Frax Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Took my Defender into my garage today to look for an oil leak which I thought was coming from my crank shaft seal, but no it was coming from the head gasket. Thought I would re-torque the head as it has never been checked since the rebuild 3 years ago. Rocker cover removed and head bolts checked – one of them was loose – well not loose but not to torque setting. When removing the rocker cover I noticed that I require new diesel return pipes the loop to the injectors – if anyone has a part number for these let me know. Since I was in there I thought I would recheck my valve clearance which I think should be .20 mm. Only one valve was rocking and the gap looked huge and no wonder – the valve cap had worn through and all that was left was a ring. Need to replace them all now and I read on here that there are some soft ones out there that don’t last but there are also some hardened steel ones which are the ones to get. Can anyone recommend where to get a set of hardened steel ones from ? found part number ERR1158 or LJC100270 ?? big difference in price to. Thank god I just serviced her and I can only hope the any steel fragments of the old caps came out with the old oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Two things. Is it a 300Tdi. If so look at the inlet manifold gasket. They split and oild runs out. That's on the left side of the engine. The valve caps do break as you have found out. A Land Rover dealer will have them in stock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 That side of the engine is dry, are LR caps the best as I will be ordering these as I am going away for two weeks and my nearest dealer is 40 miles away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Halfords stock pack of spill return hose, thats what I used on my 200tdi, been fine since fitting, the originals were 24 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Is the spill pipe 1/8 id ? or for the young ones 3.2mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Can't remember but it fitted fine, nice & tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 1/8" sounds about right for the spill pipe. I got a set of valve caps from Turner Engineering, they said the Land Rover spec ones are soft/rubbish and won't last. Obviously one should take that with a pinch of salt but their ones were no dearer I don't think. The ones they supplied came from MWM International Engines in Brazil, who made the 2.8TGV derived from the 300Tdi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Yip found them and order placed, I do not think the Land Rover ones can be that bad as my ones have done 78k and have only worn down in the last three years for some reason. I did check them when I did the rebuid three years ago and they looked fine, I can not remember how close an inspection I gave them though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 A manifold gasket does not leak oil. Leaking spill pipes on the injectors will lose a lot of fuel which could end up looking like an oil leak if the engine is dirty, so see how you get on with those first. 300 Tdis do tend to blow head gaskets at around 80k, though. It's not too bad a job, as long as you haven't suffered gas erosion of the head. You can do the job in a single day, but you will need a torque wrench and an angle wrench (if memory serves, the head bolts are tightened to a fairly low torque and then angle tightened twice by 60 degrees, but that is one flat of the bolt head, so if you mark the position of the breaker bar on your socket and then rotate the socket back one flat and pull the bar to the mark, it'll be accurate enough). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 The head gasket was replaced three years ago but it could be as said the spill pipe leaking. I know I have a leak/ weep at the take off for my oil feed to pressure gauge, when I fitted it I could not get it right tight due to the fitting hitting another part of the engine. It is tight but does weep a very small amount when hot. I wonder if it is just the spill pipe leaking and spraying thined oil all over. To be honest its not that bad - It never needed topping up even after a year which is another reason it may just be the spill pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted February 24, 2015 Author Share Posted February 24, 2015 Well changed the valve caps today and found that there seams to been some of them changed before as they don't look the same. Never noticed when I put it beack togeather but then again I was not looking that close. This is what I found The caps are all well worn, fitted new spill pipes as well and also tightened up the cyclone breather which I found had worked it self loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 The cylonic breathers are only sealed with an o-ring on the neck that goes into the rocker cover, so if that is split,t hey make a hell of a mess. Same for a loose bolt - the oil sill sweat past the threads and then easily escape past the head; that's why they use a flange headed bolt which seals against the steel insert through which it passes. Glad you're sorted, anyway. Give the engine a good wash and then just periodically check for leaks. I think you'll find that it was the spill lines or breather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 The spill lines were all a bit rotten and some were split at the ends. I could not believe the valve caps as it was still running na to bad, a lot smother now though. I just hope that the metal bits from the caps came out when I changed the oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Some of the bits might still be in there, but it doesn't matter - they'll sit at the bottom of the sump; they won't get picked up by the oil pump, and even if they did, they wouldn't pass through the gauze on the pickup pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 I may be lucky then, I had the sump off about 6 months ago and cleaned it out when I re-sealed it. It does not matter how long you leave a sump off as when yo go back under to fit it there is always a drip of oil just waiting to drop in your eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Isn't that the truth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cackshifter Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Turners do upgrade valve caps (just for the record, too late for this instanceI know) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 They were ordered from Turners Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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