Hi all,

I have a defender td5, with an engine replacement in as the first head gasket blew. This new one has been in for about a year and suddenly it has started sucking up water and eventually overheating and starts to smell like burning. There’s no loss of power at all. Could this be the head gasket again, last time it lost all power and was quite different. I’m hoping not as I think it’ll be goodbye since it’s had 5k already spent on it with a new galv chassis.

Certainly sounds like it.

You might have an underlying issues causing the gaskets to fail, so they are a sympton rather than the actual fault.

Any idea what the underlying issues would be?

Thanks for the help!

Probably smelling like burning as it's getting hot ...
Fill up the water/cooling system and start the engine.
Open the bonnet and look around.

Water coming from the radiator/hose or pump will pool at the front of the car.
From the heater at the rear of the engine.
Lots of steam/water drips from the exhaust could indicate water in the engine.
Is the oil still black or is it creamy.
Is there oil in the coolant.

Unfortunately the cylinder head warps and cracks on the TD5 and they also break the dowel pins and 'shuffle'.
If there is no obvious leak then you need to get the head checked by a specialist.

The more you drive it around and the hotter it gets the more damage you are doing to the engine...

Is there fluid leaking from the TD5 water expansion tank cap area? If your losing fluid and or there is fluid leak from the cap or the tank i have bad news for you. I had a TD5 Def90 and the head had holed and the water was being allowed into the cylinders. The previous owner had the head off and a new gasket previously so i guess he didnt know about the head issue and thought it was just gasket gone.
Well i had to buy a new head at £1300 and have it fitted too. It solved my problem totally.
See pics of hole in head and shiny new one on worktop.

What happened on mine was that the hole in the head that was caused by water rotting the alloy instead of use of OAT orange coolant fluid. The hole then caused head gasket failure and thus allowed the coolant to be blown in to the header tank with the removable cap on it. The cap then gets so much pressure from the tank that it has to blow the pressure and fluid out of its breather pipe. I found splattered orange OAT fluid on the engine bay bulkhead. I tried a new cap and a new header tank and the thermostat plus all new rad piping and in the end had the head off and lo and behold a holed head meaning a new one at £1300 plus fitting. Not what i wanted having just had a new Galvanised chassis!!! Still it cured the problem and it ran real well afterwards.