300TDI head advice please

[Bradtot]

Hello I have recently acquired a 96discovery with a blown head-gasket due to overheating from a stuck thermostat. It was blowing water out of the expansion chamber when running. I have removed the head and it looks as though it has recently been re conned as everything is nice and clean no carbon buildup whatsoever on the valves or pistons, I can even see the hone marks still in the bore. The disco has 310k on the clock. I can see some small cracks around the glowplugs ,very small but they are there. I have taken a straight edge across the head and between 2 & 3 there is about half a mill gap under the straight edge so to me its warped at that point. I need to know how far can the head be plained to level it ,considering I dont know if its been done before , but suspect it has.
Also are the cracks a bad sign or just normal?
I am a Rover V8 person so all this is new to me.
any comments, help greatly appreciated
Brad

[d@rk51d3]

Not sure about the Glow-plug holes.
But make sure to check the "deck". The area of the block that mates to the head.

No point just shaving the head if the blocks warped too.

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

Ring Noordeman Diesel in Welshpool. They should have all the specs there.
As for the cracks, I presume you mean the precomm chambers. Generally these will have small cracks around the fire hole but if they extend to the precomm bore, they should be replaced. I would do them anyway and any good diesel head shop would do them anyway.

Cheers

Andrew

[big guy]

New heads from UK with valves are $1400.
I recently noticed some on ebay.

Hope it works out for you and not too heavy on the wallet.

[Bush65]

Land Rover state that the head can not be skimmed.

I and other have skimmed them. But:

The depth of the valves from the head face must be within the limits given in the overhaul manual - else valves can hit piston crowns.

When a 200/300tdi is overheated, the head can develop soft spots. Where these occur, the head bolts will not hold their pre-tension resulting in another blown head gasket. The head can be re-heat treated to fix soft areas.

Andrew, The 200/300Tdi are direct injection, not indirect. Therefore they don't have pre-combustion chambers.

$1400 for a new head sounds like the best course to me.

[nzlandies]

Mine did this too. That stupid bloody plastic nut popped, (make sure you replace the radiator and thermostat things for brass ones) ditto the crack between the the glow plugs. crack tested and was shagged. New head $900. These are direct injection engines, they don't have a pre-combustion chamber as someone suggested.

[roverrescue]

"half a mill" is just under 20thou in old speak...
I guess you could talk with an engine machinist but thats pretty bent?

I have skimmed a 300head to tidy it up - but it was really just a skim (<5thou) from memory.

Get a new bare head (put your junk into it) and the stroker kit from UK and make it a 2.8. Work the turbo, bigger intercooler and woohoo your away!

S

[Bradtot]

Thanks for all the replys
My problem is I only paid 1400 for the whole disco and its not going to be a keeper so I want it fixed as cheap as possible , but I wont give it to the next person with dodgey work being done so I will fix it correctly. I am looking for a second hand head at the moment . I am in no hurry so will wait till i find one at the right price.
The block is ok so thats one good thing.
The motor was running so I could move it but it was pushing water out.
I will let you know what happens
Brad:)

[dullbird]

"half a mill" is just under 20thou in old speak...
I guess you could talk with an engine machinist but thats pretty bent?

I have skimmed a 300head to tidy it up - but it was really just a skim (<5thou) from memory.

Get a new bare head (put your junk into it) and the stroker kit from UK and make it a 2.8. Work the turbo, bigger intercooler and woohoo your away!

S

where in the UK does the stroker kit come from

[big guy]

For a 2nd hand head give TRS a call in adelaide.

Ask for phil.

[roverrescue]

300Tdi Engine Upgrade From 2.5 Litre To 2.8 Litre. - eBay (item 170372094176 end time Feb-10-10 03:03:05 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170372094176&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT)

no idea on whether its any good but someone found it on ebay recently
freight wasnt too shabby he quoted 185 quid to send it to FNQ?

All up 1311 quid.

So youd have to sort import etc etc...

S

[dullbird]

that would be nice:cool:

[justinc]

Give me a call tomorrow, 0408 995 635. 20 thou is a throw away:(

JC

[Bradtot]

"half a mill" is just under 20thou in old speak...


S
I had it measured today and its actually 1 mill out so definitely a throw away:(
oh well
JC am i getting the vibes you may have one?
I will try and call you tomorrow
Brad

[justinc]

I had it measured today and its actually 1 mill out so definitely a throw away:(
oh well
JC am i getting the vibes you may have one?
I will try and call you tomorrow
Brad

Sorry none available at the moment, I was just going to mention a few options, one of them to check out 'Turner Engineering' in the UK, as they have performance heads, new, complete with valves for an excellent price. Well worth looking at. Recently fitted one and was very impressed. I'll put it this way, they aren't much more than buying a reco one locally, and that INCLUDES international freight:o

JC

[big guy]

Sorry none available at the moment, I was just going to mention a few options, one of them to check out 'Turner Engineering' in the UK, as they have performance heads, new, complete with valves for an excellent price. Well worth looking at. Recently fitted one and was very impressed. I'll put it this way, they aren't much more than buying a reco one locally, and that INCLUDES international freight:o

JC

I believe they are the company that I was referring to.
New head complete for around $1400 delivered here.

In one of my past RRC's, the block came from them and my mechanic whois now dead thought of it as 1st class work.:)

[Robmacca]

Gents....

Done a bit of a search and only found one comment about some years ago (ie: 2010)... Just wondering if anyone has done this since then? Apparently u can get the kit from Davis Performance in NSW.....

300TDI & 2.8LT STROKER KIT (http://davisperformance.com.au/performance/300tdi-and-2.8lt-stroker-kit.html)

If anyone has spent the time & $$, just wondering what sort of improvements u found..... I assume u have to upgrade the Turbo as well for this.....


Rob

[loanrangie]

Gents....

Done a bit of a search and only found one comment about some years ago (ie: 2010)... Just wondering if anyone has done this since then? Apparently u can get the kit from Davis Performance in NSW.....

300TDI & 2.8LT STROKER KIT (http://davisperformance.com.au/performance/300tdi-and-2.8lt-stroker-kit.html)

If anyone has spent the time & $$, just wondering what sort of improvements u found..... I assume u have to upgrade the Turbo as well for this.....


Rob

From what i have read the extra 300cc makes FA difference, its the VNT thats where the gains are made.
Really not worth the cost and probably better to follow Dougal's compound turbo thread.

[d2dave]

About three years ago I purchased a new head from Turners in the UK. Just under a grand for a performance head. This included gasket and new head bolts.

Rang them Monday night and it arrived in Melbourne Thursday night. As I live in country Vic I got on Monday.

I very happy customer.:)

[reddirtdreamer]

I have a 98 disco 300tdi with a blown head gasket . bought the car in feb and 4 weeks after getting it blew a gasket. head was warped and cracked so new bare head and had tappet gear reused off old head ($1000 all up) . got the motor backup and running so drove to broken hill (relocation from perth wa) and almost got here then blew again . got a bit warm then got worse till could no longer drive as blowing water out the tank so also looking at ways to repair or relace the complete motor as previous owners had put chemiweld in the radiator and now block looks like it all gummed up . wayne

[Leo109]

Hi All,

I went down the Turner Eng. 'performance' head path early this year. No problems with the quality of the head and associated parts. The thing to watch out for is being VERY heavily stung by Customs when it gets here!

I ordered the performance head along with a new set of head bolts and gasket. The total came to just over A$1000, where GST kicks in for imported orders. I wasn't too concerned about having to fork out ~$100 for GST. What I wasn't prepared for is the total kicking you get from Customs and DHL if you exceed the $1000 limit.

The total bill from Customs came to $242 - about 23% on top of the actual costs of the parts and freight. They hit you for 5% Duty on the value of the goods, then 10% GST on the value of the goods + the freight + the Duty (yes, GST is charged on the Customs Duty!) and finally, 50-odd bucks in fixed Customs fees. No wonder the Govt is not too concerned about trying to collect GST on orders under $1000- they more than make up for it stinging silly b*gg*ers like me who just exceed it!

DHL also tried to charge me extra for customs paperwork, over and above the GBP100 quoted for the delivery. They cocked-up notifying me the order had arrived and several times wrongly calculated the Customs fees, so I finally got them to drop their extra charge. But I wouldn't touch them again with a barge pole.

Now, far be it from me to suggest anyone try to circumvent the laws of the land but... Had I ordered the head separately, and a few days apart from, the bolts and gasket set, I may have paid a little more for freight. However, I believe I may have had my two (<$1000) orders both sail through Customs with costing a cent. Others may choose to try this, but I couldn't possibly recommend it.

Our 'Daphne' Discovery is again happily roaming the highways, complete with 'performance' head, rodded radiator, all new hoses, thermostat and new injectors, ready for another 360,000 km or so. Just need to re-tune the fuelling to suit the new head and a little extra boost, using those excellent Tdi Tuning Notes written by the nice bloke at ThermoGuard - Hey, that's me!;)
Ian

[loanrangie]

Thats why i chose not to get the performance head, i bought my head from Autopost and it came to AUD $955 delivered to my door - head/ gaskets, bolts.
So far i have found the new improved head to be more efficient and engine now comes up to temp a lot quicker. Including all new hoses, coolant, thermostat, oil + filter i spent $1150.

[Tank]

I bought mine (AMC) in Australia with new bolts, laminated head gasket and all other gaskets, unassembled so as I could port match and clean up the bowls and runners and then lap in the valves. For under a $1000 and I have someone in Australia to approach if something ain't right, Regards Frank.

[Davo]

There was a post or two here a while ago concerning DHL and their extra charges.