Am I good to go
#1
Am I good to go
So I finally put on my big boy pants and decided to tear down my engine to see if I had a blown head gasket and sure enough I might?? I drained the oil and good amount of coolant came gushing out then the oil. I took bank 2 cylinder head off and there was a bunch of coolant in cylinder 2. This is my first attempt ever in doing a head gasket. The process wasn't complicated but I'm not sure if I cracked head or engine. I looked at the sleeves and they look intact. Now this Coolant not filled by me but by Firestone, was the yellow universal peak coolant that replaced the coolant that I put in which was the Peak pink for land rover. Do you think this coolant could have jeopardized and possibly cause it to seep thru into the cylinders. And despite it overheating, is it possible I can get the motor to run again by replacing the head gaskets and machining the heads if needed or did Firestone screwed me by putting in the some universal crap? I posted pics for reference,
#2
Firestone didn't cause your problem... Most folks ditch the pink and go to universal coolant anyway, the only important thing is to do a good flush first as they don't mix well... But that won't cause your issue.
Can't tell from your pics if you had an internal head gasket leak... Only you would know that by evidence of a failed gasket around number 2. Did you take a picture of the HG before you removed it from the block?
Chances are that was the issue, but again, we can't tell because you cleaned off the gasket before you took the pictures you posted.
Can't tell from your pics if you had an internal head gasket leak... Only you would know that by evidence of a failed gasket around number 2. Did you take a picture of the HG before you removed it from the block?
Chances are that was the issue, but again, we can't tell because you cleaned off the gasket before you took the pictures you posted.
#3
Firestone didn't cause your problem... Most folks ditch the pink and go to universal coolant anyway, the only important thing is to do a good flush first as they don't mix well... But that won't cause your issue.
Can't tell from your pics if you had an internal head gasket leak... Only you would know that by evidence of a failed gasket around number 2. Did you take a picture of the HG before you removed it from the block?
Chances are that was the issue, but again, we can't tell because you cleaned off the gasket before you took the pictures you posted.
Can't tell from your pics if you had an internal head gasket leak... Only you would know that by evidence of a failed gasket around number 2. Did you take a picture of the HG before you removed it from the block?
Chances are that was the issue, but again, we can't tell because you cleaned off the gasket before you took the pictures you posted.
Front side
Rear side
#7
HG looks fine, no breaks in it. 90% sure those are the OEM HG but your photos are not super high res and focused. If they are there will be a LR symbol over cylinder 7 on the top side of the gasket and a part number 50030 over number 2. Tell me the story of how the overheating started, miles on truck, how hot did it get. Did you drain the coolant before removing the head? How? Cross hatch in the cylinders look fine.
#9
HG looks fine, no breaks in it. 90% sure those are the OEM HG but your photos are not super high res and focused. If they are there will be a LR symbol over cylinder 7 on the top side of the gasket and a part number 50030 over number 2. Tell me the story of how the overheating started, miles on truck, how hot did it get. Did you drain the coolant before removing the head? How? Cross hatch in the cylinders look fine.
#10
Ok, that all makes sense. Based on the photos it looks like your hg was leaking coolant externally down the front of the block. There is a small spot on the bottom of the outside edge of the coolant hole next to cylinder #2 where it looks like it was leaking. The normal cause of blown hg is overheating. The normal cause of overheating is low coolant or stuck thermostat. The normal cause of low coolant is deterioration of the polymer components in the system or a worn water pump bearing/seal.
Other points to note:
At this point the most worrying thing is the coolant in the oil, I would remove the front cover and look for a blown gasket. If you can confirm a blown front cover gasket you can risk putting new gaskets back on it with an inline thermostat to control the temperature. If you really wanted to be sure you were good to go you could hot pressure test the block, but that is pretty involved to get the hardware and conduct that test.
Other points to note:
- Water in the oil is normally caused by blown front cover gasket, which is caused by overheating.
- Not draining the coolant is why you have so much in the cylinders.
- Temp sensors do go bad, checking with an IR gun is the correct way to confirm that.
At this point the most worrying thing is the coolant in the oil, I would remove the front cover and look for a blown gasket. If you can confirm a blown front cover gasket you can risk putting new gaskets back on it with an inline thermostat to control the temperature. If you really wanted to be sure you were good to go you could hot pressure test the block, but that is pretty involved to get the hardware and conduct that test.