Any tips welcome

Just about to change the head gasket on my 200 tdi engine as its blowing at the back near the bulkhead a common place i belive.Never done owt like this before so i have a couple of questions. Got the Haynes manual to help but not sure about a couple of things.
1. When removing the rocker shaft does it come out as one piece or do i have to strip it down.
2.When re tightening the head bolts they get torqued as stated then by 60 degrees.Can i do this by marking the bolt heads as each face is 60 degrees or do i really need a dial guage thingy.

Cheers for any help

Yes remove ex. manifold first and make sure it aint gone on back stud & blowing there !!!, or are there other symptoms ?

the rocker shaft should come as one unit and you dont need a dial gauge as your method would work just as well.it would be advisable though to have the head skimmed and pressure tested just to make sure there are no other problems.

uncle albert said:

Yes remove ex. manifold first and make sure it aint gone on back stud & blowing there !!!, or are there other symptoms ?

Click to expand...

Pretty sure its the head gasket i can feel it blowing out the back and there is diesel on the bulkhead.No other symptoms though ie water in oil or elevated water pressure or temp so far.

noiseboymart said:

Pretty sure its the head gasket i can feel it blowing out the back and there is diesel on the bulkhead.No other symptoms though ie water in oil or elevated water pressure or temp so far.

Click to expand...

Ok still manifolds got to come off so worth checking

colinl said:

the rocker shaft should come as one unit and you dont need a dial gauge as your method would work just as well.it would be advisable though to have the head skimmed and pressure tested just to make sure there are no other problems.

Click to expand...

I am going to play it by ear and see what it looks like when i strip it down.Its not been overheated though so might be lucky.

uncle albert said:

Ok still manifolds got to come off so worth checking

Click to expand...

Yeah def as i dont want to do it again

Another thought. Do i need to use any form of gasket sealant or does it just go on dry.

no sealant on head gasket at all just make sure both surfces are claen ,only need to skim if head is marked or bent ,new stanley or similar blades are great for scraping head and block faces ,ensure the 2 dowewls are fitted in block with chamfer side up ,ensure gasket indicator hole are in rear half not forward ,marking bolt flat is much better than angle guage ,torque the bolts twice at 40 nm ,undo brass plug on side of block in front of down pipe to drain block before loosening head bolts

jamesmartin said:

no sealant on head gasket at all just make sure both surfces are claen ,only need to skim if head is marked or bent ,new stanley or similar blades are great for scraping head and block faces ,ensure the 2 dowewls are fitted in block with chamfer side up ,ensure gasket indicator hole are in rear half not forward ,marking bolt flat is much better than angle guage ,torque the bolts twice at 40 nm ,undo brass plug on side of block in front of down pipe to drain block before loosening head bolts

Click to expand...

Ok cheers. I dont get what you mean by torque the bolts twice at 40 nm (me being dense prob) and what down pipe do you mean. Will need to get all the crud off the engine first before i can even spot a brass plug (new rocker gasket going on as well).

exhaust down pipe , head gasket crushes first time you torque bolts at 40 nm ,often leaving center bolts loose ,so redo at 40nm again,then the 60 degrees and then the last 60 degrees

jamesmartin said:

exhaust down pipe , head gasket crushes first time you torque bolts at 40 nm ,often leaving center bolts loose ,so redo at 40nm again,then the 60 degrees and then the last 60 degrees

Click to expand...

Ah right got you now thanks

Final few questions.
Firstly Should the exhaust manifold move out of the way enough or do i have to disconnect the turbo oil feed.
Secondly do i have to take the injectors out
Thirdly i got both the 2 and 3 hole gasket as couldnt tell which i needed.Now i have cleaned the crud off the block before i start i find it is a 2 hole one. Is there any advantage to using the 3 hole one as someone has told me as it is a fraction thicker i should improve the chances of getting a good seal or should i stick with what is in.
Thanks

Cheers to those who posted replies.All done in a day and only broke 2 wrenches getting the head bolts out lol.

you don't always have to skim the head. I didn't and its been fine. You will need a good straight edge and a set of feeler gauges.

Clean up the head with wet and dry fine 1200 grit, till its smooth and clean with paraffin. straight edge across the middle, from end to end, from corner to corner, use the feeler gauges and if a 0.08m fits under it get it skimmed. if not don't bother.

Inspect it for cracks between the valves, if its cracked discard it. Think you can get away with small cracks by the glow plugs...but its up to you.

Might be worth lapping the valves, £3.99 for a kit from halfords.

Get a new top end gasket set with valve stem seals if you are going to bother with the lapping.

Read this then burn your Haynes manual.

Do it by the book - the real meaning of Haynes instructions