This is a long story so I'll be brief but the general idea is that you dont repeat my "exciting" little saga.
If your 300tdi uses a little bit of water, check the P gasket. Look at the engine from the turbo side where the vertical face at the front of the block joins the aluminium casing (just below the head and forward of the dipstick tube). If you can see any trace of water or rust streaks then change the gasket. It's no where near as involved as it looks and will cost you a couple of quid and an hour or so (if you do it yerself).
Here's what can happen if you don't notice it before it breaks,
Gasket leaks properly one day, engine overheats, blows the head gasket, cracks head, lets water into cylinder, hydraulics the pot, bends a con rod, damages big end, damages crank, v.expensive engine rebuild... or a new engine. Now all that didn't happen quite at once which is the long story but the sequence and end result is still the same. And if you do a head gasket make sure you get the head crack-tested BEFORE you put it back on. My friendly LR specialist didn't bother!!
Hope my experience saves someone similar trouble! Now go fix those little leaks!
If your 300tdi uses a little bit of water, check the P gasket. Look at the engine from the turbo side where the vertical face at the front of the block joins the aluminium casing (just below the head and forward of the dipstick tube). If you can see any trace of water or rust streaks then change the gasket. It's no where near as involved as it looks and will cost you a couple of quid and an hour or so (if you do it yerself).
Here's what can happen if you don't notice it before it breaks,
Gasket leaks properly one day, engine overheats, blows the head gasket, cracks head, lets water into cylinder, hydraulics the pot, bends a con rod, damages big end, damages crank, v.expensive engine rebuild... or a new engine. Now all that didn't happen quite at once which is the long story but the sequence and end result is still the same. And if you do a head gasket make sure you get the head crack-tested BEFORE you put it back on. My friendly LR specialist didn't bother!!
Hope my experience saves someone similar trouble! Now go fix those little leaks!
