P38A Engine block

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rover75lover

rover75lover

Active Member
Posts
210
Location
newport.wales.uk
Hi all, it's a 1997 diesel auto p 38
Ive been plagued with overheating, over pressurisation. I've bought fitted two secondhand, supposed, good heads, one of which was tested, serviced not skimmed by a reputable engine specialist but to no avail. It still over pressurised, blew water out and boils on hills.
This time I took my head off my good rangey, tows with 4, 600 kilos cows on board in a trailer, up hill, down Dale all day never goes above 12 o'clock.
Upshot is this head on my auto still results in over pressure, hot running. Yes it will do 150 to 200 miles but I have to keep the aircon fans on. It sits at 12.30 and comes back to 12. Engine smells warm, but loses water and the hoses are rock hard but she hasn't burst any so far.
Bought one of these wine air lock kits and dye sets, after 10 mins the red turns to yellow, so combustion gases are present.
As the head was off my tidy cool rangerover can I deduce I have a block problem.. Its just I've never heard of a faulty block before?
I used a quality head 3 hole head gasket, new stretch bolts and followed the rave instructions to the letter, even letting it cool down overnight before the final torque.
Any insight gratefully received.
Thanks to all
 
rover75lover said:
Hi all, it's a 1997 diesel auto p 38
Ive been plagued with overheating, over pressurisation. I've bought fitted two secondhand, supposed, good heads, one of which was tested, serviced not skimmed by a reputable engine specialist but to no avail. It still over pressurised, blew water out and boils on hills.
This time I took my head off my good rangey, tows with 4, 600 kilos cows on board in a trailer, up hill, down Dale all day never goes above 12 o'clock.
Upshot is this head on my auto still results in over pressure, hot running. Yes it will do 150 to 200 miles but I have to keep the aircon fans on. It sits at 12.30 and comes back to 12. Engine smells warm, but loses water and the hoses are rock hard but she hasn't burst any so far.
Bought one of these wine air lock kits and dye sets, after 10 mins the red turns to yellow, so combustion gases are present.
As the head was off my tidy cool rangerover can I deduce I have a block problem.. Its just I've never heard of a faulty block before?
I used a quality head 3 hole head gasket, new stretch bolts and followed the rave instructions to the letter, even letting it cool down overnight before the final torque.
Any insight gratefully received.
Thanks to all
Click to expand...

Head problems are known, block problems are VERY rare indeed.
 
Faulty water pump?
Edit- never saw the bit about combustion gasses, ignore me:oops::rolleyes:​
 
Last edited:
Grrrrrr said:
Rare. Probably why no-one knows what to respond because no-one has ever seen it.

Wonder where the gases are getting through?
Click to expand...

Warped block deck would get my vote.

I had that recently, so bad the crank wouldn't turn as the bearing "web" was also warped. But I used oversized bearings and shimmed the mains to allow the crank to turn..

A MLS headgasket with a deathload of copper sealant.. ;)

Was a tractor but eh ;)

runs ok ;)
 
rover75lover said:
Hi all, it's a 1997 diesel auto p 38
Ive been plagued with overheating, over pressurisation. I've bought fitted two secondhand, supposed, good heads, one of which was tested, serviced not skimmed by a reputable engine specialist but to no avail. It still over pressurised, blew water out and boils on hills.
This time I took my head off my good rangey, tows with 4, 600 kilos cows on board in a trailer, up hill, down Dale all day never goes above 12 o'clock.
Upshot is this head on my auto still results in over pressure, hot running. Yes it will do 150 to 200 miles but I have to keep the aircon fans on. It sits at 12.30 and comes back to 12. Engine smells warm, but loses water and the hoses are rock hard but she hasn't burst any so far.
Bought one of these wine air lock kits and dye sets, after 10 mins the red turns to yellow, so combustion gases are present.
As the head was off my tidy cool rangerover can I deduce I have a block problem.. Its just I've never heard of a faulty block before?
I used a quality head 3 hole head gasket, new stretch bolts and followed the rave instructions to the letter, even letting it cool down overnight before the final torque.
Any insight gratefully received.
Thanks to all
Click to expand...
I may be stating the obvious but if you need the aircon fans on to keep it cool, have you checked the viscous fan is good?
Maybe you just cooked the good head.
 
I've now refitted my good rangey with the last head off the over pressurising one and hey presto towing my box and 45 lambs she kept immaculately cool. Guess that indicates that the head wasn't the problem.
If I leave the fans off she just rides a little higher on the temp, I keep the fans on as they seem to push more air over the engine. I've checked the viscous and when warm, it will destroy a rolled up news paper with ease.
As it overpressurrises and doesn't actually loose coolant through the exhaust I don't think k seal, x tite, solutions would work
 
rover75lover said:
I've now refitted my good rangey with the last head off the over pressurising one and hey presto towing my box and 45 lambs she kept immaculately cool. Guess that indicates that the head wasn't the problem.
If I leave the fans off she just rides a little higher on the temp, I keep the fans on as they seem to push more air over the engine. I've checked the viscous and when warm, it will destroy a rolled up news paper with ease.
As it overpressurrises and doesn't actually loose coolant through the exhaust I don't think k seal, x tite, solutions would work
Click to expand...
If the viscous fan is good, next step for me would be to hike the water pump out, the plastic ones break up and leave bits to block the cooling system.
The RAD's can also silt up.
 
+1 on the warped deck if you're getting compression gases in the coolant and have ruled out the cylinder head.
MLS head gaskets are less forgiving of any imperfections of the mating surfaces of the block and cylinder head faces and would allow said leakage from the combustion spaces into the coolant passages in the castings
If you could source an aftermarket composite gasket for this engine, those compress to fill in any such imperfections and help to seal better.
That aside, unfortunately it would have to be engine out to have a suitably equipped machine shop to measure the deck and resurface.
 
ifloochies said:
+1 on the warped deck if you're getting compression gases in the coolant and have ruled out the cylinder head.
MLS head gaskets are less forgiving of any imperfections of the mating surfaces of the block and cylinder head faces and would allow said leakage from the combustion spaces into the coolant passages in the castings
If you could source an aftermarket composite gasket for this engine, those compress to fill in any such imperfections and help to seal better.
That aside, unfortunately it would have to be engine out to have a suitably equipped machine shop to measure the deck and resurface.
Click to expand...
I like your location, long ago in my youth I was in Geissen Germany or Accra Ghana happy days.
 
Datatek said:
I like your location, long ago in my youth I was in Geissen Germany or Accra Ghana happy days.
Click to expand...
Hi Datatek, good to know.
I'm originally from Ghana, but working with a German engine manufacturer translates to lots and lots of travel to all the various application sites (power generation, mining, oil&gas) around the World.

Its has to be said though, that sadly Ghana is hardly the place you may still remember from all those years back.
 
ifloochies said:
Hi Datatek, good to know.
I'm originally from Ghana, but working with a German engine manufacturer translates to lots and lots of travel to all the various application sites (power generation, mining, oil&gas) around the World.

Its has to be said though, that sadly Ghana is hardly the place you may still remember from all those years back.
Click to expand...
Yes, things have certainly changed, I can see the piles of rubbish on Google Earth:( The Tesano Club is still there though and a good deal more multi cultural now. I had some good friends among the locals in Ghana, when I worked there, all gone now sadly. When I left, I sold my Daimler/Jag V8 to the chief of police which aided greatly with my tax clearance certificate:D
 
Datatek said:
Yes, things have certainly changed, I can see the piles of rubbish on Google Earth:( The Tesano Club is still there though and a good deal more multi cultural now. I had some good friends among the locals in Ghana, when I worked there, all gone now sadly. When I left, I sold my Daimler/Jag V8 to the chief of police which aided greatly with my tax clearance certificate:D
Click to expand...

Google Earth is showing you just one of the numerous glaring repercussions of corruption; nothing getting done.
This is in the country that's been given the title as the second largest Gold producer in the World, in addition to its exports of oil, bauxite, manganese, timber, cocoa and rubber - just about makes it one of the richest countries in the World, at least on paper. In reality, very little to show for it on the ground.

Anyways @rover75lover how are you getting along with your reported issue.
 
ifloochies said:
Google Earth is showing you just one of the numerous glaring repercussions of corruption; nothing getting done.
This is in the country that's been given the title as the second largest Gold producer in the World, in addition to its exports of oil, bauxite, manganese, timber, cocoa and rubber - just about makes it one of the richest countries in the World, at least on paper. In reality, very little to show for it on the ground.

Anyways @rover75lover how are you getting along with your reported issue.
Click to expand...

Africa is like England was a few hundred years ago. Very rich but that rich is concentrated in very few people's pockets. It took the threat of communism and 2 world wars to change that dynamic in the UK. Our aristocracy are very good at trimming the sails and giving just enough ground to avoid civil war - better than France anyway where things got a bit nasty.

The main issue with countries like Ghana is the multinationals stripping them of their wealth and the relatively little going back to the country itself - and most of that bribes to officials to keep the gravy train rolling. Some of those countries could be the most powerful on the planet with the right leadership but as long as they keep bickering among themselves and the leaders accept bribes and stiff over their own people(s) it will never happen.
 
Grrrrrr said:
Africa is like England was a few hundred years ago. Very rich but that rich is concentrated in very few people's pockets. It took the threat of communism and 2 world wars to change that dynamic in the UK. Our aristocracy are very good at trimming the sails and giving just enough ground to avoid civil war - better than France anyway where things got a bit nasty.

The main issue with countries like Ghana is the multinationals stripping them of their wealth and the relatively little going back to the country itself - and most of that bribes to officials to keep the gravy train rolling. Some of those countries could be the most powerful on the planet with the right leadership but as long as they keep bickering among themselves and the leaders accept bribes and stiff over their own people(s) it will never happen.
Click to expand...
In Ghana, the problem is not the multinationals, it's the government ministers lining their pockets. Nkrumah was the first president (for life), he bankrupted the country, bit worse than Bliar in the UK. Ashanti gold fields were producing the same amount of ore according to the expats running the show, but by the time the revenue was declared by the government, the value had mysteriously dropped dramatically. After Nkrumah, it was Kofi Busia and things just got worse. My local friends used to say how much better things were under British colonial rule when there was food in the shops and currency that had value. Nothing much has changed it seems.
 
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