Thread: 300tdi gaskets/hoses advice

I went with the steel laminated HG as the several previous OEM type gaskets failed miserably, becauase of a warped head, no problems since (knock on wood), regards Frank.

Hey there.
mine is also puffing a bit of smoke at startup - it seems to be less when I give it a gentle rev - my guess is on the fuel pump (since I got a new head, injectors, glow plugs and dont seem to be burning any oil...)
so on the startup and under load smoke issue I think of it as a "cosmetic" issue by now

regarding the leaking hose "between radiator and oil filter" I'm no expert, but I dont think there is one between radiator and oil filter, best double check and/or post a picture so we know what hose you're talking about!

regarding head gasket I personally stick with Elring, but its interesting to hear that Frank recommends steel laminated ones for a warped head!
whichever you chose if you're not sure about the history of the headbolts I would get new ones!
Getting the head itself off is not too big a drama to get off, but you're quite likely to hit a couple of bumps along the way (-I sure did-)... mine ranged from bolts snapping off to losing the locating dowels and having to postpone the repair a whole week....

most commonly I believe people get their radiators checked while the coolant is out for a headgasket, and its also a very good time to check all your coolant, turbo and intercooler hoses.

I strongly suggest you get your cooling system up to scratch, check your waterpump (and replace the p gasket while your at it - they are prone to leak after you remove the waterpump), get a new thermostat and probably my strongest piece of advise would be get a low coolant/temperature alarm!! 300tdi heads do NOT like being overheated (and neither will your bank account!)

other than that, ...
read through your manual first (if you've never done this before) and be prepared with all bits and pieces you need (ie new gaskets and stuff) before you start and its an easy enough job!


Any probs I'm sure you find helpful info here on the forum!

Good luck & have fun
Simone

Before you get all worked up about your disco, you may wish to check a few things:

1. Smoking on startup - is it heavy or light smoke, and how long does it last. The 300tdi is renown for having a puff of smoke on startup for various small reasons. Try some diesel injector/fuel cleaner - I use Mooreys or CEM ( Cost Effective Maintenance). Clean out the sedimenter and give yourself a new fuel filter. If the smoke is more than a puff, check that the adjustment of the injector pump timing (Behind the AC tensioner) is reasonably correct.

2. Oil leak near oil filter: Above the oil filter assembly are two hoses that carry oil to & from the engine to a section of the radiator to cool the oil. Over time their swaged fittings become loose and that's where the oil is coming from. Common complaint - search 300tdi oil cooler lines for info.

3. Head gasket oil leak: Most often the 300tdi head gasket looses water rather than oil when it starts to fail. Whilst you should keep a close watch on the coolant level ( a coolant level alarm is highly recommended), and you may wish to change the head gasket and other things anyway, may I suggest giving the engine a big clean and finding exactly where the oil is coming from. If previous owners have spilled oil whilst topping up, oil will work it's way under the engine cover and come out the back behind the starter motor. If the intake manifold gasket is on it's way out, high pressure air with some oil blowby leaks out, and oil appears on the LHS of the block.

Read up on what the 300tdi /Disco 1 is like : Once you have a handle on what it's peculiarities are, it's not a bad vehicle to have.

Originally Posted by Discovery-94

Hey there.
mine is also puffing a bit of smoke at startup - it seems to be less when I give it a gentle rev - my guess is on the fuel pump (since I got a new head, injectors, glow plugs and dont seem to be burning any oil...)
so on the startup and under load smoke issue I think of it as a "cosmetic" issue by now

regarding the leaking hose "between radiator and oil filter" I'm no expert, but I dont think there is one between radiator and oil filter, best double check and/or post a picture so we know what hose you're talking about!

regarding head gasket I personally stick with Elring, but its interesting to hear that Frank recommends steel laminated ones for a warped head!
whichever you chose if you're not sure about the history of the headbolts I would get new ones!
Getting the head itself off is not too big a drama to get off, but you're quite likely to hit a couple of bumps along the way (-I sure did-)... mine ranged from bolts snapping off to losing the locating dowels and having to postpone the repair a whole week....

most commonly I believe people get their radiators checked while the coolant is out for a headgasket, and its also a very good time to check all your coolant, turbo and intercooler hoses.

I strongly suggest you get your cooling system up to scratch, check your waterpump (and replace the p gasket while your at it - they are prone to leak after you remove the waterpump), get a new thermostat and probably my strongest piece of advise would be get a low coolant/temperature alarm!! 300tdi heads do NOT like being overheated (and neither will your bank account!)

other than that, ...
read through your manual first (if you've never done this before) and be prepared with all bits and pieces you need (ie new gaskets and stuff) before you start and its an easy enough job!


Any probs I'm sure you find helpful info here on the forum!

Good luck & have fun
Simone

Simone, I am not suggesting that a metal laminated gasket will cure the warped head problem with 300TDi heads. I figured that if the composite gaskets used previously were getting blown away in the same spot (where the head was warped) then it would be a lot harder for combustion gasses to blow away 3 plates of metal. So far it has proved (to me at least) that it works, knock on wood, regards Frank.

Frank, not sure if I read a bit of defense in your reply.... by no means did I mean any offense, in fact I am genuinely intrigued and will consider it with my next head gasket - which will hopefully be in the far future!!
cheers.

Just checking a couple of things to make sure you are not worrying needlessly.

Is the smoke you refer to at startup just a single puff of black smoke? If so, then the engine is just operating correctly. That puff of smoke is one of the reasons a 300Tdi only needs the glow plugs if it is very cold.

If the smoke is not black and is more than just a single puff, then that is quite different.

You say there is an oil leak from the HG. Is that because you can see oil on the passenger's side of the engine below the manifold? If so, it may be just a split in the inlet manifold gasket. That is common and is easily fixed.

If the oil is visible elsewhere, then once again, that is a different problem.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've given the engine bay a going over so hopefully I'll be able to see what's going on. it was a bit of a mess.

So the smoke at start up isn't black, it's more grey. I don't know, perhaps it's normal. This is my first diesel and it's only got 160 on the clock so I'm trying to get her sorted out. I changed the all the filters and oil today bar the gearbox and swivel pin housings. So yeah things are coming along. Next on the list will be new hoses and water pump. Oh and some bearings for the pulleys. They sound like they've got granite in them .

Anyway it's just wait and see about this leak. In the meantime, is there anything else i can do that will be beneficial and not cost anything? i just spent all my money on oil

thanks again, i'm definitely having fun