Head Gasket Prob's ??

[amshaw]

I usally would ask a good mate of mine about this but he is at home in bed with the flu.

I think Ive done a head gasket...can you confirm please....well....as well as you can via internet

Disco 300 TDi....250K...Has been about 6-10dec during the day, even colder when starting at 6am.

1, Cold start issue... when glow plug light go'ss out, turns over ok but falls over itself , farts and stumbles then fire's up. May be a Glow plug Prob?? When warm there is no prob restating.

2, Using coolent approx 200ml-500ml per week, cant find any external leak.

3,Found very small amont of Green coolent on the filler cap, a small drop about 1mm-2mm.

4, when running at idle there what looks like steam coming from oil filler hole.

5, On cold start up seems like a bit of steam from muffler, but it has been very cold here, around the 1-2 dec when started. So not sure if its normal, seems to stop after about 100m of driving, maybe just getting worried about head gasket !!

On the good side.

No coolent in oil, no bubbles in rad when running, Disco running very well otherwise.

Thanks for any help.

I know someone will say ....Take it too someone to test....but the only bloke I know that can do a test here...I wouldent trust him as far as I could spit him....would rathar take it too a LR dealer !

Any help please?

[Maggot4x4]

1st off, it may be a glow plug or battery problem with your cold starts, how fast does it crank?

Secondly, 500ml of water a week is a bit of a worry, but if it's not in the oil, I would be looking elsewhere first before assuming it's the head gasket. IIRC TDI heads need to be binned if the head is stuffed.

Does it blow any smoke? Get someone to follow you when you drive, they should be able to smell it.

[amshaw]

1st off, it may be a glow plug or battery problem with your cold starts, how fast does it crank?

Secondly, 500ml of water a week is a bit of a worry, but if it's not in the oil, I would be looking elsewhere first before assuming it's the head gasket. IIRC TDI heads need to be binned if the head is stuffed.

Does it blow any smoke? Get someone to follow you when you drive, they should be able to smell it.

Looked at Battery and alt...both ok. Cranks over normal, no probs there. But have another battery in shed...might try it to make sure.

200ml--500ml of coolent is a bit of a guess...maybe less than that...just denpend how many KM's Ive done.

Doesnt blow any smoke, normal amont, well not like at start up anyway.

Thanks maggot

[Bush65]

Rover state that the 300Tdi head can not be re-surfaced. But many people do have them re-surfaced. I had mine done and am not worried about it.

I have heard that softening of parts of the aluminium head can become soft if the engine has experienced severe oveheating. I can believe this. They also say that some bolts may not retain tension with heads that have these soft spots. This is given as an explanation for premature gasket failure.

In my limited experience, the head gasket often blows out at the rear of No 4 cylinder (cooling is not as good in this area). This is not to say that the gasket does not fail in other places. See if you can detect any gas escaping in this area when the engine is running.

It is not unusual for the gasket to fail at around 250000km.

[Bundalene]

My experience with faulty head gaskets in the 300 TDI you will have a sharp temperature increase when going down the freeway for 10 - 15 minutes at 100kms per hr. DO NOT Drive with the engine overheated, let it cool down first. I had one once on which I had the head skimmed and the top of the block honed to cure the problem. The engine started fine with the faulty head gasket.

For the water leak try everything else first - look for tell tale signs of leaks aroung hoses, the heater.... You can normally smell a water leak on a hot engine.

For the starting problem I would beg, borrow or buy another battery or hook up jumper leads to another. Engine cranking speed makes a huge difference in starting these.

[not not]

Or have you tryed to glow it a couple of times before starting? With my diesel i have to do this on cold mornings then she starts straight up no worries.

[amshaw]

Well.......jobs right !

A mate had the Disco for 2 days (who has been playing with LR for years), pressure tested to 15psi for the whole two days and it dropped about 2 psi, and found 5 leaks from around the place, inc a very small weep from the front cover seal (will replace when I do the timing belt).....but its not a head gasket !!

Going to get new rad cap, top and bottom rad hose's, Bi pass hose and inlet & outlet Heater hoses....all looking a little tired.

So thanks to all with idea's and help.

[amshaw]

Just a quick Sitrep on the whole thing.

Ive replaced all hose's exept the bottom rad hose and all is good.....no problems on cold start....going well....fairly happy now....but

I replaced the rad cap and its leaking.....not a lot but enough to run down the side's of the overflow tank and sit around the middle seam etc.

Dump Q ........coolent is at almost normal level , if not a little high.....should the cap leak like that? I know there two valve's in the cap but..... it shouldent be leaking coolent ?

I thought maybe the top of the cap hole isnt square and its just not sealing as it should when I put the new cap on?

Might try another cap...our parts man really looks after us...so I might get another cap as a spare if Im not happy with it