V8 fuel pressure and associated things

You sure your compression tester is working properly?
You said the car ran ok but sluggish up hills.
If you had one bank out the car would be lucky to even start let alone run.
NO WAY would it get up a hill running on one bank.

Evidently it is surprising what these things can do on one bank of cylinders.

I have uploaded a photo that kind of explains everything (I hope). I didn't get around to trying my "blow in the cylinder" device because I already had the rocker shaft off and I knew the inlet manifold was going to be coming off any way so I just went ahead and removed the right hand cylinder head gasket. It would appear that 2 was leaking into 4 and vice versa and 6 was leaking into 8 and vice versa but the condition of the gasket explains why there was no real oil or coolant loss (or contamination). I am not sure what explains the actual damage though. The water pump was bust and has been replaced but it never over heated. The belt was also on the wrong way - it was going over the water pump instead of under it (but again, it never over heated).

Ah well, I will replace the head gasket and put it back together again, while cursing the Land Rover designers who seem to think someone with the hands of a four year old will be putting all the bolts back in those ridiculously inaccessible places(!)

I'm actually quite looking forward to getting it back together as I guess it shows that all the fuel and ignition system must be properly sorted if it was managing to do what it was on effectively four cylinders :-)

Days later and im still shocked that car ran lol.
If i pull a bank off the car dont want to run.

How is the head? Is it warped at all?

If it was my car i would be taking both heads in to be checked.
Either the head has warped due to overheat or perhaps not even fitted correctly and under torque??

Cant be good having that engine running with that gasket like it was.
Power stroke would have been forced into the other cylinder during the beginning of the exhaust stroke i think and therefor exploding out the exhaust valve and putting pressure on the bottom end.

It does seem thats the case as you said you had popping out the exhaust.

Watch this thread with keen interest to see how you go man.
Good luck.

I haven't had chance to clean the head and have a proper look yet. The quick look I did have suggests that if it is warped it is minimal but I need to clean it to check properly. I read a plausible explanation that it was down to a previous owner replacing the head gasket and re-using the stretch bolts and hence not having enough torque in them. It sounds possible anyway.

I get the point about checking the other head now I've got this far :) I'm just trying to drum up the enthusiasm to remove another head and then pay for the new gasket and bolts on a car that won't be with me after the next rego renewal but you're right, it does make sense. I think the left hand head looks easier to get off than the right one too so that makes it more likely I will do it.

I had already bought a new oil filter and sump gasket but I was obviously going to wait until the car was running and the oil was warm to drain it (and could obviously check the crankshaft at that point). Short of just taking the sump off completely and waiting for gravity to get the oil out of the system has anyone got any bright ideas how to get the cool oil out as best as possible?

OK, so both heads are off and cleaned. The good news is that they both appear straight.

I am starting to get a bit more of a picture as to what may have happened. I think both head gaskets have gone previously but possibly been fixed at different times by different people. The left hand side looks pretty new but strangely has a full set of larger bolts (larger head, wider gauge) than the right hand side. I can't quite convince myself why they have replaced them all(?) At least they appear to have done a decent job of cleaning up the head before they replaced the gasket. The right hand side was a real mess with evidence of a previous exhaust/coolant leak on it that appeared to have been repaired just by replacing the gasket and without cleaning the head. My guess is that whoever did that re-used the stretch bolts too and that, combined with the dirty head led to the current problem. Anyway, everything is pretty much spotless now. I'll take the sump off tomorrow and drain the existing oil and change the filter.

Will have to wait until next week for the new gaskets etc. to arrive but I am now quite confident that once it goes back together it will be running as it should.

I'll let you know.

Everything back together and running just about as it should. Need to tweak the timing and reset the base idle then let it settle down and "remember" what it should rev at. Lots of power though - if anything quicker than my D2 V8 and I'm not getting overtaken by cyclists going up hill any more :-)