcparker1]

If your engine rebuilder used mls gaskets and did not machine to the correct RMA finish you could have a problem. Proper finish requires the use of CBN or pcd inserted cutters.

 

[Doug H.]

Well after doing some thinking while at work today, I decided to check the water level, fire it, bring it to temp, cool it down, and see what happens. After thinking about how the temp spiked ever so slightly, after the last pass, and then cooled to 140 but no lower, I started thinking that an air pocket may have moved to a point where the water would not circulate. The small foamy bubbles could be a result of agitation without movement. The foaming over was the release of the air pocket which contained the foam and had moved into the filler neck. It reminded me of boiling water without the temperature.

Sure enough, it heated up slow, maintained temp well, cooled down to 100 really well, and showed no bubbles or foam. I'm thinking it became air locked at the track.

 

[RCM Racing engines]

What about your feeling of "DOWN" on power.... you think air lock coolant will make it down on power???

 

[Doug H.]

What about your feeling of "DOWN" on power.... you think air lock coolant will make it down on power???

Good question. I really had no idea if they were related or not. In a way I wanted them to be. My buddy that I bought it from have wondered where the cam was installed since he got it back. Like I mentioned in the first post, the freshen is a story in itself. The guy that was doing his engines is an assembler not a builder, meaning everything is sent out for machine work and head maintanence. Last year he picked this engine up along with his primary and took them to the Dyno. His primary, which is a twin to this one except for titanium valves and 1.8 rockers made 1008 and the engine that is now mine wouldn't break 900 because it was floating valves at 6600. Apparently the machine shop thought 230 on the seat was good.

Long story longer he sent it back to the "assembler" for new springs. My buddy asked him where the cam was installed and was told 112. Reher Morrison recommends 109-110. So my buddy asked him to advance the cam to Rm's recommendation. It has a belt drive. He says he did it but can't give an exact #. We know he never pulled a head or anything. I know it may not mean anything but the mark on the belt pulley is at 4 retarded. This bugs us. On the Dyno this year it only got pulled twice due to a disastrous session with his primary. The tune was fat and it was pulled at 35*. Then they jumped it to 39 and it picked up to 978 at 7300. That is as far as they got. If the cam was installed retarded, wouldn't it want a lot less timing and peak higher?

So, either there is something there, or the converter is just plain tight. I also believe the machine shop neglected to replace the valve guides even thoughthe assembler was told they were needed. So that could be some power there if I'm not mistaken.

 

[greenwood]

Some times after a new set of valve guides the new valve job can be off and need a good blend back into the chamber and bowl area . If it in fact it has new guides

 

[Horndog]

Well after doing some thinking while at work today, I decided to check the water level, fire it, bring it to temp, cool it down, and see what happens. After thinking about how the temp spiked ever so slightly, after the last pass, and then cooled to 140 but no lower, I started thinking that an air pocket may have moved to a point where the water would not circulate. The small foamy bubbles could be a result of agitation without movement. The foaming over was the release of the air pocket which contained the foam and had moved into the filler neck. It reminded me of boiling water without the temperature.

Sure enough, it heated up slow, maintained temp well, cooled down to 100 really well, and showed no bubbles or foam. I'm thinking it became air locked at the track.

It was air-locked before you got to the track. One sure way to eliminate chances of getting trapped air in the cooling circuit is to jack the front of the car up as high as you can get it before filling it.

As far as the power issue, find someone who knows what they are doing to check/verify the location of the cam.