miketomcat

I'm sure one of the adults will correct me but I always thought/was told part charging was bad for battery's. If this is the case surely a 10min charge is going to do more bad than good. Also in order to have the ability to do a quick charge whilst going for a pee they are going to need wireless charging in every parking space, which to be honest is I think the only long term solution. Mike

I've always used elring head gaskets not sure if there's a better one to use. Mike

I seem to recall telling you to stop messing around and pull the heads. Mind I should probably listen to my own advice. Mike

That's interesting and I hope your right about the future. My biggest problem is still that I don't want to change either of my vehicles. They are not viable to convert to electric because you lose all of the reasons for owning them. Mike

To be honest I think I'm beyond tests, I'm fairly sure the head gasket has gone again. I think the head needs skimming but to be fair it got us home so I can't complain. I might drag the head off the other engine get it skimmed then I can just pull this one off and swap. That way it's off the road for the minimum time. Then I can get this one skimmed when I rebuild the other engine. Mike

The 200/300 TDI takes some beating. Conversion doesn't make sense. Just need to get one or both these engines sorted. Mike

I agree for daily use an ev makes sense apart from the horrific purchase price and the fact that by the time I can afford one the battery's are likely to be knackered. I've even said in our situation and ev for me to work (50miles return) and ice for the wife, longer drives and towing. However this all falls apart when she returns to work because then she would likely require an ev as she's likely to work in a town. I also use my truck at work for boat movements from time to time. Worst of all it means selling or converting one of our vehicles. Neither of us want to, the 110 goes tax exempt shortly and conversion just doesn't make sense on a land rover. Mike

Nice idea but given I can barely afford to run a TDI, a TD5 is out of the question let alone a V8. It still astonishes me that the most economical engine land rover ever used in a defender/discovery is a 35 year old design with roots going back even further. Mike

Mine also feels it could go through if I tried. I just tighten mine till flush, I've never bothered with PTFE just get a slightly damp patch round it. Mike

So I've put the leak dye in and been for a drive. The good news is there's no sign of a leak. The bad news is I've lost some water and there's no sign of a leak. Mike

It's not personal if it's true.... Mike

I'm beginning to think the same. Fridge has given me some leak dye so I'll try that and if nothing the head will come off and I'll check/skim it. If I can get this one to behave I can buy time to sort the other one. Mike

I wasn't able to in Scotland due to the lack of anything straight. Mike

Radiator was fine before the head gasket so doubt it's changed. Changing the thermostat made no difference to the symptoms so that should be fine. It's possible the head gasket has gone again but last time it didn't get hot until it was utterly dead (it took 700 miles of towing to kill it completely). Mike

I fitted a new Ali radiator at the same time as this engine. Thanks @monkie I should have a water pump here, failing that I can rob the one off the other engine. It's typical I won't risk using the ibex for towing at the moment so I've got a fair bit to do, looks like the 110's getting a work out. Mike

I replaced the thermostat in an effort to reduce the running temp, but it's made no difference. I know the guage is fairly accurate as the electric fan keeps coming on which it didn't before so it's definitely running warmer. It is possible the thermostat housing is leaking as the new gasket didn't seal. I ended up reusing the original gasket however I'm fairly sure it's good. Mike

Ok so I've established I'm stripping the other engine as soon as I can. However I need to prolong the one in there for now. Prior to the head gasket going it ran fine but smoked a little. Since replacing it I came back from Scotland fine, but it's now getting a bit warm at random occasion. It seems to take a long time to warm up but once it does it settles just above half way (it was just below half way before). However it seems to increase when in traffic or under load but once moving again it comes down a bit. It does use a bit of water but I'm not sure if this is being blown out or going into the bores again. The cooling system doesn't seem to have excessive pressure but is elivated due to running hot. I've replaced the thermostat. It almost feels like the impeller has come off the water pump, but that was new when we fitted this engine. Mike

Thank you gents for the reality check, I will be collecting the other engine soon and will see what I find. Mike

Changing the oil/filter made no difference hence I pulled the engine out. Whilst I love your optimism I'm really not that lucky. I didn't check it with a guage but I'm fairly confident in the diagnosis as the exact same symptoms happened with our 110 shortly after the cam snapped. Mike

A conversation with nonimouse I while ago lead me to believe it maybe possible to replace the cam bearings without a full strip down. As has been suggested I think I need to get it here and apart enough to see what's what. Mike

To be honest I kind of knew the answer before I posted just wanted a reality check. If I had the money I would recon and go, but I don't so was looking at options. The biggest issue is it's my daily and I was hoping the current engine would buy me a year or two. Mike

It's only a no brainer if you can afford it, which I can't. Mike

That's about the numbers I thought it would be. Thank you. Mike

@western did you rebuild yours yourself or get a recon block. If the former what sort of cost was it. Mike

My biggest concern with rebuilding any of them is cost. I really can't afford for it to cost much more than £300-400 less if possible. @rusty_wingnut fittting a 300 is not going to happen. Firstly I'd need to buy one and a gearbox then I'd need new engine mounts, radiator and exhaust. Second a 300 is no better than a 200, no better on fuel and no more powerful. Yes there's more of them but they still have a set of standard problems just different ones to the 200. Mike