Very confused and angry....

[symun]

Had the head skimmed, pressure tested and fitted yesterday.
Today it is still smoking but not as much and has lost some water.
Obviously i am taking it back for inspection but what else could it be.

Saw the block with the head off, everything looked perfect, no damage whatsoever.
He said the gasket had gone on cylinder 3.

All replaced with new gasket,bolts and everything.

I am at my wits end.

[listerdiesel]

The Discoveries all seem to take a while to get air out of the cooling system, so don't get too downhearted until it is shown to be ongoing.

Check all hoses and clips, they should be Jubilee clips by now, the old spring clips are a waste of time on used parts.

Smoking is a function of too much fuel or not enough air, or a combination of both.

What vehicle, year and engine is it?

Peter

[symun]

97 300tdi, 165k miles.

So far the only thing i can think of is the matrix being effed, it works but not very well.

So far its had new header tank, water pump, thermostat, radiator and then finally the head work.

It is better since i bled it this morning, he is a good mechanic but i dont think he has that land rover touch you need when trying to bleed a disco.

[listerdiesel]

Were those parts replaced because they were actually faulty?

Peter

[symun]

Thermostat was first as it was cheapest, then came the waterpump as that was the next thing as it didnt look to good and also didnt have a gasket(although there was nothing wrong with it).

The header tank was replaced as the older black version that was on it had burst a seam.

The resulting sustained pressure having a new header tank made the underlying HG problem more noticeable, the pressure instead of going out of the header tank slit was now through the cylinder.

I am presuming now that the pressure build up was due to a faulty matrix.

The radiator was changed at the same time as the HG being done as i was also getting high temp readings when going over 60 on the motorway and under load.
Just aswell really as it was a right mess when it came off, most of the fins on the front were knackered.

Could it just be residue left in the exhaust that is coming out, as its not that often and only slightly puffs out when i accelerate in first or second.

[listerdiesel]

You will have 'some' residue, but as long as it is smoke and not steam, then it shouldn't be HG related.

Worn inlet valve guides and seals will allow oil to be sucked down past the valves and it will burn as blue smoke.

Suggest you let it settle in, keep and eye on water and oil levels and report back in a few days.

Our V8 took a week or so to settle down and stabilise levels after the new short motor was fitted.

Peter

[Craigy Boy]

what colour smoke is it?

[symun]

White smoke with the distinct smell off coolant.
Although i cleared the matrix blockage, did a thorough bleeding of the system and took it for a blast.
Took a couple of minutes for it to heat up but the heaters are now hotter than ever and in the 15 minutes i was out i didnt see a trace of smoke.
Fingers crossed that the water level is the same in the morning and it doesnt smoke.

What i found with the matrix was that the blockage was causing the return to the bottom hose to be empty and cool, after my spin its as hot as the other hoses, also i swapped the water pipes to flow into the matrix the other way, in on the right and return on the left.

[symun]

Right then, today it was smoking like a trooper and the heater was ice cold.
Took it back to him to look over and he said all it could be is a crack in the block.
We sorted the matrix out, i joined both the pipes with a bit of copper tube and the pipe on the top of the head now heats up as the water is now circulating, so a new heater matrix is needed.

As regarding the block, i put a bottle of K-seal in and so far after around 20 miles of stop start motoring it seems to have done the trick.
I know its the wrong thing to do but if it means i can keep it running for a few more months then i don't mind.

The body work on my truck is mint, the boot floor is in almost showroom condition, it just seems that the middle owner didnt take care of the engine.