luckymark

Active Member
Hi guys, ive just brought a nice 1996 p38a 2.5 dse, it ran lovely for three days then it blew up! i know welcome to the world of p38's, it looks as if the head gasket has gone taking out the radiator in the proccess, according to the paperwork that came with it, its had a gasket and a head skim about two years ago, does anyone know how many times a head can be skimmed or should i start looking for a new lump?:Cry:
 
Not so lucky luckymark :D

I am not sure (Wammers will know) but I think it is 2 skims or until the minimum thickness is reached which ever comes first....will have to look at RAVE and see if the minimum head thickness is listed in the tech specs.....

Again no doubt Wammers will know and if he doesn't he may know where to find out!

EDIT: I was wrong...read replies below...heads may not be refaced...
 
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As Saint.V8 said the head should not be skimmed. Usually it's waste of time anyway because the symptoms you have are more often than not a cracked head.
Look for a replacement head if the rest of the engine is OK or look for a complete secondhand engine.
 
It's not just the V8s that suffer from engine problems then?

Any engine will suffer problems if ill treated. The diesel will handle miss treatment a lot better than the V8 will. And the later V8 will suffer problems even when well treated. It was not very well engineered at the overbore, capacity increase stage. Fine before that.
 
Any engine will suffer problems if ill treated. The diesel will handle miss treatment a lot better than the V8 will. And the later V8 will suffer problems even when well treated. It was not very well engineered at the overbore, capacity increase stage. Fine before that.

+1 but they are great for honing those hg changing skills:D:D
 

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