Cylinder Head disintegrates on my P38 - 3 months after buying it.

**lorkers** · 25th January 2010, 03:01 PM

Well, I now know what driving a P38 without any coolant causes.
After the "little incident" mentioned in
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/p38a-range...ed-my-p38.html
when the top hose exploded from the engine, and my lovely P38 peed a waterfall of coolant all over the car park (my other half was driving, nothing to do with me I may add) I thought the engine sounded "a bit rougher".

Over the past 1k km it's gone from a slight wheeze to a clicking... to now a distinct chuffing noise on the front nearside cylinder. Slowly, in low gear, you can feel the jerking as that cylinder is obviously dead. On the hottest day we had for 5 years - 43 degrees - last Friday I HAD to drive up the coast, and it got so bad when I was half way there I staggered into the nearest dealer. And they confirmed the bad news: gasket gone, cylinder head warped.

That'll be a "basic" quote of $4000 please... probably a lot more once they see what other damage has been done.

The dealer I bought it from refused to touch it, because I've just (by only a few days!) gone over the 3 month limit. Grrrrr...

But I do have an aftermarket warranty - which will pay out a total of $550 for a dead cylinder head. Like that will go far!

So... best / cheapest place to start taking the top off is I've found is the one p31aRover kindly mentioned in Sydney - half the price. Of course it's a $400 tow to get it there (car is still driveable, but I don't wana risk it...)

This sounds cheap... is there a cheaper alternative... and do I dare take the risk of just doing the side that's gone phhht? In fact, I haven't done a Cylinder Head since my old Rover days in the UK.. can you just do one side in the P38?

Oh, and three lessons learnt: if you hear a chuffing noise on each revolution of the engine... STOP! And as I've told the other half... if all the coolant drops out of the engine and it starts clattering like farm machinery... STOP! And for goodness sake, don't put that ethonol stuff in...

**wayneg** · 25th January 2010, 09:11 PM

Sorry to hear of your issues. Have you given any thought to trying a Sodium Silicate type sealer additive even if its just to get you to the garage. I know many frown upon it but ................$$$$$$$$$$$$$.......??. I know what I would try.

**PaulP38a** · 26th January 2010, 12:29 AM

Bad news brother, I feel your pain.

All is not lost, and you can do most of it yourself. All you need are a few good tools and patience... does this sound like a sales pitch? No, if I can do it anyone with some sense and willingness can do it... damn, still sounds like a sales pitch!

I've documented a fair bit of the top-end refresh here Engine Refresh (top end) PaulP38A.com and will hopefully get around to finishing it one day.

Most important thing is to get a new/reco set of heads. Hint: PM "Andrew e" on this forum as he might know a bloke who can help.

You'll need new gaskets (heads, valley, manifolds, rocker covers), head and rocker cover bolts, and o-rings for the coolant lines. Might as well replace the hoses and serpentine belt at the same time.

If you decide not to change over the tappets/lifters, make sure you replace them in exactly the same position. The general opinion on the forum is to change the tappets and camshaft at the same time. I elected to change only the tappets... so far so good. Changing the camshaft makes the job much bigger as you need to remove the engine.

Suppliers I used for the job were http://karcraft.com.au, Gary Gjerde (clr4wdparts on eBay), and Canberra Motor Works.

Cost in parts? I haven't worked it out exactly but think it was around the $1500 mark including reco heads. Most expensive part is the cylinder heads... perhaps your aftermarket warranty could at least cover that?

Never mind the Nurofen and physiotherapy bills since then

just be sure to practice good posture when leaning over the engine bay for extended periods of time.

Feel free to PM me for more info if I can be of assistance.

Cheers, Paul.

**p38arover** · 26th January 2010, 02:54 AM

Originally Posted by lorkers

Cylinder Head disintegrates on my P38A

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. The head may need servicing but it should be OK.

Originally Posted by wayneg

Sorry to hear of your issues. Have you given any thought to trying a Sodium Silicate type sealer additive even if its just to get you to the garage. I know many frown upon it but ................$$$$$$$$$$$$$.......??. I know what I would try.

It sounds like the side of the gasket has blown out. Sealer won't fix that. I had a 1" section blow out of mine and it also made a chuffing sound as I drove it home. See attached.

Originally Posted by PaulP38a

Changing the camshaft makes the job much bigger as you need to remove the engine.

It can be replaced in situ. I did mine. You need to pull off the grille and, if I recall correctly, the oil cooler.

**Blknight.aus** · 26th January 2010, 06:25 AM

Id pull the heads and measure them and the block deck first....

Then make your decision on how to proceed.

**p38arover** · 26th January 2010, 07:45 AM

When the heads are off, get them hardness checked before spending any money on them. It's a simple test.

**lorkers** · 26th January 2010, 10:12 AM

Happy Australia Day. Least it was, until the aforementioned "incident".

Originally Posted by p38arover

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. The head may need servicing but it should be OK.

Just for dramatic effect... well actually, the words of the stealer were "your head's had it mate...", but optimism rules eternal for the P38 driver, and I have hopes of it living again.

Originally Posted by p38arover

It sounds like the side of the gasket has blown out. Sealer won't fix that. I had a 1" section blow out of mine and it also made a chuffing sound as I drove it home. See attached.

Good pic... I haven't as yet seen mine...

Originally Posted by p38arover

It can be replaced in situ. I did mine. You need to pull off the grille and, if I recall correctly, the oil cooler.

...without pulling the rest of the gubbins? I'll try anything to see if it works before coughing for a new head...

**p38arover** · 26th January 2010, 10:24 AM

Re the cam, no, I meant after stripping everything else off, that's about all that has also to be removed. Oh, and water pump, timing case/chain/sprockets, and the slam panel (4 bolts).

**Kalincho** · 26th January 2010, 01:30 PM

It seems to be an Australia Day Tradition, this time last year my P38 was being towed 400km from the south of WA! Good Luck with the rebuild!

**p38arover** · 26th January 2010, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by lorkers

Just for dramatic effect... well actually, the words of the stealer were "your head's had it mate...", ...

Dunno how he'd know without pulling them off.

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