Anyone with heads off the block?
 

Could a couple of you check if there is movement when the head is set on the block? I’m having a heck of a time getting the lower intake to seal to the head. I read in a few posts about the head alignment dowels allowing for some slight movement when putting on the heads which could cause intake sealing problems.

Trying to narrow down my problem and don’t want to remove the heads needlessly. I have already had the lower intake off 3 times in the past two weeks. I’m sucking oil into the intake ports at a high rate. I can see the oil pooled in the heads and wet runners along with a wet gasket around each port.

Did you just recently replace the head gaskets?
Or how did you find the bad seal of the intake to the heads?
I would check the heads for you, but my block is still at the machine shop.
When I removed all of the head bolts, the heads on my engine didn't have any abnormal movement on the alignment dowell pins, and my head gaskets were also good, no leaks.

I just rebuilt the engine 700 miles ago. Was consuming oil before the rebuild which I thought was rings but hindsight it was probably the same problem. In my numerous tear downs I concluded it was the pcv drawing oil but I temporarily bypassed the pcv with a breather. Even after I still have oil pooled in the heads and wet runners

Sounds like someone cut the heads too much.

You could try using something to mark where the heads contact the intake, like prussian blue, or similiar. Basically what you would do if you wanted to port match the heads to the intake by marking and grinding away the excess aluminum.
Only just mark it, to see what the alignment looks like.
That would be a quick way to tell if indeed the heads have been milled down too much, and now they are misaligned.
Did you have the heads resurfaced?
Do you know your truck's history, or think it's possible that they had been resurfaced before?

It had been rebuilt 20k miles ago by previous owner. Fully done with flanged liners, cam etc. I thought I was really set but it’s been nothing but problems. Since I had it tore down top and bottom I decided to pull the block to check and refresh the rebuild. My shop commented they did not think the heads or the intake had been milled before. I would suspect my shop messed it up but I had the problem before they got it. Based on history, my personal opinion would be the heads had been planed previously.

Help me understand, if the heads are milled too much, how does that affect the alignment? I would think if done correctly, the angle would still be the same?

More - visually inspecting different brands of valley pan gaskets I tried, it appears I’m getting good crush and consistent impression on the gasket all the way around the intake port. However, I can see the wet oil around the bottom 1/3 of each port.

Here’s a prev post by me on the first valley pan gasket used on my rebuild. This cheap all-makes sealed better than the Mahle I tried twice. This most recent try I used ultra black permatex around each port. It’s using less oil but still a lot. Trying to get other ideas before tearing it down a 4th time. PCV is disconnected.
https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...fill-up-87755/

The heads become lower and the space between the heads is greater, only a fraction, but a fraction is all you need.
Some add a second set of intake gaskets.

Just brainstorming here, but did you check for cracks, intake, head, do the old gaskets look like they sealed, any indents? Is it just one side, only a couple ports?
How are you installing the lower intake gasket?

I have had this similar thought. This would sound as though the intake is bottoming out? It’s a V, why wouldn’t it just seat a bit lower?

I have examined it pretty close but each time I take it apart I look closer. There is nothing I have noticed. On inspection of old gaskets, it appears to have sealed. The engine shop has examined as well. No indents other than near the end seals. Is that normal? It is all ports but middle is worse than the ends.

Not sure what you are asking on the gasket install but following RAVE. To note, without the rubber end seals, all holes line up perfect. When I put the end seals on, each hole is just a little off. The gasket is partially blocking the bottom side of the hole. It takes a good amount of finessing to get the bolts in