Thread: Smoke in the rocker cover?

G'day Lokka,
Appreciate the pm mate, but later on yesterday I got onto an engine refurb outfit nearby and they're going to drill out and alloy weld/fill the corroded bits and plane the head as was suggested as an option by Frank and Justin. All up I'm looking at about $170 so I'm going for the cost saving option and I'll have to live with the consequences if the engines blows up when I am at the bottom of a dirt track somewhere.

Best of luck with getting the new head back on..I found myself lying awake last night rehearsing what might screw up with the torque down, angle tightening process!

Chrs

Mark

Howdy,
Got the parts I ordered today and they've sent me a three hole Elring gasket instead of the no hole I requested. Not sure if it was a simple oversight or they just thought it makes very little difference.
Can someone tell me how much difference is there between the 3 hole and no hole?

Im tending to think it probably isn't enough to worry about. I mean surely this motor wasn't fitted with a no hole originally and I am pretty sure the block was never shaved back so why would top dead centre be above the factory levels? Or does it vary a bit straight from the factory?

Any advice appreciated. Would hate to put it all back together and have a piston crack the head in half.

Chrs

Mark

Does it say anything in the TDi 300 overhaul manual, otherwise do a search on the Forum or Google it, they (LR) wouldn't make different thickness gaskets if it wasn't necessary,Regards Frank.

thicknesses are available to ensure clearance between piston and head, the orignal engine wouldn't have had a no hole, unless it had been rebuilt and severely decked. There are measurements for piston protrusion in the overhaul book, I would say if the engine is untouched since new, a 3 hole should be fine, but if in doubt always measure.

JC

Thanks again for the responses.

I know for sure the block hasn't been decked so I reckon i will go with the 3 hole.

I've sanded back the block and there are still little matchhead size blue stains on it from the underside of the last gasket. At least I think they're stains because you can't feel them on the surface, it's like the steel is tarnished blue in the pattern of these matchead sized spots. I reckon I would be wet dry sanding for a week to remove those marks.
Also I've used a bit of inox while sanding, is it imperative to clean this off 100% before the gasket goes on? I'm wondering on the one hand is the inox ok to prevent rust or is it bad because the gasket has some resin on the underside which is designed to adhere to the block. Which is it?
Frank I know you said get it clean enough to eat your dinner off, but does that simply mean get rid of anything that was stuck to it and then leave it rust proofed with a little spray of WD or innox

Chrs

Mark

Originally Posted by Hendrous

Thanks again for the responses.

I know for sure the block hasn't been decked so I reckon i will go with the 3 hole.

I've sanded back the block and there are still little matchhead size blue stains on it from the underside of the last gasket. At least I think they're stains because you can't feel them on the surface, it's like the steel is tarnished blue in the pattern of these matchead sized spots. I reckon I would be wet dry sanding for a week to remove those marks.
Also I've used a bit of inox while sanding, is it imperative to clean this off 100% before the gasket goes on? I'm wondering on the one hand is the inox ok to prevent rust or is it bad because the gasket has some resin on the underside which is designed to adhere to the block. Which is it?
Frank I know you said get it clean enough to eat your dinner off, but does that simply mean get rid of anything that was stuck to it and then leave it rust proofed with a little spray of WD or innox

Chrs

Mark

You can leave the inox on to protect it from rust till you are ready to install the gasket and head, but use some thinners or brake clean to remove any oil/inox residue and yes it should be clean enough to eat off, no oil on either surface, Regards Frank.

Howdy,

Took a little longer than I thought and there were some unexpected twists and turns, but I just turned my disco over and it fired up and it's humming nicely. I'm kind of surprised and very happy to get a result (although I suppose it is a little early to jump around as I haven't driven it far yet).

Many thanks to everyone for the tips and especially Frank for taking my call when I could not for the life of me get the thermostat housing back on.

For anyone attempting a head gasket on the 300tdi- remember to put the thermostat housing on before you put the head back on, or don't even take it off in the first place. It is very hard to get at it once the head is on. I at least put the two lower bolts for the thermostat half in the head after reading a post here and assumed it would be easy enough to fit the thermostat at the end.
Ended up having to get bend a 10 mm spanner with a blow torch and grind half of it away to get to the lower left bolt, but eventually I got the little blighter tight.

The other thing I would mention for any novice backyard mechanic is be sure not to wind the crankcase anti clockwise...I did this a little when trying to work out the tappet settings and Frank advised me that can be a big stuff up if the timing belt slip off a cog. Seems i got away with that..Set the tappets by aligning the notch on the crankcase with the arrow in two stages, and I just took a deep breath before I turned it over. I figure if the timing belt was out it wouldn't be sounding good or running at all.


Chrs

Mark

Mark, further to your last PM to me can you ring me on 0407103320 anytime, Regards Frank.