Cracked Head??

Well, after 'sorting' out the loss of coolant (or thinking I had, silly me!), when moving house recently, driving the Disco to the new place with caravan on the back, got just under half-way - around 12 miles - and the temp gauge started climbing again! Pulled over, lost around 1 1/2 gallons of water, topped it up again and it went down to well below half-way in a matter of minutes. Got recovered along with the van to the new house and now have the truck in the shed waiting for my attention.

After all I have done/checked (see the links below) I have decided that there must be either a warped head or maybe even a crack so am going to strip down the top end and get the head checked out for the above.

Can anyone suggest anywhere within the Bude area of Cornwall? I'm sure that there must be plenty of Landy places around the area but don't want to end up at some cowboy engineer who takes great pleasure in making many sharp intakes of breath

Previous posts:
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f8/overheated-300tdi-264599.html
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f8/losing-coolant-again-268849.html

Cheers and Merry Xmas & a Happy New Year,
JB

blown head gasket by the sound of it ,.6 of a litre of air/gasses every time the piston rises can push a lot of coolant out

I replaced the head gasket a while back, it had blown between the bore and the oil-way on #4 (common thing apparently?) and I had huge clouds of white smoke coming out of the oil filler neck! Changed the gasket and double-checked the torque. It was fine for a few hundred miles, but I am suspecting the head being warped or something because of the latest issue.

Once I get the head off I will know more, just wondered if there was anywhere around the area I can get the head checked. I'd sooner play safe rather than just replace the gasket if it is blown

if an head has been over heated if its been hot enough it will bend very easy ,but knowing if thats the case is difficult ,if its warped bin it

So you reckon it's better to get a second-hand head rather than check/re-surface the existing one then?

if head is warped again, not if isnt

OK, see what you mean now. I have an engineer's plate, would I be able to check for true myself or is it best to get it done by a garage?

Thanks

straight edge is what you really need

Why not just get it refaced whilst its off? Quick job

each time you do valves are getting closer to pistons unless you cut seats

He is saying he didn't do it last time, only needs to be faced not taking big lumps off?

I get what you mean, but even if I get another head (if needed) then there is no guarantee that it hasn't been skimmed too.

I guess until I get the head off I won't know what's next anyhow. Just getting somewhat P'd off the amount of times the damn thing has been off the road lately! I know if you have a Land Rover then there will always be work to do but......this is taking the Mick

Well, taken the head off and the gasket doesn't look to have any breaks/leaks that I can see. I haven't got an engineers straight edge, but using two different thick steel rules there is the smallest amount of warp on the head but I cannot be 100% it is within limits so I will have to find somewhere to get it checked.

But.....the coolant must be going somewhere, and I am sure there was none in the oil and no oil in the coolant. So I have checked all around the system to try and see if there is any evidence of leaks and I think my worst fear has been realised! Using a mirror and torch, it looks like the core plug at the rear of the block is pretty rusty on about 1/3 of the edge, and if it is that rusty on the outside I am betting it is going to be pretty grotty on the inside?

So my money is on a leak from there once the system gets up to temperature. I am guessing that the only way to replace it is engine out?

I have spent so many hours and long nights trying to sort this out, and feel like cutting a damn hole in the bulkhead so I can replace the core plug from inside the cab!!!

Any advice/hints for replacing it and if I am making the right move?

Sorry for the essay

JB

have you any pics of gasket and head,

Some pictures of the head and gasket. The small restrictor is shown on it's own and you can see where it was fitted to the gasket.

I have also put in a couple of pictures of the block rear core plug (bit of a git to photograph using a mirror and torch!)

In the first image of the block, you can see the amount of rust on the cable heat shield behind the block, that looks like there has been some serious wetting going on!!

not the best pics but it looks like head gasket was leaking and rear plug looks very poor too i think id buy 4 x erc4996 and a err5263 gasket , usual cause of rotten core plugs is using water and not coolant or very old weak coolant

Thanks for the reply. Here are a couple more pics of the head and gasket:

I think you're probably right about changing all the core plugs, if ones gone, chances are the rest aren't far behind.

Is it worth using the multi-layer gasket instead of the composite? Apparently LR 'upgraded' to the multi-layer?

you can see the black stains across fire ring to water ways

Would that be consistent with a bow in the centre of the head?

yes ,i would certainly check it properly, though head could be flat