Bored while my G is repaired. :(
well, I have been without my G for 9 days now, and having to walk to work in the rain is not as thrilling as I had kidded myself into believing it would be.
After a long time of trying to work out why the swb 280 wasnt running so well, I discovered it was the cylinder head gasket leaking on the intake side of the engine which isnt easy to spot as there is a lot of intake manifold in the way. appears to be between the 2-3 cylinders
Leaving him parked up for a week over xmas, I started the engine to get him warmed up and ended up with a black puddle of oil on the lawn coming from the exhaust with a cloud of steam that would make a power station proud.
I looked at the 280ce haynes manual with the 110 engine and realised this was not a job for the faint hearted as just removing the headers is a job I would not want to do with most of the bolts having not moved in 20 years, let alone stripping the rest of the block down.
After many phone calls, a lot of garages werent even willing to attempt the job and I had to go with a merc specialist just south of canterbury for approx £1200 quid inclusive.
The service is good, as they have sent the head off to a machine shop to have it skimmed, and luckily they havent found any other glaring problems when they stripped it all down. I was pretty sure they would need to re-thread the number 5 spark plug hole as It took a breaker bar to get it out last time. but apparently not.
I gave the bloke a can of high temp paint and a disposable camera and asked him to paint the exhaust headers and take photos of the job which I will upload as soon as I get them developed.
so I am bored, stuck at work facing a long walk home (in the rain) and though I would share my woes with the rest of the G community.
if anyone needs a specialist in kent, class cars of wingham seem to be the best option.
sympathy for being without by beloved truck is welcome. I now know how big a part of my life the G is, and how much I miss it when its not here.
at least I can have a pint or two before I go home.
cheers.
Keep your pecker up mate! My woe is I've not yet bought Mud tyres so it's too wet n muddy to go and play this weekend! Enjoy your pint.
Sorry to hear the gwagon is not well hope it gets well soon. i might have a spare engine if you need parts or the whole lump
I experianced exactly the same problem/insident in autum 2007.
It was my 350 GD. Headgasket blew the same way and I was a mess after the incident..
A friend of mine is a skilled mechanic and he took the job to fix it on his shoulders. I had to drive a small rentalcar for 3 weeks before the engine was restored. So I know the feeling (well I didnt have to walk..) But i missed my G alot those weeks.
It has been running like new since it was restored and its not consuming any oil.
Hang in there mate! :)
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well the g is back! YAY
The cold start isnt as bad as it was, and the engine is a lot cleaner. the idle is great now, but the vibration in the drivetrain is as bad as ever.
but one thing at a time eh? have got the council to agree I dont need planning permission for my new uber sized garage. once that is built I can spend more time in the dry taking a look at the rest of the issues heh. :)
The head was machined back to normal and they re-honed the valve seats too. :) so at least I know that the engine is in good condition for another 100,000 miles. not bad for 1500 quid all considered, the merc garage wanted 2000 and they hadnt quoted for machining the head at all.
I can recommend class cars of wingham (near canterbury) as a good place to do business. :)
will post photos as soon as I can get the rest of the camera used up and get them developed.
Cheers all.
Jed