raywin said:
I am living proof that it's not impossible.
Took my engine out last year (single handed) and did a rebuild, there's a thread on here.
For the head I would recommend just work slowly and carefully, loosen the head bolts in order, and tighten them in order, buy a good quality torx socket I used bacho, you need a good breaker bar, they are very tight.
I used the engine crane to lift the head, but I found I could lift it onto the bench by hand. Take some time and lap the valves in, but be very careful re assembling cam followers and cam shaft, it sits up at one end and the followers will jump out, tighten very slowly and evenly when re assembling.
Buy GOOD QUALITY head bolts, I bought German ones from LR direct ( second time) get a good elring head gasket.
Good luck

Maybe something in here that might helphttps://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/at-last-the-big-td5-job.349420/
Click to expand...
Thanks mate! I already had a feeling it might be possible. I knew about needing good bolts. I'm not too feared as I have done plenty of petrol heads, but there are always new things to look out for, especially with an unfamiliar engine and TD5s seem to be pretty complex.
Did you get it skimmed, or just replace the gasket? I know you can only skim them a tiny bit, nothing like petrol heads whcih I used to skim just to improve compression.
I'm assuming you did it cause it had crept a bit due to the plastic pegs and/or water loss. The latter is my reason, as it is starting to lose a little more coolant than I am happy with although it has always lost a bit since I first bought it in 2014.
Cheers!:):)
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Thanks mate! I already had a feeling it might be possible. I knew about needing good bolts. I'm not too feared as I have done plenty of petrol heads, but there are always new things to look out for, especially with an unfamiliar engine and TD5s seem to be pretty complex.
Did you get it skimmed, or just replace the gasket? I know you can only skim them a tiny bit, nothing like petrol heads whcih I used to skim just to improve compression.
I'm assuming you did it cause it had crept a bit due to the plastic pegs and/or water loss. The latter is my reason, as it is starting to lose a little more coolant than I am happy with although it has always lost a bit since I first bought it in 2014.
Cheers!:):)
Click to expand...
The head had been replaced when I bought it, it's an aftermarket head and had steel dowels in already, the main issue was the cam shaft which had a knackered lobe, been like it a while but I was building up to find the full overhaul, thread is a bit long but I put a picture of the cam on there.
You also need to take care to remove the injectors before lifting the head, if you sit it down they can get damaged.
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Thanks mate! I already had a feeling it might be possible. I knew about needing good bolts. I'm not too feared as I have done plenty of petrol heads, but there are always new things to look out for, especially with an unfamiliar engine and TD5s seem to be pretty complex.
Did you get it skimmed, or just replace the gasket? I know you can only skim them a tiny bit, nothing like petrol heads whcih I used to skim just to improve compression.
I'm assuming you did it cause it had crept a bit due to the plastic pegs and/or water loss. The latter is my reason, as it is starting to lose a little more coolant than I am happy with although it has always lost a bit since I first bought it in 2014.
Cheers!:):)
Click to expand...
its not the plastic dowels they only come into use when fitting the head ,they are very easy to break when seating the head,you only skim if needed too,ie its a little bent or its grooved were the fire ring seats
 
jamesmartin said:
its not the plastic dowels they only come into use when fitting the head ,they are very easy to break when seating the head,you only skim if needed too,ie its a little bent or its grooved were the fire ring seats
Click to expand...
Do you recommend replacing the plastic dowels with metal ones to avoid this? Or can you only get these? Can't help thinking plastic was bound to cause problems.
As for skimming, the grooves if they turn out to be present I expect will be obvious, but I haven't really got a decent long solid straight edge to measure for warping. Do you use anything else to determine warping or bending? It's all I have ever seen used, long time ago now!:)
Won't be doing this any time soon, as have to get it over to France at the end of next month. Still have to get the ATF leak sorted, once I've got the MOT, booked in for next week.
 
raywin said:
The head had been replaced when I bought it, it's an aftermarket head and had steel dowels in already, the main issue was the cam shaft which had a knackered lobe, been like it a while but I was building up to find the full overhaul, thread is a bit long but I put a picture of the cam on there.
You also need to take care to remove the injectors before lifting the head, if you sit it down they can get damaged.
Click to expand...
Cheers for all this advice. Knackered lobe presumably to a blocked oilway. Such a pain. Funny to find it in a replaced head but then maybe that was when the oilway got blocked, or whatever caused the prob. Could've been a cam follower I suppose. Or could it? Probably not, now I think about it!!
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Do you recommend replacing the plastic dowels with metal ones to avoid this? Or can you only get these? Can't help thinking plastic was bound to cause problems.
As for skimming, the grooves if they turn out to be present I expect will be obvious, but I haven't really got a decent long solid straight edge to measure for warping. Do you use anything else to determine warping or bending? It's all I have ever seen used, long time ago now!:)
Won't be doing this any time soon, as have to get it over to France at the end of next month. Still have to get the ATF leak sorted, once I've got the MOT, booked in for next week.
Click to expand...
if you fit head carefully with something like a engine crane then there shouldnt be an issue,the dowels locate the gasket precisely during fitting they do nothing to stop a head lifting, a straight edge is still usual tool for checking for warping
 
jamesmartin said:
if you fit head carefully with something like a engine crane then there shouldnt be an issue,the dowels locate the gasket precisely during fitting they do nothing to stop a head lifting, a straight edge is still usual tool for checking for warping
Click to expand...
Guessed that was what the dowels must be for, used to use studs for that in the old days, then wind em out with two nuts locked. When head bolts were used rather than studs.
Glad to see that old skool still rules for warp measurement! Wondered is there was some laser-type modern gizmo nowadays!:rolleyes:
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Guessed that was what the dowels must be for, used to use studs for that in the old days, then wind em out with two nuts locked. When head bolts were used rather than studs.
Glad to see that old skool still rules for warp measurement! Wondered is there was some laser-type modern gizmo nowadays!:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
yes and modern stretch bolts are waisted unlike parallel standard studs or bolts
 
Agreed 100% with JM. I personally could never understand how these plastic dowels are supposed to keep the head in place when 12 bolts exerting tons of clamping force presumably cannot. Replacing the plastic dowels with metal ones depends largely on the VIN. I'm reproducing a TSB originally uploaded by @sierrafery in thread https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/cylinder-head-dowels.346075/ that I should think needs no further comment.

Where I don't quite agree with JM is with regards to the re-use of torque-to-yield stretch bolts as it's quite impossible to tell without specialised equipment if a bolt that has been angle tightened is still elastic or went into the plastic region, in which case it would be deformed.

TSB Dowels.JPG
 
NPG said:
Agreed 100% with JM. I personally could never understand how these plastic dowels are supposed to keep the head in place when 12 bolts exerting tons of clamping force presumably cannot. Replacing the plastic dowels with metal ones depends largely on the VIN. I'm reproducing a TSB originally uploaded by @sierrafery in thread https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/cylinder-head-dowels.346075/ that I should think needs no further comment.

Where I don't quite agree with JM is with regards to the re-use of torque-to-yield stretch bolts as it's quite impossible to tell without specialised equipment if a bolt that has been angle tightened is still elastic or went into the plastic region, in which case it would be deformed.

View attachment 201750
Click to expand...
This is of interest to anyone who is about to embark on this process.

I have too much on my plate at the moment but will probably find it necessary to take the head off in the not too distant future. If I do it myself, and therefore will be saving the labour costs, then I will buy new headbolts.
As for the dowels, I never knew there was a risk of doing harm to a head by replacing plastic dowels with steel. I knda thought it was an obvious thing to do. So thanks very much for posting that chart which I will compare to my VIN number to see what to do about this. As mine is a 2000 MY I expect I will need the plastic ones, but this will clarify it.

Thanks again for this info. I might be a tight fisted Yorkshireman, but I do not want to risk paying to replace a cracked cylinder head!
 
NPG said:
Agreed 100% with JM. I personally could never understand how these plastic dowels are supposed to keep the head in place when 12 bolts exerting tons of clamping force presumably cannot. Replacing the plastic dowels with metal ones depends largely on the VIN. I'm reproducing a TSB originally uploaded by @sierrafery in thread https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/cylinder-head-dowels.346075/ that I should think needs no further comment.

Where I don't quite agree with JM is with regards to the re-use of torque-to-yield stretch bolts as it's quite impossible to tell without specialised equipment if a bolt that has been angle tightened is still elastic or went into the plastic region, in which case it would be deformed.

View attachment 201750
Click to expand...
new bolts arent that dear, so not a big issue if your doing a head gasket ,but it is perfectly acceptable to reuse bolts at least a second time barring any has yielded but that is possible to tell by length, ,ive never seen a failure due to reused bolts, im not advocating any must use new or used but i dont want people to feel wrong about reusing bolts it is perfectly acceptable
 
Stanleysteamer said:
This is of interest to anyone who is about to embark on this process.

I have too much on my plate at the moment but will probably find it necessary to take the head off in the not too distant future. If I do it myself, and therefore will be saving the labour costs, then I will buy new headbolts.
As for the dowels, I never knew there was a risk of doing harm to a head by replacing plastic dowels with steel. I knda thought it was an obvious thing to do. So thanks very much for posting that chart which I will compare to my VIN number to see what to do about this. As mine is a 2000 MY I expect I will need the plastic ones, but this will clarify it.

Thanks again for this info. I might be a tight fisted Yorkshireman, but I do not want to risk paying to replace a cracked cylinder head!
Click to expand...
one essential thing is to fit the rear crank timing pin and cam pin, the marked links on the chain are irrelevant, aslong as cam and crank are pinned
 
jamesmartin said:
one essential thing is to fit the rear crank timing pin and cam pin, the marked links on the chain are irrelevant, aslong as cam and crank are pinned
Click to expand...
(I must make sure I keep hold of this thread!)
I would imagine I would do this anyway, as if changing a cam belt, although I wouldn't be doing this, as of course it is a chain anyway!
Does anything need packing with petroleum jelly or anything? As I have had this problem before.
 
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