300 TD1 head gasket, how difficult at home?

The verdict is in that the head gasket has gone and the head may need skimming. Given that I only have the drive to work on and it's pissing down most of the time, how difficult would it be for me to attempt to do the job myself? John

Reply to
John Stokes
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John Stokes uttered summat worrerz funny about:

Get yourself a marquee tent 3 by 6 M should do it. Work in the dry, cost around £30 to £40 from local wholesalers.

It's not a difficult job just time consuming.... but aren't they all.

Lee D

Reply to
Lee_D

Hi Lee, Realistically, based on the high mileage, which obviously will obviously have affected other components, would I be better changing the engine, or do you think it's worth persevering with this one? Cheers, John

Reply to
John Stokes

John Stokes uttered summat worrerz funny about:

Couldn't possibly say. It could have been pampered with regular oil changes and not thraped within an inch of it's life. On the other hand it could have been treated like a works vehicle and given a dammed good thrashing.

I rebuilt alot of my RRC engine a few years back but it was traded in on summat else within 18 months. I guess I'd have felt more inclined to keep it and pamper it further if I'd shelled out for a whole new engine.

Likewise buying another lump will be getting you an unknown so your dammed if you do and dammed if you don't so to speak.

Lee D

Reply to
Lee_D

According to the Haynes comic, there are three different thicknesses of gasket, and you can't tell which one you need until the head is off, cylinder 1 is at TDC and you measure the step from the block to the top of the piston. I've had enough trouble doing my 2.25...

Stuart

Reply to
Stuart Gray

Haynes don't you love it ? presuming the 300TDi is the same as 200TDi ( it is ) the thickness is marked by the number of holes on a tab on the gasket which protrudes ( lovely word) from the side of the block ( unless of course you skim it) see

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on the camera for the head gasket and note on the lower left of the image the small ID holes.Derek

Reply to
Derek

In message , John Stokes writes

It is a very easy job to do at home.

Don't worry about getting wet .... I had to do on in the rain yesterday because the workshop was full. It focuses your mind.

Ignore the Haynes manual regarding gasket people only ever fit the 3 hole gaskets. Especially if the head is skimmed.

The Haynes manual is very good in all other respects of the job.

The one I did yesterday took 3 hours..... But I have done a few !!

Don't rush it, it is satisfying to do it all yourself and for it to fire up first turn...ish

Reply to
Marc Draper

There's a useful webpage about removing the 300Tdi cylinder head here

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Colin
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Reply to
Colin Reed

I'm assuming you only had gentle English rain. We had an absolute fecking deluge here (2" in about 90 mins) complete with lightning that hit our building and toasted all manner of electronic stuff. If I'd been outside fixing vehicles I'd have been nicely fried.

Well done that man. :-)

Reply to
EMB

"Gentle" English, non-stop-for-the-whole-of-June rain here

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July hasn't been any better yet either :(

Lizzy

Reply to
Lizzy Taylor

I had noticed. I would however venture to suggest that a decent dose of "our" rain would cause a tad more flooding than you've already experienced. Annual rainfall in Westland is ~7000mm/year (not a misprint).

Reply to
EMB

No it has been pretty much like that here !! Just fitted new router due to last one fried by lightening on Monday.

Reply to
Marc Draper

On or around Thu, 05 Jul 2007 00:11:19 +0200, Stuart Gray enlightened us thusly:

what most people do is to fit the fattest kind of gasket anyway. Makes very little difference. Essential anyway if you have the head skimmed.

as for the job, it's not that hard given that you know what you're doing. Worth doing the cambelt at the same time unless it's recently been done anyway.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

On or around Thu, 5 Jul 2007 08:57:17 +0100, Marc Draper enlightened us thusly:

I had to find a battery to boost it, but then again, the last time I did one it'd been standing for a while.

My job in the rain was swivel bearings...

Reply to
Austin Shackles

yesterday

Well my job in the rain was changing the UJ's in a 4 wd Thwaites 2 ton dumper truck, lying in wet gravel. No needle rollers left at all on any journal, just rather a lot of backlash ! Don't reckon the previous owner knew what a grease gun looked like !

AWEM

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

.... mine was front UJ's. Rear's need doing now, when I get a tuit or some decent rain. ;)

Reply to
Paul - xxx

but i assume that your place is used to that amount of rain so it just buggers off and doesnt flood the place quite as much like it has here?

We are getting tropical style rain showers and it is so wet that it just floods instantly. I'm going to have a wet downstairs if it doesnt dry out a bit soon :(

5 minutes of rain and i have 2-3 inches of water lapping at my back door as the drains just cant shift it quick enough!

If i hadnt happened to have got a ton of free concrete back in april (its great when the council over-order for jobs!) and it dumped in a 'speedbump' across the end of my drive i would have got very wet by now. I dont actually mind that i havent been able to get my other car out over it since!

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Tom Woods

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