Head gasket gone again......

[Disco_Dennis]

Head gasket's gone again on my HS2.8 engined Disco. 

That's the 3rd one in 2 years!   :shock:

I bough the car with a blown head gasket originally (the idiot I bought it from drove it 50 miles with no water in the engine!   ), and then rebuilt the engine myself using wherever possible OE parts.

The original head was skimmed & tested out fine, the first HG I fitted was a Britpart one (multi-layer metal jobbie - Feb 08), so when it went the next time (October 2008) I fitted an Elring (which is OE) and a new head (even though the original wasn't cracked it had already been skimmed twice).

So, what do I do.....  

I'm sooooo tempted to ditch the HS and install an Isuzu or Diahatsu 2.8 instead.  

Don't want to go to a 200 or 300 'cos of the lower power.   =;

As you can imagine, it's really starting to Piddle me off.....  

[BobtailBogey]

I can highly recommend the Diahatsu 2.8 TD i had one a while back in a RRC with the pump tweaked and was highly impressed with the amount of power it had..

Definatly something wrong somewhere if your blowing that many gaskets......

[Range Rover Blues]

Got to agree, I'm having a similar run of bad luck with a 300 TDi, I've just had the head (which was after the first head gasket failed) skimmed, it needed 14 thou :-k

This will be the 3rd atempt at fixing it, though I strongly suspect it ran low on water, the pump on the 300 TDi is very high and I think that's one fo it's problems.

[Disco_Dennis]

Thing is, I know why the Britpart HG failed.

Loss of water of a period of time due to leaky pipes coupled with a blocked radiator all conspired together to knacker it.   :roll:

I'm taking the head to be skimmed (if it's warped, otherwise it'll just a a damn good polish!) & pressure tested tomorrow - if it checks out OK I'll probably hope for 3rd time lucky.  :pale:

Thing is, I like the power and torque this thing produces.  I might fix it, run it for a few months, and then do an engine swap..... I dunno.... maybe I should buy an SJ?  :-$   :->  :^o

[Bobtail]

Thing is, I know why the Britpart HG failed.

Loss of water of a period of time due to leaky pipes coupled with a blocked radiator all conspired together to knacker it.   :roll:

I'm taking the head to be skimmed (if it's warped, otherwise it'll just a a damn good polish!) & pressure tested tomorrow - if it checks out OK I'll probably hope for 3rd time lucky.  :pale:

Thing is, I like the power and torque this thing produces.  I might fix it, run it for a few months, and then do an engine swap..... I dunno.... maybe I should buy an SJ?  :-$   :->  :^o

Have you checked the block?

It may have a high or low spot on it causing your problems :-k

I'm No expert but just a thought

May be worth checking [-o<

[Range Rover Blues]

I'm tempted to think a skimmed block is better than a new one anyway, by using it you stress relieve the casting.

Anyway, a good machinist will only take off what's needed, so if it's straigh tit'll get a tickle but if it's warped then it'll get brought back into true.

[muddydisco]

Is the cylinder block warped.    Mite need decking

[Disco_Dennis]

Never thought about the block, although i've sanded the block each time (wet & dry) to get rid of any crap left over from the old gasket... - it's cast iron, though, isn't it?    :-.  :?

I'll get the rule out and have a look tomorrow after I've dropped the head off at C&F in Henlow....    8-[

[Disco_Dennis]

Well, I've prepared and checked the block and it's as flat as flat, so no problem there.  :clap:

Just wait for the parts to arrive tomorrow & I can start putting it back together again....  :dance:

That is as long as the head's OK.....  [-o<

[john656]

Hope Ive not missed something above & I'm thinking outloud so bare with me, but is it the head gasket? what are / is the symptom. Check the block and maybe peek down the bores to see if its cracked??
Has the WP impeller s**ged its self?
Thermostat?
Restricted flow in the rad?

Any use
ATB

John

[Disco_Dennis]

Oh yes, definitely head gasket, put the 'sniffer' on the expansion tank - liquid went green/yellow after only about 20 secs!   

It had gone on Cyl4 - spotted it as soon as I'd removed the head on Sunday.   :roll:

The head has pressure tested OK, and has had 5thou taken off it to make it nice and flat again 

Just waiting for new head bolts to arrive (tomorrow am) and It'll all (hopefully!) be back together by midday  :dance:

Good job, too - I'm off to Scotland in it on Friday morning.....!