So is it looking like the recent HG repair was not done correctly leading to your current problem?

 

looks like it was half assed at this point with the locking tabs mising, intake manifold bolts loosey goosey and rocker shaft bolts over torqued. I was looking at the RAVE and the locking tabs that are supposed to be on the exhaust manifold bolts are MIA hence the missing bolt and accompanying exhaust leak on cyl #7. I'll have to get a new set. Going to replace the studs on the drivers side downpipe. One came out with the nut, one had been sheared and the nut was barely threaded onto the remaining bit. We'll see tonight when i get the heads off if there is any schmutz on the head gasket which is what it looks like from the edges. I do like the fact that i can access everything very easily with no need to jack the truck up or take things apart to access bits.

 

Well, its confirmed. Whoever did the headgasket on the Rover last deserves a swift kick in the nuts for using rtv on the HG mating surfaces.. pulled bank 1 tonight and it was all gooped to hell.

 

That's sad...do all the work to get the heads off then screw it up like that. Hopefully there is still enough meat on the heads for another trip to the machine shop. Ideally they won't need anything and you can just clean it all up and put it back together properly.

 

Yeah, oddly enough the heads are super clean inside like they had been gone over, valve guides and seals all look new.. Only to skimp and use RTV on the HG, what a waste.. Oh well - at least i know it will be done right this time..

 

Could you take some pictures of what they did? Did they use RTV in addition to gaskets or in place of? I guess those should be installed dry?

The reasons I am asking is that I have never done this type of repair as lots of other less experienced/new owners are in the same boat and I prefer to learn from mistakes of others when possible to keep from making a similar idiotic mistake myself.

I also keep wondering if there are any fasteners that need to be checked on prior to having a problem that may have worked their way loose over the years but not yet caused a gasket failure.

Every time I read the details of these types of issues, I try to learn as much as possible, knowing one day I will most likely be facing a HG replacement on mine.

 

I'll snap some photos of the offending mess tonight. They used RTV in addition to the composite headgasket. The headgasket should go on dry so it can contract and expand with the head and block. I'll take off the passenger side head tonight once i get the a/c compressor / alternator bracket off. Couldn't find my 13mm gear wrench last night and took forever to get the power steering pump/bracket un bolted from the head.

Water is slowly dripping out of a small hole in the mid muffler now that the exhaust manifolds are off. Should be a nice cloud of steam once i get everything back together and started back up.

There was an additional exhaust leak on cylinder #8 at the head to manifold junction as witnessed by carbon build up on the gasket where it was leaking. No leak at the manifold to downpipe junction on the passenger side though..

On the upside, at least i got to enjoy my truck for a few months after buying it unlike what Eric ran into after purchasing his which was literally a few days before i bought mine..

 

X2 on the dry fit, that is in bold green letters in the RAVE. There is also a flatness spec of .002 inch, so you can review and perhaps avoid a trip to the machine shop.

 

After i get all the schmutz off the head mating surfaces i'll grab the feeler gauges and a straight edge and see how things look. I still cant believe someone gooped it up with RTV.. i've seen a lot of mickey mouse bs in my days from working on VW's but this takes the cake..

 

got bank 2 off tonight. Headgasket let go in-between the outer edge of cylinder 8 and the water jacket at the end of the block. Blew out quite badly, I'll post pics once I get to work tomorrow. Bank 2 was all gooped up just like bank 1. I'm actually glad that it blew out as badly as it did because that means there was little chance of it achieving enough pressure in the cylinder to do any piston / rod damage. Piston lines up just like the others at TDC.