RRC200Tdi Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 Hi all, The is just a PSA regarding a 200Tdi head I was watching on the most ubiquitous online auction site. I was interested in bidding on it as the price was excellent (starting and winning bid $250) and I have read about the propensity for these heads to crack. I wanted a backup since I am terrified of what awaits in my engine bay when I check the internals. Anyway I noticed a crack between the intake and exhaust valves and politely informed the seller. It seems someone placed a winning bid on it today. I don't know whether or not this is of the catastrophic variety, but I wanted to let you all know in case one of you or someone you know were the winning bidder and would like to back out. The name of the auction was, "Land Rover 200tdi Aluminum Cylinder Head Defender Range Rover Discovery", shipping from Whitesboro, Texas. All the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 (edited) I have a head like that. Its on the shelf now. I am told it is scrap, but I have space so have kept it. The engine had a headgasket failure which is why the head came off. It was running fine (apart from the HG) and I don't think the cracks in those spots were causing any issues. I have two spares that are not cracked as well as the one currently on the engine but you never know how rare these will become and whether repair will look like a good idea in years to come. Hopefully my good heads will outlive me! I wouldn't knowingly buy one with a crack though unless I was really desperate. Edited December 7, 2020 by reb78 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRC200Tdi Posted December 7, 2020 Author Share Posted December 7, 2020 Yeah, I am glad I didn't bid on it. I would have been kicking myself when it turned up with a crack. Someone was selling a nice one here in the US awhile back. It was available for ages, but I was living in Germany and was unable to make arrangements to get it. At least I managed to get a good spare set of 200Tdi injectors before they became hen's-teeth rare. If I need to do a full rebuild and my head is bad I will look into going the 300Tdi head route. Cheaper and available injectors and heads. I already have the 300Tdi injector pipes and clamps, so I kind of already prepared for that possibility. I just hope my head is in good condition and I don't even have to consider it 🤞 Reb78, I hope you live a long time and your heads outlive you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 12 hours ago, reb78 said: I have a head like that. Its on the shelf now. I am told it is scrap, but I have space so have kept it. The engine had a headgasket failure which is why the head came off. It was running fine (apart from the HG) and I don't think the cracks in those spots were causing any issues. I have two spares that are not cracked as well as the one currently on the engine but you never know how rare these will become and whether repair will look like a good idea in years to come. Hopefully my good heads will outlive me! I wouldn't knowingly buy one with a crack though unless I was really desperate. Going by the apparent scarcity of these heads now I wouldn't bin it. I find it odd why something like this can't be weld repaired, maybe its an cost issue, but I think the scales are not all that far from being tipped the other way if people just bin them after finding such cracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 8 minutes ago, Maverik said: Going by the apparent scarcity of these heads now I wouldn't bin it. I find it odd why something like this can't be weld repaired, maybe its an cost issue, but I think the scales are not all that far from being tipped the other way if people just bin them after finding such cracks. I agree completely with all of that. Its in the box the new one was stored in waiting for the day that repair is possible/cost effective. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Hmmm the engineer who looked at mine said that it might last 7 more miles or 7 thousand. So I binned it and used my spare. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcan bomber Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 The crack is perfectly repairable by a competent welder. The problem will come from then having to rebore where the valve seats fit, then you will need new, custom valve seats to fit the new bore size. It's not a cheap process unless you have a pile to go at, and I don't have the funds behind me to buy up the heads because they go for stupid amounts of money. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 I know 200tdi heads are getting hard to find, what would you expect to pay for a 200tdi head with no cracks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 I think I picked one up, refaced including valves, for just shy of £300 Phil. I am glad I had it as when my HG went a couple of years ago this went straight on. I bought another spare from Miketomcat on here but cant remember what I paid now - that was as it came off of the engine but no cracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HampshireHog Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 There was or maybe still is one on eBay as a rebuilt unit for a starting price of £180 , it’s been resisted as no interest first time round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 I can only see this one. Looks like a small crack between the valves forming on the right side. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-200tdi-Cylinder-Head-with-valves-fitted-and-Payen-DV720-gasket-kit-/203208546774?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 10 minutes ago, reb78 said: I can only see this one. Looks like a small crack between the valves forming on the right side. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-200tdi-Cylinder-Head-with-valves-fitted-and-Payen-DV720-gasket-kit-/203208546774?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292 That one looks like it has a crack from the glow plug hole to the new valve. I saw this one and it is why I asked the question. I wonder if it will sell for that price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 I just messaged the seller and they came back to me to say they'd check. I suppose they could just be marks that look like cracks on the photo. We'll see what they come back with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneandtwo Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 I have binned three 300tdi heads recently with the same cracks between the valves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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