Range Rover 2.4 VM Head Gasket Nightmare !

There is no VM engine bit so will have to post here !

Have been running a 1988 2.4 VM Range Rover for about 2 years now with water running down the outside of the block but otherwise fine with no other head gasket problems.
So I decided to change my head gasket which was a 1 notch (4 seperate ones ) for a 2 notch MLS and machined the 2 end spacers to go with !
All back together ran a treat for a week and then pressured the expansion vessel like a volcano with the cap off.
So I thought ! ermmm OK wrong gasket should have been a 1 notch. Took it all back in bits, changed back to 4 new seperate 1 notch gaskets all back together and it was the same pressuring the system and blowing water out of the expansion vessel !
All back in bit's again, the second time the gaskets were ****part and they do look **** ! Totaly blown !
I have sent the heads off to be pressure tested but visualy they look fine, not warped or damaged being the later reinforced jobbies ! There were traces of oil in the coolant which I thought must have been the head gasket but apparently this is not possible as the oil is pumped up to the tappets and falls back down to the sump with no pressure . More likely the oil cooler leaking into the radiator.

Any help much appreciated as I'm at a fecking wit's end !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try google Ford Scorpio vm diesel. Think they had the same unit. Or Ford Scorpio Forums. You may find something there. Transplanted one from a mk.3 Granada into a Transit 4 wheel drive petrol many moons ago. Sweet engine.

Also did you measure piston protrusion to work out what thickness head gaskets required?

One of the issues with these units was the waterway breaking through into the combustion chamber. If you read the Bentley manual it says not to skim the heads as they are anodised. Agree with measuring the piston protrusion to get head gasket thickness.

allanw said:

Also did you measure piston protrusion to work out what thickness head gaskets required?

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+1.

If it ejects coolant after running a while head is cracked.

Did you have the guide studs for locating heads and gaskets correctly?

Thanks for your replies ! Yes the VM lump was used in loads of vehicles (jeep, crysler voyager etc) besides boats ! Heads are away to be pressure checked ! Thing is it was'nt doing this before I changed the head gasket (should have left the bloody thing alone ) The second time it cost me over £60 for britpart (yes I know ) gaskets alone that look like they are made out of corn flake pkts !! I will measure the piston protrusion tomorrow !

As soon as it started the last time I did head gasket with the expansion cap off it just threw it's coolant all over the engine bay !!

allanw said:

Did you have the guide studs for locating heads and gaskets correctly?

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Good question ! Well there were none when I took it in bit's so it went back together without if there should have been ??
I used the inlet manifold to line the heads up before tightening !

A few pics !

The liners have a lip that protrudes 1.32 mm above the block , the piston a tdc is 0.96mm under this lip !
Gaskets are :
1 notch = 1.62mm
2 notch = 1.52mm
0 notch = 1.42mm

I have been fixing cars & bikes for over 35 years and this has seriously blown my stack !!!!

Get yourself a pressure tester for next rebuild, you can pressurise the cooling system before start up and any risk of damage.

I have a mate here with an 88 RR VM diesel transplanted into an 85 County, he has experienced the same problem, turns out it was caused by reusing the head bolts after a valve regrind job, we'd bolted the heads down then shortly after start up coolant was blowing out of the header, when we went to remove the heads again found the bolts very much "relaxed", no tension, answer, new fresh head bolts.
If parts for these vm engines are hard to get in UK, you shoud try getting them here in Australia!

Try the forum Scorpio 95+ I think it was called. The full Ford workshop manual for VM diesel was on there where you should see cylinder head fitting guide studs. spacers, calculating head gasket thickness, torque sequence etc. I found the site very helpful when I owned a "Bug Eye" Scorpio.

Have a look at the shoulders the head bolts pull down on to, if like the ones on my 1989 2.4 VM they differ in thickness slightly I never got them to hold so gave up to stuck a 200 TDI in it.

Thanks for the feedback

Still waiting to get heads back ! The first time I used the same bolts, started up ran for 20mins, cool down, torque bolts again and it lasted a week, second time used NEW bolts and first start was blowing out of the expansion tank !! Although obviously I cleaned threads/holes etc I thought about checking thread/ bolt lenghs etc ....

allanw said:

Try the forum Scorpio 95+ I think it was called. The full Ford workshop manual for VM diesel was on there where you should see cylinder head fitting guide studs. spacers, calculating head gasket thickness, torque sequence etc. I found the site very helpful when I owned a "Bug Eye" Scorpio.

Click to expand...

Don't suppose you have a link for this manual do you? Thanks.

These are the guide studs I mentioned. Could be critical for holding gaskets in place.

300bhp/ton. See file on my last post. Computers not my thing but think I have done it right?

Or try this. www.fordscorpio.co.uk/engdatadiesel.htm