| Author |
Message |
    
andy Coleman (Andy99)
| | Posted on Monday, January 06, 2003 - 10:40 pm: | 
|
I am about to embark on the treacherous head gasket replacement journey. I've got a leaky 99 D@ and I'm waiting for the arrival of the shop manual so I can tear my car apart myself. Has anyone else done this operation. I am looking for advise, tips, trouble spots others have run into. No sense in making the same mistake twice right guys? Any comments? |
terryrudy
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 11:22 am: |
|
Mine's is leaking (just a little) as well. Will be interested to hear how your replacement goes. I took it to a shop and they quoted me $1400 to replace. haha. Don't mind it leaking that much. But if it turns out to be pretty straightforward, I might do it myself soon.
-terry |
Brad_N
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 11:44 am: |
|
You may want to consider having the vales checked or done at the same time. I might have to replace the head gaskets soon. I have a coolant leak that I can not find. i recently replaced the valley intake gasket and the local rover shop told me that it is possible it is leaking because I did not use a product called "the right stuff" when I reassemble everything. The work shop manual says to use something else. Don't use want the manual says. Apperantly all of the dealers use the "Right Stuff" and I here it is expesive. Also when you replace the head gaskets, there is a new composite gasket I am not sure if it will require the heads to be machined to make up for the thicker gasket. Also You should get a new set of head bolts as a precaution. And I found out today, that Rover upgraded the intake valley gasket clamp to provide a better seal. So make sure you get those. Atlantic British sells a head gasket kit that include the head, intake, exhaust gaskets, end seals and valve cover gaskets. it does not include any bolts. Tomorrow I am haveing my local shop find a coolant leak that I can not find. It is possible my intake gasket is leaking or a blown head gasket, either way if I neeed to do either one, I will find out exactly what I should get for parts and let you know. Other than that I do not expect it to take long to replace the head gaskets unless a bolt gets stuck.
Good Luck |
Jim
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 01:26 pm: |
|
I'm not sure what Terry means by "leaking a little". Head gaskets hold compression (or leak compression). If you're looking at seepage, that's a different story, and hardly worth the expense of headgasket replacement. Do a compression test prior to tear down. It's my experience that if you're not losing compression, burning coolant or getting water into the sump (looks like grey sludge on your dipstick) then you probably DON'T have a headgasket problem.
If you do have to pull the heads definitely go ahead and have the valve work done, you're already there.
Tips? Be sure you're dead on when refitting your distributor, if you're one tooth off you'll never get it started. Be sure to follow torque sequence carefully and exactly when refitting the heads. You can easily warp aluminum if done improperly and you'll be plagued with future headgasket troubles (or worse).
Keep in mind that these vehicles are indeed fairly simple to repair but don't underestimate its sophistication or over-estimate your abilities. A blown headgasket will make your rover run poorly (if at all), so if your problem is a little oil seepage or coolant dribbling, get an opinion of what's needed from a reputable shop, not the dealer. Dealers always assume that you have all the money in the world and are willing to spend thousands to save a few pennies worth of dripping oil.
If you do NEED to do the work, be organized and clean as you go. Remember: You shouldn't have any mysterious "left over" pieces when you're done.
Good luck.
-Jim |
andy Coleman (Andy99)
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 03:13 pm: |
|
Well, here's more of the story- I noticed I was loosing coolant, but couldn't figure out where it was going. I took it to the Land Rover dealership and they did a compression test, told me the head gasket was leaking and it would cost them $1800 to fix it, and that I shouldn't drive the thing. I've been driving it and monitoring the coolant level. It eats it up a bit, so I am going to go ahead and do some gaskets. Anyone hear more about these thicker gaskets? I really don't want to machine my heads, or do a valve job. I'm on a budget. But I will take all opinions on the matter. Thanks |
Jim
| | Posted on Thursday, January 09, 2003 - 11:32 am: |
|
If you're sucking coolant into your cylinders you run a real chance of getting enough liquid in there to bend a connecting rod or run it too hot, or start getting water into the oil. If a piston goes up on a compression stroke and meets enough water (which doesn't compress, hence the theory of hydraulics)you will multiply your problems by having to do a complete rebuild.
Two bits of advice:
1. Have your dealer give you the results of the compression test, per cylinder, in pounds. With a "blown" headgasket the results would typically be around 150psi for all cylinders except one or two (which would be adjacent to each other) and would probably read around 80psi or so - there's where the gasket let go and you need to stop driving it until repairs are made. If the results are anything different or they won't tell you what the readings were take it somewhere else.
2. If you do have a blown headgasket, don't look for any easy fix. Don't keep driving it and don't shop for a magic bottle of something at AutoZone that promises to be a "rebuild in a bottle" -there is no such thing. But, you can repair it for alot less than $1800 so don't let that worry you.
I'm not sure if there is any such thing as a thicker headgasket to accommodate head warpage, if there is, it would be a bad idea. If you pull the heads off yourself you should be able to find a shop that will do the valve job for you. If you don't have any burned or bent valves and your guides, springs and keepers are good it shouldn't cost you too much just to have them ground.
Headgasket replacement is a fairly major job but it's do-able, provided that you have a good set of tools, a place to spread out and work smart and some patience.
Let us know how you make out.
-Jim
94 D1 AZ |
OLIVER CLOTHSOFF (Everythingleaks)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 09, 2003 - 09:03 pm: |
|
The Disco II already has the composite gasket. DO NOT reuse the head bolts, they are a one time use streach bolt. The proper tightening sequence on the head bolts is 20ft/lb, 90 degrees, then another 90 degrees. On all gaskets remove the bolts by starting from the outside and working in. When installing the gaskets/parts tighten from the center out in a cross rotational pattern. Easy way to measure 90 degrees is once the bolts have been tightened to 20ft/lb place a paint dot on the head of the bolt and watch the dot as you tighten it. Coil will be difficult to remove on the disco II but is possible, may want to GENTLY bend the A/C line back a little. I would replace the heater pipe o-ring where it goes into the intake manifold and lube it before putting it in. Be gentle because it is easy to cut the o-ring.
All in all the job is easy just time consuming. |
OLIVER CLOTHSOFF (Everythingleaks)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 09, 2003 - 09:05 pm: |
|
P.S. undo the exhaust manifolds at the downpipe and remove with the head. |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page