Thread: 300tdi head measurements and head bolts

I spoke to an independant landy mech I know, told him the story, his first thought was the block has sunkin in the middle and to straight edge the block, anything more than 40 thou is shot he told me. is that 40 thou of an inch?? seems thinner than a bit of paper, I wondered if he meant 0.040 inch? also told me its no good to deck the block as you ned to re-ring it then you will get crankcase pressure problems, told me its not uncommon on a 300tdi. any experiance,advise,comments please. please

Originally Posted by ade

is that 40 thou of an inch?? seems thinner than a bit of paper, I wondered if he meant 0.040 inch?

Those figures are one and the same.

Hi interesting post same has happened to me, rebuilt the head inclucing machining the face ( was bent 008" thou ) I fitted a set of ARP head studs it lasted aprox 5000 ks I could smell hot oil the the temp gauge went up, so I am thinking possible bypass prob
regards G2

bypass problem? as in the small hose from tank to thermostat housing with little plastic thing in it?
I straight edged the block deck last night but nothing seem wrong with it.

I believe that the alloy head is inherently weak between 2 and 3 cylinders, how many posts do you see about blown head gaskets, the majority as above. I had a blown gasket (composite) in the usual place, the head was warped (sunken in) in the same spot that gasket blew. had it machined and fitted new bolts and Elring composite gasket, couple of weeks later gasket blew again, did not overheat, just had compression pressure in header tank, same sunken depression in the same spot on the head surface, block was flat. Replaced gasket (Elring Composite) and another set of new bolts (no machining this time). A month or so later gasket blew again on the way to Canberra, did overheat because the gasket blew, but the gasket did not blow because of overheating. Got a tow into Son's place in Canberra, gasket blown in usual place, head still hollow in the middle. Bought a 3 plate shim steel head gasket and used the old bolts. That was over 12 months ago and so far so good (knock on wood). I made some enquiries with a mob in China and asked them to approach a large manufacturer of Cylinder Heads, Cummins, Detroit, Isuzu, etc. "Cast Iron" replacement heads as well as 300TDi alloy heads and enquire whether it would be possible to manufacture the 300TDi head from cast iron, Response was NO they could supply me with Alloy head.
So I rang Turners and asked if they had a cast iron replacement for the 300TDi, they said no and that they bought their heads from the manufacturer in Brasil. So I rang Brasil and no they don't have any cast iron heads either as they buy their heads from China. Back where I started, so in my opinion the only way to fix the problem is to get a Cast Iron head, never ever had the 300TDi's head problems with any diesel that has cast iron heads, so I will end up buying a new head direct from China and fit the steel shim head gasket, Regards Frank.

So where do the heads originally come from? ( mean which place in china?)

As you may have seen in my post in the technical chatter forum I will be in the market for a new head shortly....

Originally Posted by Matplat

So where do the heads originally come from? ( mean which place in china?)

As you may have seen in my post in the technical chatter forum I will be in the market for a new head shortly....

If you search back looking for "Cast iron heads" you will find the names of the chinese companies I was in touch with, including their email replies. I no longer have their addresses on this computer, think it was the same mob that was selling Chinese ARB lockers, Teng something, good luck, check eBay there are these chinese heads for sale around $800 complete, Regards Frank