Over heating engine - Head Gasket?

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Parkheadlad

New Member
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27
Hello
Arrived home today and as I parked my 4.6 2000 p38, I could not help but notice there was steam pouring out of the engine...cue head in hands! Temp gauge was flashing red. She has done 126,000 miles and as a consequence of being a regular visiter to this (excellent) forum and reading many woes concerning post 100,000 engines, I suspect that I have a HG problem. I had the HG checked before Christmas by a local garage as I was losing coolant and he said the HG seemed to be ok. Since Christmas the coolant level has remained constant. I have just had a quick look around the engine - the expansion bottle is, as expected, empty - I however noticed the the inside cap was coated in what looked like copper coloured small crystals which I also found coated on the metal surfaces below the bottle.......does this provide any clues? Checked oil filler cap and oil - seemed ok - no yellow residue. Any views/suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
 
Thanks for the quick replies. So a previous owner decided on a quick fix. Are these HG sealers worth trying (or does my situation answer that question).
 
Only way to fix a head gasket is a new head gasket i'm afraid. The evidence of k-seal points to an underlying problem of your overheating - possibly a cracked / porous block, but i would check the obvious things first - Rad, water pump, pipes etc.
 
Will check the obvious today - booked into local garage later in the week. Thanks for the advice - will update.
 
Did you notice if the top hose was pressurised ? also need to check for damp carpet in drivers foot well in my experience there are only a few reasons for overheating
orings radiators hoses and there is no problem with cracked blocks porous blocks or slipped liners without overheating the over heating always comes first so find out why it was losing coolant my guess would be the crimp seal on the rad but you need to sort this before anything else
 
Thanks Sandyt for your thoughts. Thought I would take her out for a drive to see if it would overheat again. Made sure I topped her up with water. After about 10 mins the needle suddenly shot into the red and the light came on - it was rock solid at 12 o clock up until then then bang, straight to red which I found strange - no gradual creeping into the red. Stopped her as soon as I could and lifted the bonnet. Steam was pouring out from the cooling tank pressure cap - checked else where for leaks but could see none. What confuses me is where has all the water gone - I kept my eye on the rear view mirror to look out for steam emerging from the engine but nothing. Only when I stopped the car did steam emerge from the engine via the grills. One final thing - the smell of the 'steam' reminded me of the smell of putty!
Forgot to check the floor for damp - will do that later on when I pick her up where I abandoned her a mile up the road.
 
What about the small pipe from the rad to the header tank? is it blocked? causing it to overheat/over pressurised and dump water out the overflow??
 
Parkheadlad said:
Thanks Sandyt for your thoughts. Thought I would take her out for a drive to see if it would overheat again. Made sure I topped her up with water. After about 10 mins the needle suddenly shot into the red and the light came on - it was rock solid at 12 o clock up until then then bang, straight to red which I found strange - no gradual creeping into the red. Stopped her as soon as I could and lifted the bonnet. Steam was pouring out from the cooling tank pressure cap - checked else where for leaks but could see none. What confuses me is where has all the water gone - I kept my eye on the rear view mirror to look out for steam emerging from the engine but nothing. Only when I stopped the car did steam emerge from the engine via the grills. One final thing - the smell of the 'steam' reminded me of the smell of putty!
Forgot to check the floor for damp - will do that later on when I pick her up where I abandoned her a mile up the road.
Click to expand...

Alas, the exact description of what mine did with cracked block. At least that's what they told me after going in to be fixed under warranty. I was lucky. Got a top hat liner short engine replacement. Hope this turns out different for you, but it doesn't sound good.
 
Put her into the garage today - phoned up and the receptionist said he was waiting for fluids to arrive - phone back tomorrow....the plot thickens!
 
K Seal is crap, irontite on the other hand does sometimes work (for cracked blocks) I don't know what using both would do! I suspect you have a cracked block. After getting the bad news, call Chesman engineering in Coventry they will fit top hat liners to your block for a reasonable price unlike the nutters charging 2K plus for a block.
 
Just picked up my rangie today after talking with the mechanic. He suspects a blown gasket. He phoned up the local landrover dealers and they said the 4.6 is prone to overheating and may have warped the engine block - they suggested a new engine as replacing the gasket may not solve the problem. Not good news! Mechanice suspects pressure from the cylinder is bypassing the gasket into the cooling system. My head is spinning at the moment - initial thought are::confused:
- new engine and fitting ~ £1500-2000?....is it worth it?
- go ahead with replacing the HG and hope there are no underlying problems (wasted money)
- Sell the rangie as it is - a project for someboby - both interior and exteriour are in very good condition and recoup some money for another car (thinking of a diesel series 5 BMW estate ~ 10 years old)
- Try out a Gasket sealer.....not to keen on this though....only a quick fix if that.
- seek a second opinion (ie the very knowledgable Landyzone members)
I paid £4400 for the rangie last April so would be sad to let it go so soon..I really have enjoyed the P38 experience........even with all it troubles.
My wife (you can see this coming) says 'get rid of it'!
Thanks StuckAgainSteve for the contact - only problem is I can only drive her so many miles before she blows - I live in West Cumbria.
As always, would value your expertise and suggestions.
 
Parkheadlad said:
Just picked up my rangie today after talking with the mechanic. He suspects a blown gasket. He phoned up the local landrover dealers and they said the 4.6 is prone to overheating and may have warped the engine block - they suggested a new engine as replacing the gasket may not solve the problem. Not good news! Mechanice suspects pressure from the cylinder is bypassing the gasket into the cooling system. My head is spinning at the moment - initial thought are::confused:
- new engine and fitting ~ £1500-2000?....is it worth it?
- go ahead with replacing the HG and hope there are no underlying problems (wasted money)
- Sell the rangie as it is - a project for someboby - both interior and exteriour are in very good condition and recoup some money for another car (thinking of a diesel series 5 BMW estate ~ 10 years old)
- Try out a Gasket sealer.....not to keen on this though....only a quick fix if that.
- seek a second opinion (ie the very knowledgable Landyzone members)
I paid £4400 for the rangie last April so would be sad to let it go so soon..I really have enjoyed the P38 experience........even with all it troubles.
My wife (you can see this coming) says 'get rid of it'!
Thanks StuckAgainSteve for the contact - only problem is I can only drive her so many miles before she blows - I live in West Cumbria.
As always, would value your expertise and suggestions.
Click to expand...


No point in guessing, need to get the heads off. Looking at the spark plugs may tell you which bank has the problem. If the liners have not slipped, a new head gasket may fix it.
Should have bought a diesel.
 
Could have slipped liners (by doing some research - steep learning curve but still dont know what they are/do but I know it's not good) - there is a tapping noise which starts when the engine has warmed up and increases with engine revs - this seems to point to slipped liners.
 
As Data says, the only way to check is to get the heads off. Hopefully your mechanic knows what he's looking for with slipped liners (there should be no lip between the block & liner - should be perfectly flat). If there is then you may notice the cylinder has been steam cleaned - looks cleaner than the rest.
Dont try fixing with K-seal, Irontite. They wont fix a blown HG but will eventually weaken your already underspecc'd cooling system.
 
martynv8 said:
As Data says, the only way to check is to get the heads off. Hopefully your mechanic knows what he's looking for with slipped liners (there should be no lip between the block & liner - should be perfectly flat). If there is then you may notice the cylinder has been steam cleaned - looks cleaner than the rest.
Dont try fixing with K-seal, Irontite. They wont fix a blown HG but will eventually weaken your already underspecc'd cooling system.
Click to expand...

Best fix for a blown head gasket is obviously a new head gasket! However if it is a cracked block then Irontite has a good reputation. Back to the thread - you won't get a new engine for £1,500-2,000 you'd be looking at around £4K. If you've got a tame mechanic he could remove your engine, strip it down and ship the block off to someone like Chesman Engineering to have top hat liners fitted (permanent fix for slipped liners). It'll cost you two days labour, gaskets, fluids plus the engineering work. If your pistons are not oversized (previous rebore) then you should get away with reusing what you have - although a new set of rings wouldn't go amiss, while you are in there new big end and main shells (£25) would be a wise option too.

Taking the heads off Rover V8s doesn't take that long, the mechanic should do a "sniff test" to see if there's combustion gases in the coolant. Then a compression test to see which bank is buggered and go from there. If a cold compression test reveals no maladies then it is probably a cracked block or a slipped liner. If it's just a blown head gasket then you might be back on the road for about £400. Don't keep running it while it's overheating or a liner might slip if it hasn't done so already.
 
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