p38 broke down AA say head gasket..

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Pdirty8

Pdirty8

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Location
Cheltenhamshirewolds
Overheated into the red with a slight misfire, AA guy who turned up not in a big yellow van but in a disco td6 with 'Specialist' written down side, did a chemical and pressure test to determine.

Im to drive it to tim fry's landy specialist tomoz, hes a mile away, and see what he makes of it including 'book time' for replacing the gaskets.

Have checked recommended threads and searched some archives, found gaskets on island 4x4 at £9, but was just wondering for some up to date info for mainly for how long an indie might well take to do including skimming and pressure testing so i have an idea before i go in tomorrow.

This problem could may have been causing my emissions to be out for mot - tried lpg re-test today and one co reading passed but hc's were 4 times the limit, so am weighing it all up cost wise to keep it legal and running. Have read stories of several gaskets having to be fitted, thermostats etc, so if anyone could kindly impart their experiences we would be most grateful..

One last thing, the AA guy recommended if all else fails to use K-seal, he practically swore by it and being a tenner has obvious attraction, but if something seems to be good to be true and all that jazz :scratching_chin:
 
I have a similar issue lately, 2 HG's failed in less than 2 months - right bank first, then left bank. Started with a miss fire but no overheat, water loss. My indie tells me the liners on the cylinders where the gaskets failed have dropped slightly. My option is if HG goes again i'll have to bite the bullet & invest in a new top hat block.
For new HG replacement, head skim, new gaskets all round, new plugs etc my indie charged me £600. Expensive if they keep going, unless your capable of doing these yourself?
 
I had never stripped the heads off an engine before and did it to one of my 4.6's way back when....I took 3 days but obviously had no idea what I was doing so was being cutious and photgraphing everything i did....

A decent garage should have the hads off and inspected in under a day, and rebuilt in similar time if you ask me.....
 
Would recommend you get the head gasket set from island 4x4, as you get the inlet valley gasket, exhaust manifold gasket, head cover rubber seals etc etc.
First time I did Rangey head gaskets took 4 days, with plenty of Rave reading, lots of photos, tea and ciggies. Last time took about 1 1/2 days (sent the heads off to be skimmed). Not difficult, just have to take your time ensuring everything refitted correctly.
 
martynv8 said:
I have a similar issue lately, 2 HG's failed in less than 2 months - right bank first, then left bank. Started with a miss fire but no overheat, water loss. My indie tells me the liners on the cylinders where the gaskets failed have dropped slightly. My option is if HG goes again i'll have to bite the bullet & invest in a new top hat block.
For new HG replacement, head skim, new gaskets all round, new plugs etc my indie charged me £600. Expensive if they keep going, unless your capable of doing these yourself?
Click to expand...

I often think about this myself. The thing is, the cost of a top hat block is so high and P38s are worth so little I really don't think I could justify the spend.
 
It's a real dilemma. To get a new top hat block supplied & fitted will cost over £3k. On a car worth approx the same it doesn't make financial sense unless your planning on keeping for a long while. The other dilemma is stories of fuel mapping causing heads to go - would this be cured by a new block?
 
martynv8 said:
I have a similar issue lately, 2 HG's failed in less than 2 months - right bank first, then left bank. Started with a miss fire but no overheat, water loss. My indie tells me the liners on the cylinders where the gaskets failed have dropped slightly. My option is if HG goes again i'll have to bite the bullet & invest in a new top hat block.
For new HG replacement, head skim, new gaskets all round, new plugs etc my indie charged me £600. Expensive if they keep going, unless your capable of doing these yourself?
Click to expand...

Cheers all and yes doing myself is an option, wish your indie was local to me as mine has said this morning if it is head gasket looking at a grand minimum, then there could be those issues with the liners etc on top. Plus he's fully booked up til 11th January pretty much screws our xmas plans to be car-less.

He is going to take a look today and see whats what, though this k-seal idea is growing more attractive in the hope it at least gets me thru krimbo - a trip to Devon is planned - until i can rebuild myself. Thanks Kevwill i'll go with Island kit if i do go down that route, and yep will take the advice of photographing and taking time.

Waiting to here back as i say, currently have a hired golf courtesy of AA, shockingly small to drive, awful interior, its manual and yes i miss my rangey already will be thoroughly gutted if I dont get to keep him.

Also on my aa membership is Breakdown Repair Cover, which if u not familiar with it covers most repairs up to £500 a time, so ruling out any £1000 bills for me as don't have the extra pennies to hand which would mean the k-seal and possible diy route, even then it could mean scrapping as if repairing head gasket doesnt fix the emissions for mot then the scrap value would be needed for another car like a volvo or mondeo estate, cant wait..:hurt:

fingers crossed and cheers again muchly for your replies :)
 
martynv8 said:
It's a real dilemma. To get a new top hat block supplied & fitted will cost over £3k. On a car worth approx the same it doesn't make financial sense unless your planning on keeping for a long while. The other dilemma is stories of fuel mapping causing heads to go - would this be cured by a new block?
Click to expand...

To be honest, I think I'd go down the K Seal route. As you say, you'd have to keep the car for a long time to make it worth while. When you consider the car may be worth 3k, plus a top hat block fitted another 3k. 6K will get you into an early L322.
 
Pdirty8 said:
Cheers all and yes doing myself is an option, wish your indie was local to me as mine has said this morning if it is head gasket looking at a grand minimum, then there could be those issues with the liners etc on top. Plus he's fully booked up til 11th January pretty much screws our xmas plans to be car-less.

He is going to take a look today and see whats what, though this k-seal idea is growing more attractive in the hope it at least gets me thru krimbo - a trip to Devon is planned - until i can rebuild myself. Thanks Kevwill i'll go with Island kit if i do go down that route, and yep will take the advice of photographing and taking time.

Waiting to here back as i say, currently have a hired golf courtesy of AA, shockingly small to drive, awful interior, its manual and yes i miss my rangey already will be thoroughly gutted if I dont get to keep him.

Also on my aa membership is Breakdown Repair Cover, which if u not familiar with it covers most repairs up to £500 a time, so ruling out any £1000 bills for me as don't have the extra pennies to hand which would mean the k-seal and possible diy route, even then it could mean scrapping as if repairing head gasket doesnt fix the emissions for mot then the scrap value would be needed for another car like a volvo or mondeo estate, cant wait..:hurt:

fingers crossed and cheers again muchly for your replies :)
Click to expand...
k seal if your planning on keeping the car forget it long term it will not do your internals/ radiator any good if your not willing to spend money on it and are happy to let go then by all means tip it in, I have used it on my 250k van that had a water leak but I was willing to scrap it as it was not worth keeping but in saying that after using k seal all has been good for about 2k miles now no steam any more , keeping it do it properly willing to sell scrap it go ahead :)
 
k-seal never worked on mine but then again neither did irontite which most peeps swear by,try either you have nothing to lose,if you do irontite follow the instructions exactly its not just a dump it in the expansion tank job.
 
clarkie said:
k-seal never worked on mine but then again neither did irontite which most peeps swear by,try either you have nothing to lose,if you do irontite follow the instructions exactly its not just a dump it in the expansion tank job.
Click to expand...

+1 same with k seal its imperative you shake well, very well as if not there will be a sludge type compound left in the bottom of the container, where it has been sitting on the shelf ,that should be circulating around your water wells in your engine .
 
Hi Pdirty8. Do you know the reason for the head gasket failure? Cooling system problem, stuck thermostat? You won't know the state of the block liners until you get the heads off. Chances are you'll just be changing head gaskets/skimming the heads.
K-seal has never worked for me in any engine. Used irontite once on an old volvo once which did last over a year until I got rid (maybe its still motoring around somewhere). Anyway, fingers crossed for you.
 
:eek: personally i wouldn`t put k seal in a leaky bucket the stuff is ****e and will create more problems than it solves , if an aa man had suggested putting k seal in my engine i`d have shut his fingers under the bonnet :rofl:.

rick.
 
I was in Tim frys today to get a 2.5 HG done and book time is 12 hours, that is for the diesel though. You'll be lucky if they can fit you in before Xmas, may be looking like a new year job. We're leaving our p38 and using a disco over Christmas till it can be sorted.

Personally I would never use K seal or the such. Just get it fixed right and properly first time. IMHO
 
I wouldnt reccomend Kseal (some add it to a good condition cooling system as a preventative measure) - it will block up a poor cooling system - heater matrix etc. Only option if your HG has gone is to replace & hope no liner problems have appeared. I've done approx 600 miles since my second HG was replaced but live in fear of it going again now (just waiting for it to start mis-firing - never overheated). I understand the frustration though. I had to wait 2 weeks to get mine booked in - driving my wifes SLK with my arse 2" off the tarmac! :(
 
Freediscoranger said:
I was in Tim frys today to get a 2.5 HG done and book time is 12 hours, that is for the diesel though. You'll be lucky if they can fit you in before Xmas, may be looking like a new year job. We're leaving our p38 and using a disco over Christmas till it can be sorted.

Personally I would never use K seal or the such. Just get it fixed right and properly first time. IMHO
Click to expand...

The only problem is if it's a slipped liner then the cost of fixing it properly basically writes the car off.
 
martynv8 said:
I wouldnt reccomend Kseal (some add it to a good condition cooling system as a preventative measure) - it will block up a poor cooling system - heater matrix etc. Only option if your HG has gone is to replace & hope no liner problems have appeared. I've done approx 600 miles since my second HG was replaced but live in fear of it going again now (just waiting for it to start mis-firing - never overheated). I understand the frustration though. I had to wait 2 weeks to get mine booked in - driving my wifes SLK with my arse 2" off the tarmac! :(
Click to expand...

I suppose the other option is to buy a second hand engine off ebay? You can pick them up for a few hundred quid.
 
Trouble is, mine had a replacement engine fitted by Land Rover (dont know when this was). So on second engine already. Getting a second hand engine could give the same problems. In every other respect mine is in top notch condition (touch wood), so investing in a top hat block might be worth it if i decide to keep for a long time - or get rid now & go for an LPG'd V8 L322? Decisions! :confused:
 
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