Head Gasket Repair Diary

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M0T

M0T

M0T

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I know how interested I get by threads like these, so I thought I'd share my head gasket job with you all. Plus if I take a lot of pictures I'll know where everything goes when I put it back together :)



Aha, a very typical sight, and they say rovers don't have head gasket troubles. This car has been babied with regular servicing and has a full dealer history.



All of the stuff I have brought so far for this job. After moving out of my dads I have only just bothered with a socket set, lazy me!



The replacement gasket. Not the newest landrover design, but apparently the new version isn't as rosy as everyone first thought.



The first task, clearing out the garage.

More updates later
 
Great idea doing this diary. I'll watch this thread with interest :)

That's quite a nasty amount of mayo. Just imagine how much crap there is in the sump.

How many miles does it take for your expansion tank to drop to empty?

Have you ever changed the HG before? Good luck :) If it all goes to plan you should have it done by the end of the day.
 
Well I noticed the problem at +134 miles (since last fill up of petrol)

Filled up with more coolant.

Was at empty by +200 miles (at this point I add that the oil was showing only light signs of water contamination and the car only does very short journeys plus the engine was running fine so I was looking for a leaky hose)

Filled up with more coolant

Empty by +210 miles

Diagnosed HGF. Hopefully it hasn't warped the head.

Ive never done one before so I'm taking it slow, following all the instructions and I don't mind if I'm still out there on sunday as long as the car works at the end of it.
 
Damn, that's not good :(

If you noticed the expansion tank was empty and didn't let the car overheat, the head should be fine :)

Shame I'm not closer. I'd love to be there to help out.
 
Get the head skimmed or dont bother trying to fix it. Take your time and dont rush, if you cant remember how things go use labels on things like plugs and connectors etc.
 
You should not be skimming the head unless it needs it. Head skims remove the finish that is applied at the factory and you run the risk of making it porous.

Ill check it with my straight edge and my feeler gauges and only then will I decide if its worth getting it skimmed.
 
I hope the GSi never needs the head skimming again. It was skimmed in the past when some bodge garage did a HG change.

The HG went again when the previous owner bought the car so he took it to a Rover dealer and had it done properly.

He was telling me how the head was already pourous and the garage had to use liquid metal or something :confused:
 
make sure that you replace the soft plastic dowels that are used to locate the head on the block with some stainless ones. I swapped my HG with a metal one for longevity at the same time it looks like you are doing the same.

What head have you got on it, a normal twin cam 16v one or the VVC head?

HT
 
Its a vvc head, and the plastic dowels come with the gasket.

I'll be looking for play in the VVC mechanism whilst I have the head off, might have to replace them :(
 
mike satur will sell you the steel dowels. tbh I'd replace the cam belts, the tensioners and anything else that is easy to take off while the heads off the engine.

you could always have a go at DIY port polishing while the heads off :D

Have fun.

HT
 
The cambelts, water pump & tensioner were all changed about 500 miles ago when the water pump started leaking :(
 
Magnecor's?

The plastic dowels don't help the HG issue at all. They allow the head to move much more than the steel dowels, which is what causes the beading on the gasket to wear away causing it to fail.
 
agw_01 said:
Magnecor's?

The plastic dowels don't help the HG issue at all. They allow the head to move much more than the steel dowels, which is what causes the beading on the gasket to wear away causing it to fail.
Click to expand...

Dowels? :p What are they! Oops i didnt put them back into my 220 GSI engine when i done the Headgasket.. LOL.. Ah well :p Fair play though, touch wood it has lasted a severe track beating and a few thousand HARD miles! :D
 
agw_01 said:
Magnecor's?

The plastic dowels don't help the HG issue at all. They allow the head to move much more than the steel dowels, which is what causes the beading on the gasket to wear away causing it to fail.
Click to expand...

that sound's like a better answer than mine. and yes the blue leads are magnecor ones. They heleped cold / damp starting a huge amount

HT
 
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