Picked up a can of brake cleaner so we'll see how that goes.

Disconnected fuel injector harness but the far end continues down the back of the engine so I can't just lift it out of the way like RAVE says. I'll have to figure that out later. It seems to reference the older 3.9 engine layout a lot which has been confusing at times. I end up just falling back to the concept of "just disconnect everything to get this part out".

Hoses look and feel good to me so I suspect they've been replaced at some point recently.

I've noticed orange liquid gasket material on the intake plenum too which has me suspicious.

Do I really have to take off the alternator(RAVE calls it a generator?) and compressor to do this?

 

Removing the alternator is quite simple, two bolts and 3 electrical connections. I do not know if it is absolutely necessary.

The orange stuff on the intake would concern me, it's probably been off for some reason.

I do know Spike has advocated washing the radiator out with a garden hose at least.

Others do advocate pulling the radiator and having it acid flushed (boiled out) and rodded to ensure it is clear. This would be a great time to do it as you have the coolant drained. Also ensure the oil cooler and tranny cooler portions are not blocked.

Realize this is a 15 year old vehicle with fairly high milage. Make the most out of having it apart. If you do pull the radiator, for the price of a gasket, you can pull the water pump and eyeball it to ensure it is still inj good condition before you put it all back together. Savannah Buzz has posted pics on other posts showing what a bad one versus a good one looks like. The LR waterpump impeller is staked on and tends to loosen with age. You do not want to be this deep into it and overlook something that critical to proper operation.

Make the most out of the money that the dealer has offered as a settlement. It is very probable that the engine has seen some overheating already, so you want to be safe not sorry.

I was curious as to what the asking price was for this vehicle. You said you paid $3500, was that full asking price or did he start off even higher. I doubt he had more than $1000 in it to begin with. His initial offer tells me that he knows he took you, so even refunding you $400, he is still way ahead. Have you contacted BBB or anything like that?

Keep at it and I am sure you can resolve it all quite well.

 

I'll just man up and pull it all off. The radiator needs to be flushed anyways like you said.

I'll look at the water pump too.

It's a small lot. Asking was 4888, worked him down to 3100 cash plus 500 trade in for my old car. He may have got a raw deal from whoever he got it from too, but I don't know. Another guy claims they made no money on it after the 400. I can't see their books so I don't know.

Just ordered the head gasket kit with bolts for 110$ shipped from British Pacific.

 

Well then I guess you're doing pretty good getting $400 back from him and calling that even. I paid about that much just for the entire gasket kit on sale and it did not include the new bolts. If the quality is there, then you did well at that price.

I beleieve you will be much further ahead if you go ahead and remove the radiator completely and clean it out really good since debris is known to accumulate between the radiator and the air condition coils. That way you can either wash out the radiator yourself or send it to a good independent radiator shop. You want one that has been in business a long time and can boil it, rod it out and fix any issues with it as this are made for that.


Remove the grill and set it aside as well. There is a round cooler behind the grill that is the transmission cooler. Mine had a pinhole leak in the line that was spraying transmission fluid. Look at your lines and make sure they are good (they probably are).

You will be better off after you work your way thru this because one that old with that many miles is bound to have issues, so you might as well get ahead of the curve and be proactive rather than waiting for each little things to break.

Welcome to Discovery Recovery. And think of all the fun you will get to have.

 

Something does not seem right. I've followed RAVE as close as possible and it's not coming apart right.

1. The red line shows the path of the injector harness. RAVE says to lay it to the side. But it can NOT be moved for two reasons. It splits off at the bottom and goes somewhere underneath the alternator. At the top/end it goes somewhere behind the engine. RAVE says nothing about this.

2. To get to bolt pointed to by yellow arrow the fuel regulator must be removed. To remove the fuel regulator the distributor must be removed(circled in blue). There's nothing in RAVE about removing the distributor before the regulator.

It's almost like I should ignore the RAVE and just take it all apart. I'm also realizing now how much is going to be removed. Nearly everything. I'm disappointed I have to remove the compressor too as then I have to deal with recharging. Ohwell.

 

You should be able to unbolt the compressor with hoses still attached and move it out of the way. I don't know for sure on a D1, but when I replaced the engine on my D2, I never had to disconnect the compressor, just unbolt it from the engine and move it to the left fender area with hoses still attached.

 

Made more progress today. Got the "distributor" off the back which let me get the fuel pressure regulator off which let me get to that damn rear intake manifold bolt. Whew. Interesting point: most of the intake manifold bolts were LOOSE. One was even backed out quite a ways. I can lift up the back but something is still holding the front down so I've yet to get it off.

Is it just me or is the RAVE way off? It would have been way easier to take the AC compressor off, then the alternator, then all the other crap in the way that it doesn't even mention. Also the heater hose fitting coming out of the water pump is right above one of the bolts making it a total b***h to get out.

Also it does look like the compressor could be set to the side. I'll try later.

 

the harness, once the fuel injector clips are loosed, can just be pulled out of the way on each side. It'll loosen up. You're on the right track...and it does suck getting the coil packs off the back. Stick with it.. Feels good once you get the intake manifold off. You bought the replacement valley pan etc right? I'd be willing to bet that your intake manifold being loose is what lost the original coolant causing the overheat/possible warped head job you're living with now. Too bad you didnt find it earlier
good luck. if theres anything we can do/....

 

At this point you should know where all the bolts are that you have taken off, and where they go back to. If not, time to start a system. You did buy new stretch head bolts? Can't re-uee what is there.

 

So I shouldn't have thrown them all into that coffee can?

Actually I've put them all in bags labeled where they came from.

This is the kit I ordered.
http://www.britishpacific.com/common...p=BPWBKT6&q=fp