was kinda expecting that answer.
most stuff you'll be able to do yourself, just be thorough and clean on the rebuild.
pressure testing as far as i'm aware (never actually seen it done, apart from youtube) is where the head is plugged on all the water galleries and compressed air attached. what pressure its taken to, i've no idea. the entire head is then immersed in a water bath and the temperature taken up to operating temp to simulate running and expand any cracks that may be present. leakage is indicated by bubbles.

skimming is by machine shop and reletively straight forward, as long as the machinist knows how to operate the miller and the cutter is decent.

as a guide when i cooked my manual 300 head, spent about 4 weeks regulary topping it up with water until i got round to doing it (3 years ago just after i got it - caused by a leaky rad) it passed the pressure test and took 3 passes of the miller to get it flat and its been good since.
did a mates shortly after, he'd done about 7 miles after the water pump gave in and came home without water. his passed pressure test and took 12 passes of the miller. engine shop guy was amazed how bent it was.
i'd have to enquire how much is removed on one pass.

would it be worth getting a built up head sent out there?
 
I take it by "built up" you mean re-manufactured. All options are open and will depend on the condition of my cylinder head. If in doubt I will buy re-built or possibly new. I searched for prices and found them vary quite a bit and not sure if there's a difference in quality. Some say complete head, if that means with valves then it will save me a lot time,work and of course worry. I don't want to do this again anytime soon if ever.

The radiator was cleaned repaired four times in one week about three months ago. It took that many time to get it right. I will remove it have it cleaned and also will replace the pump now that I have them apart.

A few weeks ago a mechanic removed the engine to replace the drive plate and I used the opportunity to replace the three core plugs on the turbo side. With the plugs removed I scraped whatever rust I could reach with a plan to clean the entire coolant system one the engine was in place. The mechanic broke the transmission pump while refitting the engine and in dealing with that cleaning the coolant system was put aside. I suspect that plugged the radiator.
 
I take it by "built up" you mean re-manufactured. All options are open and will depend on the condition of my cylinder head. If in doubt I will buy re-built or possibly new. I searched for prices and found them vary quite a bit and not sure if there's a difference in quality. Some say complete head, if that means with valves then it will save me a lot time,work and of course worry. I don't want to do this again anytime soon if ever.

The radiator was cleaned repaired four times in one week about three months ago. It took that many time to get it right. I will remove it have it cleaned and also will replace the pump now that I have them apart.
how much was it run like this?
what was the fault?
how was it repaired?
A few weeks ago a mechanic removed the engine to replace the drive plate and I used the opportunity to replace the three core plugs on the turbo side. With the plugs removed I scraped whatever rust I could reach with a plan to clean the entire coolant system one the engine was in place.
were they leaking or corroded?
The mechanic broke the transmission pump while refitting the engine and in dealing with that cleaning the coolant system was put aside. I suspect that plugged the radiator.
how was it broken and was it run while broken?
potentially all you've said could be a cause of an overheating problem.

regarding getting a head sent out, depends on the budget. either new pattern part, or tested second hand unit. not looked at prices for either and dont know if patterns come with valves.
 
The radiator was initially cleaned (four times) because of an overheating problem which continued after the cleaning until I replaced the clutch fan. It ran more than 15000 kilometers from then with no overheating issues. It was cleaned by removing it, removing the end cap where inlet and outlet are and sticking some thin strips in all the elements and using a type of fluid that is described in Arabic as "acid" but I'm not sure what it technically is. It was done by a Radiator "specialist". One of the for times both end caps were removed and cleaned the same way.

One of the core plugs was corroded and leaked so I replace all three on the same side. I drove about 800 kilometers from then and till it overheated keeping an eye for leaks and didn't see any.

As for your last question. I don't know if the radiator is actually broken or has any problems and I intend to have it checked as part of trying to find out origin of the overheating . I also purchased a new water heater sensor and gauge to install and wire but unfortunately that was another thing that I put off while busy with bigger problems!

I will have the head checked and will purchase new one if in doubt. One question comes up regarding skimming, if the existing gasket is the thickest one available and the head need skimming does that mean I have to buy new head or can I use the thickest one again after skimming. Put another way, is there a maximum a head can be skimmed before scrapping it?
 
Sorry, I just realized your last question related to the transmission pump. I'm not quite sure how it was broken. The pump that they gave me as being the damaged pump seems ceased. I griped the shaft with vise-grips and tried to turn it but it didn't move.
The initial symptoms after refitting the motor was the car starting fine but it didn't move at all in any gear and regardless of 4x4 high or low and diff locked or not. It worked fine for one day after replacing the pump with a used one then after that it wouldn't shift when cold and shifted fine after driving it a few minutes. The mechanic was initially concerned that there was debris and later after I suggested replacing the entire transmission to avoid problems and he assured me that he would clean it well and that it would work fine. A few days after I experienced the no shifting when cold problem I had the pan removed, filter cleaned and new fluid put it. That didn't help and will have to deal with it after fixing the engine or not deal with anything at all and scrap it. It all depends on the cost when I add them all up.
 
I will have the head checked and will purchase new one if in doubt. One question comes up regarding skimming, if the existing gasket is the thickest one available and the head need skimming does that mean I have to buy new head or can I use the thickest one again after skimming. Put another way, is there a maximum a head can be skimmed before scrapping it?
the gasket thickness is denoted by the piston protrusion above the block.
when you wind the engine round to get the pistons to tdc (top dead centre), the will poke out slightly above the block. this needs measuring with a dti (dail test indicator) at quarter intervals around the piston crown. do this on all pistons, take the highest reading obtained, and look in the table in rave. it will then tell you which thickness gasket you need. (clean all the carbon off the crown first!)
the head should be flat, and the only thing that has to be taken into account with skimming is the valves. they can be skimmed pretty much level with the valve heads.
if in doubt, go for the no hole gasket which is the thickest.
 
Sorry, I just realized your last question related to the transmission pump. I'm not quite sure how it was broken. The pump that they gave me as being the damaged pump seems ceased. I griped the shaft with vise-grips and tried to turn it but it didn't move.
The initial symptoms after refitting the motor was the car starting fine but it didn't move at all in any gear and regardless of 4x4 high or low and diff locked or not. It worked fine for one day after replacing the pump with a used one then after that it wouldn't shift when cold and shifted fine after driving it a few minutes. The mechanic was initially concerned that there was debris and later after I suggested replacing the entire transmission to avoid problems and he assured me that he would clean it well and that it would work fine. A few days after I experienced the no shifting when cold problem I had the pan removed, filter cleaned and new fluid put it. That didn't help and will have to deal with it after fixing the engine or not deal with anything at all and scrap it. It all depends on the cost when I add them all up.
lol, i thought you meant coolant pump here, which is where the question was directed!
i now think you mean viscous coupling (i'd forgotten its an auto)
is the disco still immobile even if the engine runs?
 
It would be mobile but after the transmission fluid warms up. I blelieve it has to do with debris and the governor.
 
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havin never dealt with an auto, cant offer advise on this bit.
back to google until someone who knows comes along!
 
It would be mobile but after the transmission fluid warms up. I blelieve it has to do with debris and the governor.
i take it torque convertor was fitted to engine and not the gearbox while fitting engine,govenor is in the rear housing and can be pulled off out put shaft after rear housing removed
 
the gasket thickness is denoted by the piston protrusion above the block.
when you wind the engine round to get the pistons to tdc (top dead centre), the will poke out slightly above the block. this needs measuring with a dti (dail test indicator) at quarter intervals around the piston crown. do this on all pistons, take the highest reading obtained, and look in the table in rave. it will then tell you which thickness gasket you need. (clean all the carbon off the crown first!)
the head should be flat, and the only thing that has to be taken into account with skimming is the valves. they can be skimmed pretty much level with the valve heads.
if in doubt, go for the no hole gasket which is the thickest.

I'm a bit confused about gasket size and whether skimming has any relation to it. I thought that skimming the head means using a thicker gasket but your post and the Rave Manual only take piston protrusion into consideration.

Another question, should I use Hylomar and where?
 
dont use any sealant on head gasket ,thickness of head gasket does depend on piston protrusion ,if you skim heads which isnt necessary unless heads marked or slightly bent depth of valve head comes nearer to head face, so needs either seat cutting to allow for it or thicker head gasket if distance isnt within limits ,most use 3 hole gasket and contact will be noticed if any during tappet setting
 
I got the head skimmed and getting ready for assembly. I noticed a couple of things:

1- There were valve and injector markings on top of one of the pistons.

2- When I place the injectors with the head out, the injectors stick out about 2-3 mm . Should they be shimmed with more brass washers?
 
no dont try and shim injectors ,valves shouldnt touch piston although very close ,ensure the dont while setting tappets
 
I put everything together and can't seem to get it started. With fresh battery (actually two in parallel) it turns over quite well and with brand new glow plugs getting proper wire for 9 seconds it should fire up.
I bled an bled the fuel system and gas comes out of the injector pipes quite good!

I am sure I'm paranoid now with all the trouble I had with mechanics so I am just gonna ask anyway. I always thought that the valve sequence was inlet-exhaust-inlet-exhaust and so on but when I got the head back it was inlet-exhaust-exhaust-inlet. Is that correct?
 
We got lift off! Thanks a lot everyone for the help.

So it took an awful lot of continuous cranking till it fired up.

I had the glow plugs extracted and installed new set. Now I have compression leak at glow plug number three. I tightened it up as far as it can go and no change. Any ideas? What thread is the glow plug, is it 10mm X 1 ?

Thanks again.
 

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