300Tdi Disco throwing water out.... Advice needed

When my 300 started spitting out water it turned out to be th cylinder head gasket. It would run OK at speed but as soon as you slowed down the temp whent red and water spewed ot all over the place.

Peter.

Sounds remarkably like the head gasket........ again!

Richard

Head gasket replaced previously but head not skimmed to correct any overheating distortion. Do garages actually have the means to skim heads these days?

"Pet @

;¬)" uttered summat worrerz funny about: :: beamendsltd wrote: :: ::: Sounds remarkably like the head gasket........ again! :: :: Head gasket replaced previously but head not skimmed to correct any :: overheating distortion. Do garages actually have the means to skim :: heads these days?

Doesn't mean it's been done right. Head could be warped. Unlikely many garages will have the kit , they tend to send it off to be sorted.

Lee D

Have you replaced/removed the thermostat?

On or around Wed, 02 Nov 2005 18:11:10 GMT, "Pet @

;¬)" enlightened us thusly:

most of 'em, no.

However, I was advised that if you've seriously cooked a 300 TDi head, it's a bad move to try and skim it anyway - something about heta treatment of the alloy when it's new which gets buggered up if you get it too hot, meaning that even if you skim it flat it's not guranteed to stay flat.

This was from one of the expert head-people. Ended up with a new head instead.

It is not even common for 300TDi to have liners, let alone cracked ones. It is a parent metal bored block cylinder.

Huw

I've not come accross any that still do it themselves, but a head skim is so routine these days that most people do it as a matter of course when the lid is off. Strictly speaking, unless the engine has oveheated then skimming shouldn't need doing - but it makes sense (to me, anyway) to get it done - belt and braces and all that.

Richard

Ive just found out hat the head was pressure tested and skimmed whilst it was off. So the head *shouldnt* be at fault.

I suppose the mechanic (Landrover specialist) could have bodged it but even I as an uncompetant mechanic didnt find my 200tdi that difficult to do...and its still running!

Jon

On or around Thu, 3 Nov 2005 08:58:33 +0000 (UTC), Jon enlightened us thusly:

What was the original failure scenario? did it get cooked?

Sorry its been a while getting back...

Turns out the engine did boil but was stopped as soon as possible.

Also turns out that the head is knackered, presumed cracked. Apparently the garage has tried another head and all is OK with that on, pointing the finger to the head itself.

Makes me wonder though...Surely the initial pressure test would identify a cracked head? Should a head fail after about 105,000 miles, I doubt it???

Assuming the head is cracked, is there a common place they go?

The cynic in me is starting to wonder how much of a LR specialist this guy is though. Paul, my mate is no mechanic and doesnt pretent to be

- it makes me wonder if they are trying to lift his leg... The engine was as sweet as a nut the last time I heard it running.

Any thoughts?

Cheers Jon

I would very much doubt your chappie is taking the widdle. I have cooked my 300tdi on three occassions in the last twleve months. trust me it only takes a few seconds of running warm to comppletely toast it. And by that I mean pistons melted into block etc.

As an aside, and this does not only apply to landrovers, but by the time your temp gauge is anywhere near the red, your engine is already toast.

Regards Stephen

And it's mostly due to the engine designers who insist on putting the temperature sensor at the highest point in the cooling system so even a small loss of coolant means that the sensor is effectively measuring nothing. On my diesel engined vehicles I have fitted collant level sensors to the radiator that connect to a big idiot light so even the most thick skulled users realise that something has gone wrong before any damage results. On my racecar (powered by a Chevrolet V8 that's worth the same amount of money as a near-new Defender) I've got a bit trickier and measure the temperature from halfway up the block via a sensor attached to a core plug - it works well and has saved me a shedload of money when it developed a coolant leak.

Well, if its easy done then that'll be OK. If someone turned round and said the're good to go to the moon and back before anything normally happens then I guess that would be a bit different.

Thanks Jon

"Jon" wrote >>

Well normally they are good to go to the moon and back, but as with all things mechanical there is an element of luck which can be helped by diligent maintenance by the owner. Bad luck includes sudden fluid loss, thrown timing belt or any other catastrophic failure. If it is mechanical and is used then something will eventually fail, as sure as eggs is eggs. Funnily enough though, they seldom fail when not used for a period. As soon as they are fired up again, off we go with breakdowns. I am speaking generally here mind you, not specifically about LR products.

Huw