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300tdi 4th head gasket in 18,000miles

Hi

Has anyone got any ideas? The AA man is stumped and my regular mechanic has replcaed the head gasket 3 times so far and it has just gone again.

1st head gasket failed and head was skimmed. Nothing needed to come off it was ok. New bolts fitted all ok

2nd head gasket and new bolts fitted after another 5,000 miles

3rd Same as above

Then during a service the mechanic from the amn for landrovers (different mechanic to my normal one) found the water pump was failing and it was replaced. (3 months ago)

4th time, again gasket blown

It always does it the same way. Thew temp guage will shoot upo into the red, if you stop and idle it will cool down again. It never looses any water and the exhaust remains clean. The engine has done approx

96,000 and is in a 110 that used to have a td in it and now has the 300 tdi engine in it. This was professionally fitted by a specialist in Peterborough area prior to getting it.

If you turn on the heater the air blows cold. The thermostat has been replaced as well, buit no improvement.

It is very strange. The temperature will take off, and then if you idle it will drop back down again, also if you sit at idle for hours it wont overheat and then suddenly the temp will start to rise.

We spent the last hour with the AA, who have now agreed it is broken but why the head gasket keeps blowing is a mystery, however they did check the exhaust emissions and they were okay, ie no water. As we sat there the temperature was fine until we drover it up and down the road for a mile or so and then when we got back if you reved the engine the temp would rise above the normal running temp for this engine, and if we let it idle it would drop back.

There are no visible leaks of water, and it doesn't loose any.

Help! Any ideas where to start?

Many thanks

Matt

Reply to
matt
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Are all the coolant hoses ok?

Do they feel firm when you squeeze them?

Are they routed without any 'near' kinks ?

Sometimes if the hoses are perished inside the force of the waterpump sucking the water out from the bottom of the radiator (particularly when its revved) can collapse the hose , therefore blocking the flow of water.

Just an idea

Johnty

Reply to
johnty

On or around Sat, 14 Aug 2004 11:47:37 +0100, snipped-for-privacy@bcmsonline.com enlightened us thusly:

hohum...

is the cooling system layout correct, and the levels?

is the rad correct for the engine?

turning to the head itself... has it had a new/replacement head, or is this all on the same head?

I've heard the following from the bloke at ACR that if you once cook a 300 TDi head it's never the same again, something to do with the fact that the head is heat-treated and once cooked the metallurgy is altered.

also, has the head been pressure-tested?

ACR supply reconditioned heads, but were not too enthusiastic about exchanging a 300 which had been cooked. We ended up with a new one with new valves and springs already fitted, which was IIRC 391 plus vat. the recon head would have been 261 or somesuch. They have a website...

>
Reply to
Austin Shackles

snipped-for-privacy@bcmsonline.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Check for air bubbles in the coolant when you rev up. Not sure if you can do that in a 300Tdi but it was always a dead giveaway in my old Peugeot 504's when the head gasket had gone. That, and temperature rise, was often the only indication that all was not well. I suppose they did tighten the bolts in the correct sequence and to the correct torques?? I'm told the aluminium can also become "porous" after a roasting -- though I am not sure I understand how.

Derry

Reply to
Derry Argue

Hi

The top hose goes hard when the engine is reved but is soft when at idle.

Couldn't spot any obvious kinks.

Matt

Reply to
matt

Try a different mechanic or better still DIY and know you've done the job properly.

Steve. Suffolk. remove 'knujon' to e-mail

Reply to
AN6530

Hello

If possible find a same model year 300Tdi, and compare the hose layout for the whole cooling system, and see if it is configured correctly. Just possible it was wrongly assembled at some earlier date. Gordon.

Reply to
Gordoni

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 13:13:55 +0100, Austin Shackles wrote: Hi

Thanks for the reply.

The water in the expansion tank doesn't move, it remains about 1cm below line in the bottle. If we put any more in it will drop over about 1,000 miles and then stabilise again.

Ergh...honestly don't know. We were told the coversion from a 110TD to a 110 with a 300tdi enginer was done professionally by the previous owner and we have checked into this. So hope so!

Same head but was skimmed by the mechanic 1st time we had the head replaced. From what I have been told it was fine and didn't really need to be skimmed

No, being done this week!

Thanks.

The whole thing just seems so strange. The fact it runs fine for

6000miles or so and then suddenly failes again. The fact that at idle it is fine but when reved it isn't. AND when it gets hot the heater blows cold and the expansion tank is cold to the touch. Also you can open it and there is water in it! (The termostat has been changed)

ARGH!

Reply to
matt

If the engine is hot the heater should be hot... Why would the heater blow cold??? When filling up the wet side has all the air been removed, i.e. no air locks. My 200 tdi heater pipes are roasting when the engine is hot.

Just wondering if you have an air lock in the block?

when your engine is hot, how hot are the pipe to the heater? If theres water in them they should be hot, air in them = warm.

Jon

Reply to
Jon

Well we gave up and got the AA in to recover the local Landrover Specialist who is thankfully only a short way down the A22 from us.

They have managed to do us a favour and fitted it in and so far they have found :

a blocked radiatior (only gets warm in a small corner)

iffy looking thermostat....was replaced by a mechanic only 12,000 miles ago but never looked to see how it was fitted....bolts with a whole load of washers sounds dodgy!

And of course the head gasket.

Don't ask how much that is costing, and even after this we still don't know if that will be the end of the prob or not.

Many thanks to everyone who has emailed and replied to this thread.

Matt

Reply to
matt

On or around Mon, 16 Aug 2004 16:48:44 +0100, snipped-for-privacy@bcmsonline.com enlightened us thusly:

that's probably yer culprit.

I would seriously consider replacing the head with a new one if it's been well cooked; they're not that much more than getting the old one pressure-tested and machined and maybe the valves recut (cos of the clearance thing) and presumably, the new one is a) right and b) guaranteed.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

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