Range Rover 2.4 VM Head Gasket Nightmare !

allanw said:

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

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Thanks for that

Just got the heads back from pressure testing all good ! no cracks, leaks or anything ?

Well my guess is gaskets not aligned. Notice the guides are larger dia. than head bolts so gaskets and heads held in their correct alignment securely while fitting.

allanw said:

Well my guess is gaskets not aligned. Notice the guides are larger dia. than head bolts so gaskets and heads held in their correct alignment securely while fitting.

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I agree got to be at least part of the problem ! What's doing my head in is which gasket to use ?? Fibre or MLS ? And what thickness as the pistons don't stick out above the block but are under the liner lip ! I'm at that stage where I can't see "right from wrong" and just want to get a branch and **** it "John Cleese" way and maybe cry for a while !!!

Also that document you put up just to confuse me more states the exact inverse of what I knew already about the gaskets !!!

1 notch = 1.42mm
2 notch = 1.52mm
0 notch = 1.62mm

Only the 2 notch remains unchanged ! happen why everybody uses a 2 notch then ?

Good luck anyway. I see the head bolt torqueing sequence is long winded backing off one bolt at a time and re torqueing at different temps. etc. Also these engines very difficult to bleed air from cooling system. Try raising expansion tank higher when filling and running up.

allanw said:

Good luck anyway. I see the head bolt torqueing sequence is long winded backing off one bolt at a time and re torqueing at different temps. etc. Also these engines very difficult to bleed air from cooling system. Try raising expansion tank higher when filling and running up.

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I believe there is a T piece mod for the cooling system to help the air bleeding.

The head bolts are a right pain in the botty ! There are 2 under the bulkhead that you can't get at . Then you have to run it and do them again but you can't get to the bloody things with the rocker covers, injectors etc ..... Horrible engine ! The worst that I have ever worked on !

Never had a problem with bleedeing or over heating ! and have already raised the expansion vessal as high as possible !

So the heads are fine, the block is a bit damaged where the 4 individual heads are clamped ? Have ordered another 2 notch MLS gasket !

Thanks once again for all your help ! Fingers crossed

Unbelievable ! Bloody nightmare, Aligned gasket/Head with old head bolts with the head chopped off. Tighned head as per set procedure and it's the bloody same as before !!!! Spitting it's coolant out of the expansion tank !!

Gutted !

Sorry to hear that, at least I about a year out of mine after gasket change before it went again gave up on it then and stuck a 200tdi out a disco in instead, I ran it for another 5 years before selling it and the damn thing is still going 11 years later, if I ever manage to catch the guy up thats got it now must ask if still got same engine because it went like hell !

Hi guys I know it’s a long time since this post but I’ve water trickling down the block of my “newly acquired” RR 1987 Vm 2.4 4 door ....

Whilst I have no experience of the VM 2.4 or 2.5 engines they are covered in the Range Rover Classic factory workshop manual SRR660ENWM which is a big thick book.
Unfortunately not on the later (cheap to download!) RAVE CD
The manual isn't cheap but they do come up from time to time on ebay. Mine's paid for itself many times over.
ETA Quick browse of mine for the VM comes up with a lot of measurements & I think without them you're going to struggle.

The VM has a water cooled manifoldgasket IIRc and they can leak down the block..
RTC5726 i believe is the part..

Core plugs are another..

Oh and headgaskets, the VM's weakest link, they commonly leak on the inlet manifold side of the engine..

Thanks for all the reply’s ....

Mairtin Kelly said:

Thanks for all the reply’s .... doesn’t sound great ... I’m at a cross roads now sell on or soldier on and eventually put 200 tdi in her
I paid a lot for her and current crisis prob won’t get it back ... I’ll think I’ll take a rain check and keep coolant topped up

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The Vm engines were used in loads of vehicles, big list on Wiki.

The 2.4 didn't go as well as the 2.5 version of the engine. But I'd suspect you'd spend more converting to a Tdi and you'd not actually gain anything in the long run. If you want to swap an engine in, then a V8 would be a much better bet.

The VM is a far superior unit to the 2-300 tdi's imo..

Far more torque 330nm for the 2.4 compared to 262nm and it all happens at 1600rpm so it pulls really well..

It is also quite a refined power unit, when compared to diesels of that time..

And the 200 and 300 aren't strangers to Headgaskets themselves!!

Keep the VM and fit it up, if you do the headgaskets, make sure you re-torque the heads after 1000mi this is rarely done, but is required..

V8 is a possibility, but the VM is a very nice unit..