1975 B20F

I've got one in a '75 245 DL wagon. Antifreeze has found it's way into
the crankcase. As I have no garage and it is bitter cold right now here
in Wyoming, I would like to ask if these engines have a particular
propensity toward cracking a head, or if the head gasket is known to be
failure prone, etc. It would be nice to know if there is a "likely"
failure before I stand outside in the awful weather running leakdown
tests.
Thank you,
Mark

 

Hi.

As I've had some B20's thru the years, I can definitely say that one
"likely" failure is exactly the head gasket. If Your engine have overheated
anytime, You also should check that the cylinder head aligns against the
engine body if You opens it. B20"F" is the Injection engine, almost the same
as B20"E", but with less compression ratio? Then it's even more probably
that it _is_ the head gasket, I would check that out first. Luckily an
pretty
easy job to do, changing it, as You don't have to adjust any camchains or
belts after the change.
In my opinion there's a much higher chance that the head gasket is blown,
then that the cylinder head in itself is craked, but You never REALLY know
until You open it.

Good luck, and tell us what You find out when Your 245 is humming again.

Best regards
Ola Valan, Norway.

 

Thank you.

Yes, it is the CIS fuelie engine. The previous owner of the car did not
maintain it very well, and it has many electrical problems (including the
coolant temperature sender) that I have not yet corrected. I probably
overheated it without being aware. I will remove the head tomorrow and
inspect. Still, not bad for my guess of a quarter-million miles
(odometer is broken at 150,000+).