Thread: Holden V8 inspection.

With any engine I would look at the oil, inside the filler cap, and the inside of the water pump at the lower hose, at the top outlet and any heater hose connection. Any significant corrosion there and I would have my doubts about the health of the engine. Alloy engine cooling systems don't take kindly to abuse. Get a socket bar and rotate the engine through two full turns, listen for compression from each cylinder. Any damaged cylinder will let the engine turn faster with less hissing (pressure leaking past the rings) on its compression stroke. Getting a battery to operate the starter motor is good too, any unevenness on cranking is suspect.

Thanks Bee Utey,
I haven't really had anything to do with these engine before and the help is really appreciated.

Thanks,
Craig

play close atention to oil quality.coolant.lots of these dont get service from new or they have radiator leaks.
ive had a few in for A/C hoses that had been traded with no coolant.

the main problem with these has been crank bearing and cam drive failures.lots of dollars if it has an issue.sounded from the front like a cracked driveplate or stuffed belt idlers.

but you need it running to hear these noises--mostly just above idle no load.the hard bit often they are temp related noises.