Access to the Valley Gasket

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Author Message   andy Coleman (Andy99) Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 11:39 am:    Hello all, maybe you have read my posts before about the head gasket job I am doing. Well, we got the workshop manual yesterday, and its for a disco 1. I have a disco 2. The correct one is on its way, but we started anyhow, and got to the point where we took the rocker covers off. My qwuestion is this- how do you get to the valley gasket in a v8 DII? Do you have to take a bunch of stuff off the front of the engine to be able to pull the lower part of the manifold off? What about the fuel rail and injectors and all that, it looks like there is a solid metal hose leading gas into the engine and we aren't sure how to deal with it. We can always wait for the correct manual, but does anyone have any ideas? Thanks   Pugsly (Pugsly) Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 12:23 pm:    To get at the valley gasket all you have to do is remove the intake manifold (which you have to do anyway to remove the heads). In fact, that would be the first thing that I would remove. If you have a digital camera, taking a few pictures before you disconnect stuff can be really useful. I take notes on paper, plus pictures, if I think I will be confused about something upon reassembly. Fuel rail and injectors come off as part of the intake manifold. There is a place to unbolt the fuel line, right where it joins into the fuel rail. If you like, you can take the cover off the intake plenum to clean inside, but that's not required. You shouldn't have to take anything off the front of the engine to get at the intake manifold, though you will have to unbolt stuff to get at the heads. I would just look at whatever is bolted to the heads and unbolt it - most of the time it has supports elsewhere as well, and just use some bungee cords to hold it out of the way.   OLIVER CLOTHSOFF (Everythingleaks) Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 11:35 pm:    On the DII the fuel line is at the back of the fuel rail and their is only one. Just press the two taps in with your fingers and it will come loose. The tabs are below the rubber cap/protective cover. You will have to remove the front engine brackets to get the heads off anyway like pugsly said but the RH front intake bolt is hidden behind the alternator. The two bolts in the front of the intake manifold where it goes to the heads are longer then the rest and need to back in the same spot. Be sure to use a good sealer that is made for the expansion and contraction of aluminum at the intake gasket rubber ends where they meet the head and block. I would recommend the "right stuff" by locktight. This seems to hold oil in the best so far, even recommended by LRNA   andy Coleman (Andy99) Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 11:43 pm:    Still having problems with accessing the valley gasket. We've got all the bolts out, but it seems to be frozen on there, and the housing for the a/c compressor is in the way as well. I think we are going to hold off until the arrival of the manual. We did get the fuel line disconnected, thanks for the help there.   OLIVER CLOTHSOFF (Everythingleaks) Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 11:54 pm:    You have to remove the 4 bolts that hold the compressor on and move it out of the way. Then the bracket is held on by 1 bolt that runs into the intake manifold that is 10mm and three bolts and 1 nut on a stud that are 13mm that go into the head. You can remove the bracket and leave the P.S. lines connected, then just place the bracket off to the side of the work area. The vally gasket is held in place by 2 metal end pieces that each have 1 13mm bolt holding them down. Once these are removed the gasket will have to be pryed off because it will be stuck in place. Don't worry about destroying the gasket because it will have to be replaced anyway.   Paul T. Schram (Paulschram) Posted on Wednesday, January 15, 2003 - 03:11 pm:    I found that as I slackened the bolts holding the intake on that they made a groaning noise and the intake popped off. Easiest I've ever had to disassemble, none of the prying to brake a bond. I was able to get away with only having to disconnect the alternator, everything else, I left assembled and merely unbolted the bracketry and pulled the assemblies aside. I think you may be overcomplicating this job. Just keep disassembling until you can take the heads off and then, stop! When you are removing stuff, I find it sufficient o make mental notes as the location of wiring harnesses and the like tend to be either self-evident, or intuitive. When you are finished, you will be far ahead of most Rover owners. Good luck and Godspeed. Paul   andy Coleman (Andy99) Posted on Thursday, January 16, 2003 - 01:32 am:    I guess congrradulations to me! I took off the heads. I bit more complicated than the oil change. So thanks to all for the support and help. And, as usual, I have another question. So we pry off the valley gasket and are looking at the top of the cylinder head, and in the very middle of the thing is an opening right above the cam shaft that looks like a spot where oil can drain down, but unlike every other machined and nicely done part on the car, this gash in the head looks like it was done by a blind man with a grinder. Is this what the cylinder head is supposed to look like? I sent a digital pic to my land rover dealership and they said it was normal. I guess I can't believe that. I would post the pic if I could figure that out. Once again, thanks. Shout outs to pugsly and oliverclothesoff for the good advice.   Jason Vance (Jason) Posted on Thursday, January 16, 2003 - 02:49 am:    Hey Andy, in case you haven't already picked up the replacements, valley gasket (Fel-Pro part # MS96002) and valve-cover gaskets (Fel-Pro part # VS12993R-1) can be ordered at any Autozone or Checker for cheap (less than $40 for both...including tax). Keep it going!   Bill Bettridge (Billb) Posted on Thursday, January 16, 2003 - 02:41 pm:    Andy - you're probably looking at the top of the block, not the heads. What you're seeing is a normal un-machined casting. Don't worry, it is very normal for parts of the block that don't require finish machining to be left in as "as cast" state. Bill   Ed Petrush (Exp3) Posted on Thursday, January 16, 2003 - 05:05 pm:    hey Andy 99... sounds like you are moving along.. but if you would like, I could scan in the pages from the manual for a D2 head gasket replacement... Email me if you want them.. edpe@im.se   andy Coleman (Andy99) Posted on Thursday, January 16, 2003 - 07:05 pm:    Thanks for the offer. I got a DII manual from Atlantic British, and confirmed that we did everything okay. Got the heads off and machined. Now everything has to go back together. My head gaskets were definately leaking slowly- they weren't about to blow, but this all origionally started becasue I was loosing coolant. Andy I think that the valley gasket is the culprit on that one. The gasket was totally coated with oily grime, and the intake maifold was all junked up with the stuff too. When reinstalling the valley gasket, do you apply adhesive to both sides? Anyhow, moving right along, should have this thing back together by Saturday. Thanks!