Thread: 300tdi Head gasket???

Get a gas test done,if there is a problem you'll get it fixed before big trouble hits it. Pat

Probably a head gasket, but if it is rings you need to remove the head anyway, so budget for a head job, then check the condition of your bores, glazed up (shiny) or gouges running up and down the bore, if so pull engine, have it bored and honed, new set of pistons and rings (and bearings) and your'e good for another 1/2 million K's, Regards Frank.

Thanks for the replies,

Another thing i have noticed over the past couple of weeks with the mornings getting cooler, it seems to be running on 3 cylinders for the 5 to 10 seconds when it is first started.
Only started last week and sometimes it is worse than others, but she is very rough.

Also, not sure if this is connected, but I keep having trouble with expansion tank caps not holding pressure, I have bought 2 new ones and they seem to hold for a week or 2 then occasionally they wont.
Could this be due to the system pressurising?
It is not spitting any coolant out or anything like that, but no pressure means it runs hotter.

I would get onto it. Pat

Update;

Been looking at it today and ran it without the rocker cover on, and there is definately more vapour on pot 4 from the back of the motor, but it is not really noticable until I block the breather from the crankcase which kick out a fair amount.

Does this indicate ring trouble??, I would have thought that the easiest way for head gasket blowby to go would be straight up?

Another thing i found was a weep on one of the heater hose, could this account for the air getting into the heater occasionally?, and one exhaust stud was loose, and when I tried to tighten it, it just span so I guess it could have been stripped for a while, time for a helicoil!, could this account for the rough cold start up and idle?

Other than that I am still not convinced that there is a HG problem, just doesn't seen to run poorly enough for it, the blowby does concern me but it has not got any worse over the past 12 months so hopefully it will hold out, will see how it goes now I have nipped up the heater hose and will get the stud helicoiled.

Thoughts???

More than likely the head gasket has blown throuh into one of the pushrod galleries, causes heaps of crankcase pressure and 'pulses' of vapour into the rocker area.

JC

Hopefully that's all it is, it definately sounds like it is pulsing and although not as excessive as some vieos I have seen the vapour looks like a steam train.

Just out of curiosity, how long will it run like this, as it has been this way for around 12 months, I guess it has started to get worse in the last 2 weeks when it is cold.

I guess I just need to bite the bullet and pull the head, just dont want it to be down too long.

Originally Posted by SiddersC

Hopefully that's all it is, it definately sounds like it is pulsing and although not as excessive as some vieos I have seen the vapour looks like a steam train.

Just out of curiosity, how long will it run like this, as it has been this way for around 12 months, I guess it has started to get worse in the last 2 weeks when it is cold.

I guess I just need to bite the bullet and pull the head, just dont want it to be down too long.

If the head surface is level and doesn't need machining and the valves are OK, the HG job could be done in a day. As far as leaving it for another time, the longer you leave it the more damage will be done, compression gasses are hot and can melt the head away where the gas is escaping from and no amount of machining will help, do the job as soon as practible or you will be looking at major money repairs, regards Frank.