Series diesel head gasket / engine oil.

[repton]

Is there any particular gasket jointing compound that I should be using for the head gasket on an S2a 2.25 diseasel?

Also what grade of engine oil should I be using in it?

Ta,
Paul

[Graeme C.]

Hi Paul, the oil should be 20W/50 or 15W/40, according to the Land Rover manual. Hylomar should be used on the head gasket according to the same manual.
Hope that helps.

[Matthews]

Best seal on headgaskets is no sealant .
Matthew

[repton]

Best seal on headgaskets is no sealant .

I thought that might be the case but the Haynes Book Of Lies says to use sealant on it and googling suggests that the metal gaskets need a smear of sealant but the composite ones don't (and we have a metal one).

I'll put it together without though if you think that's the way to go 'cos at least if it doesn't seal it will be an easy clean up job to redo it. The head should be perfectly flat as it has been skimmed so the only unknown is the block.

Paul

[Matthews]

Think about it like this Paul , 24:1 compression ratio going bang , got to be pretty good sealant , they are made from soft copper so they seal the head to the block hence the name gasket (not trying to be facetious btw), similar principle to hydraulic compression joints , the brass olive is either harder or softer than the pipe it's used on (steel or copper) and so deforms either itself or the pipe to create a seal . Make sure you torque it down correctly using lbf/nm whatever , the angular rotation system is for composite jobbies , also don't forget to retorque (pia as you've got to remove rocker shaft) after 10 miles or so .
Matthew

[repton]

Makes sense, we'll put it on dry.

Interestingly the one we've got isn't copper, it's a silver metal of some kind. It's this kit we got:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250945109028

Paul

[Matthews]

Typo Paul should have been 100 miles or so

[repton]

Typo Paul should have been 100 miles or so

Fairynuff, that'll might take us a while though given that although it is driveable the vehicle in question needs (amongst many other things) a new chassis before it'll ever legally see the road.

Paul