I just changed my head gaskets and 1,000 miles later they blew. I missed something……

Heres what I did to the engine. It has 195k on the block. The old thermostat split in half and overheated the engine. Head gasket failure was combustion gas in the radiator fluid.
today it’s the same thing, combustion gases in the radiator fluid.
So I
-Had the heads redone with new valve seals and surfaced. Everything is in spec.
-Used ARP studs, not the torque bolts. Final torque value was 75/lbs
-New punch rods
-New in line thermostat.
-New power steering pump/hoses.

Any ideas on why this is happening again?

 

Cracked block

 

It could be a cracked block, or it could be just another blown hg due to the studs. I wrote up a lengthy post on the use of studs here: https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...92/#post786998 If you want to take another run at it you could pull the heads and see if it is an obvious gasket blow, if it is not then it is likely a cracked block. You can pressure test it if you like, I do pressure test all my blocks before rebuilding. There are videos on youtube on how to do it although I do mine hot so that there is no doubt.

 

What is the symptom you're experiencing that's making you realize the HG is blown again?

 

Looks like OP said combustion gas in the overflow tank..

 

Ah, indeed. Saw that, but I guess I was wondering, like… is this just something OP checked for post-op on a regular basis or did something happen to cause them to check for combustion gas in the overflow tank.

 

Here’s what happened and some history.

I was driving my car, looked down and noticed my engine was overheating. My aftermarket temp gauge said 240.

I pulled the car over, waited for it to cool down and refilled it with water. All the radiator fluid had been blown out of the coolant tank. Kept the radiator cap off and it started bubbling away.

For some history on the block. My thermostat failed, it overheated and my wife kept driving it for 15 miles. She was out of cell reception.

My guess at this point is
-Improperly torqued studs
-Cracked block
-Warped block.

At any rate getting a spare block for these things seems now like a good idea.

 

You say you had the heads done...But you didn't have the block checked to see if it was true level?

Barring that I think evidence and experience leads me to say cracked block.

Been there done that... At this point you have nothing to lose on this block, add a bottle of HG fix to the coolant and see if that "fixes" the problem for a while... If so it probably is a cracked block. You'll want to clean and replace whats not new in the cooling system if you replace the block anyway. I got an extra 10k miles doing this with my cracked block... Gave me time to find a good replacement.

 

Looks like I’m pulling another engine.

Saw some engines on eBay. Any other good place to find a short block?

 

All things considered, is it not just a better value to get a new engine from Turner or AB?