On again, off again

And it's back to off again. Off the road, that is.

I spent most of this past week "replacing the head gasket" - which, oddly enough, was in very good condition still. Gave the innards a good clean, put it all back together according to the manual - and then the trouble started.

First, both batteries decided they didn't have anough vooma to start her. So we tow-started. Or attempted to. Favourite Man finally got her going, only to have a stream of oil pour out the back of the engine. Back to the yard, tighten the banjo bolt, try again. Worse! And an extra leak at the front of the head too...

What came out wasn't the nice clean oil I put in - but some horrible mucky stuff that was still circulating the system. She left a huge trail of it all around our complex, which I still need to take a few truckloads of engine cleaner to...


And she sounded as if all hell was breaking loose in the engine bay.

There is nothing to it. It seems that cleaning up her head got rid of the soot that was holding the head together, and it's warped. So I spent the latter part of the week taking it all apart again. The head goes off to an engineer in the new week.

And Olivia, with only half an engine left under her bonnet, gets to stand once more until it's sorted out.

While she's stationery, I'll be checking a few other things as recommended by the experts. I don't know how long this is going to take, it just has to be sorted out properly.

Eish.

Seriously considering buying a horse, putting it in the engine bay, attaching a carrot to the bumper and going for one-horse-power mode...