Thread: Warped Head Skimming Allowances

Hello

So back in April I bought my 1st Land Rover, Disco 1. 1997 300 TDI. 295,000 km's, 1 owner, full history, $2,000. Love it!!

Got it home and wanted to fix a few things, coolant bottle was broken, got a 2nd hand one, realised the bottle was empty from the drive home, then realised water was pouring out the back of the engine when the 2nd hand bottle got filled up. Blown welch plug. Engine out, replaced the welch plug, radiator hose, p gasket, rear engine seal etc while it was accessible. Seemed like nothing drastic had happened from the welch plug. Drove around a bit, temp never moving, no oil in coolant and vice versa. Went away for 2 months and drove a few thousand km's in it. Still ok.

Last week was towing the caravan home on a 38 degree day, checking the temp all the way, until we were on the downhill run home. Stopped and smelt a funny smell, checked the temp and it was boiling. Heater hose had a massive crack in it. No water in it at all. Wouldn't start. Filled it up and got it towed by a back hoe as it still had the caravan on it and it jump started. Drove the last 6 mins home. Got a new hose, filled it up and it just shot water out of the coolant bottle everywhere.

Ok so we take the head off. The gasket was stuffed just above the original welch plug at the back of cylinder 4 and looked like it had been happening for a while. The gasket was also stuffed been cylinders 2 and 3 which I assume happened when the heater hose blew.

Head.jpg

With as good a straight edge as we have and feeler gauges there is a definite warp/dip in between 2 and 3. As accurately as we can be with what we have its a gap of .12mm.

If the hardness of the head hasn't been compromised and it has no cracks, is the head able to be skimmed back at the much of a gap or are we past whatever the allowance is?

Originally Posted by Anjay74

.... Any recommendations?

Ah, so the dash gauge did work, and rose very quickly.
As I've said with my experience, the only (two) times I've seen this on my dash gauge was when I got the bleeding process wrong. I'd say that air pockets(ie. no direct contact with coolant) caused the sudden rises.
With coolant properly bled, and just excessive heat from ambient conditions, I've never seen my dash gauge rise above the middle area(ie. what looks like normal).

So with that, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that you'd lost coolant, rather than just run the engine very hot(like I have). Probably lost coolant because the engine heated up tho.
If you haven't already, check the coolant cap too.

What I recommend(only coz it's a very nice device) is the 1Gauge. Easy install, and neat. Only problem is it's been out of stock, and a new model coming, for nearly a year now. Dunno what's going on there.
So in effect, my 1Gauge recommendation is more along the lines of that type of system, rather than the 1Gauge itself.

Really tho any coolant gauge will do. VDO are easy to get, usually about $50-ish or so.
My sensor install is on the top bleeder nut(brass), at the thermostat housing.
You can get ready made brass plugs that allow a sensor to be screwed into them for this type of install.

Just note that VDO gauges need specific sensor types, that is, if you get a 40-120 gauge, you need a 40-120 sensor too. the other options I know of are the 50-150 types.

Your gauge preference will depend on how neat or intrusive you allow for.

Some will suggest a low coolant alarm type thing, but in my experience(as above) with low coolant, I'd just prefer a more usable gauge that shows anomalies if low coolant levels occur(as with bad bleeding practise).
The alarm thing could be practical to have if you don't always monitor gauges, but I generally do anyhow.
Sometimes tho I don't, as happened the previous Xmas, when on a trip. Too busy chatting on the UHF. Why I like the 1Gauge is that it has alarms too.
I don't like buzzers or flashing external lights, but the 1Gauge has this feature that the display for an individual sensor will invert colour at a pre programmed level. It becomes an alarm that you can't not notice, but isn't obnoxious(if that makes sense).

Another thing to look out for is the thermostat too. Having changed mine from Waxstat to Tridon, I see that the Tridon will flow better, larger opening when open. Faster reacting too(but this could be due to the waxstat being older).
Tridon thermostat model will be TT388-180(82°C) or TT388-190(88°C).
Even tho I used the 88 degree model, I still get normal running temps in the low 80's in most conditions(high 70's in colder Melb conditions).
With the Waxstat I used to see between 83 and 88 depending on ambient .. never as low as 78 tho.