Removing the head.

-Defender110- · Jun 29, 2010

Ok so i ran into i bit of trouble with my td5 2002 defender a few days ago,
she decided to overheat without telling me and subsequently killed herself

current symptoms are:

tapping or knocking sound when started but disappears after a few seconds,
no power,
white smoke,
and sounds like shes struggling slightly to run.

so my reasonably educated guess is (optimistically) head gasket? (pessimistically) cracked head, and piston rings gone somewhere?

now i dont have the greatest of understanding when it comes to engines, and i realize this is all going to take a lot of work but im going to try fix it all myself, hopefully with a bit of help from a mechanic friend, a haynes manual, and the endless amount of knowledge available here, (shifty im counting on you here

)

So heres my first question , am i fairly correct in my diagnosis? and if so, where do i start when taking the head off a td5

thanks lads.

Shifty1962 · Jun 30, 2010

Are the radiator hoses rock solid once the engine warms up?
Have you got bubbles in the header tank?

-Defender110- · Jun 30, 2010

when it originally overheated and lost power i pulled in and turned her off, there was nothing to indicate it was overheating so i thought it was a clogged fuel filter so i purged it and restarted it, big white smoke, and tapping for a few seconds so i suspected the worst and drove a few meters onto flat ground to check oil and coolant levels, from there i found that oil levels were grand but the coolant was BONE DRY, checked the coolant hoses going into the head of the engine, all bone dry. so left it for a few hours (went to get a trailer) came back and started it after refilling coolant, no tapping and not as much smoke but still a bit of it coming out, had to tow it home so kept it ticking over for brakes, when i got back the coolant hoses going into the engine were hot and the overflow tank was presurised.... not good right?

-Defender110- · Jun 30, 2010

-Defender110- · Jul 1, 2010

found a cracked coolant pipe (running to the egr cooler) the pipe had gone brittle over time, so replaced it all, still reckon something else caused the overheating though..
any suggestions as to where i should be looking for the cause?

MudHunter · Jul 1, 2010

you reckon it overheated cos of lack of coolant or summat else? you seem to have found the reason for lack of coolant

-Defender110- · Jul 1, 2010

i dunno if ive discovered it to be honest because id have expected to see loads of coolant everywhere when i opened the bonnet straight after she went kaput but there was none, i reckon theres a worse leak somewhere else that i havent found yet...

-Defender110- · Jul 9, 2010

got this far today, nothing looks wrong here anyway, no contamination at shards of broken metal

haha. said id give ya a peak

johnlad · Jul 9, 2010

your looking at the wrong side of the head, you've only took the rocker cover off,

-Defender110- · Jul 9, 2010

haha, i know that but its a working progress, gotta get that off to get at the timing chain, but then it started to rain

ratty · Jul 9, 2010

-Defender110- said:
haha, i know that but its a working progress, gotta get that off to get at the timing chain, but then it started to rain

I wish it'd rain here. It's too hot. I hates the sun.

-Defender110- · Jul 9, 2010

wanna swap landys seeing as u have the weather

? haha

ratty · Jul 9, 2010

-Defender110- said:
wanna swap landys seeing as u have the weather ? haha

only if you drive yours over to collect mine.

-Defender110- · Jul 9, 2010

HAHA!! fat chance of that

its in bits all over the driveway

ratty · Jul 9, 2010

-Defender110- said:
HAHA!! fat chance of that its in bits all over the driveway

That's such a shame cos I so wanted to swap landys too.

-Defender110- · Jul 9, 2010

haha, cant blame me for trying

whats ur ball park figure for the beast anyway, out of curiosity

ratty · Jul 9, 2010

-Defender110- said:
haha, cant blame me for trying whats ur ball park figure for the beast anyway, out of curiosity

Do you mean repair costs?

-Defender110- · Jul 9, 2010

no, how much u lookin for yours?

ratty · Jul 9, 2010

-Defender110- said:
no, how much u lookin for yours?

I don't know tbh. On the one hand I'd like to sell it. On the other hand I love it and want to keep it. I spose if I was offered the right money for it I'd let it go. I've seen similar ones go for around £8k on ebay. I'd feel guilty asking anything near that for mine.

-Defender110- · Jul 9, 2010

hey, y feel guilty if you can get good money for something you've poured your on sweat and blood into? hope it all works out for you...

Removing the head.

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