Simo's inherited 306 HDi

[simo2007]

Continuing from where I left off... the time frame is approximately three weeks, with most work being carried out on the weekends!

Engine was taken out, so I got to work on stripping everything around the head. Rocker cover came off, injector pipes, injectors, injector seals, inlet manifold, EGR + pipework, exhaust manifold + turbo etc...

Locked up the camshaft and flywheel to keep everything in correct timing and began undoing the head bolts opposite from tightening sequence, approximately 45 degrees at a time. 

Here was the damage...





The head gasket was pretty damn shot! You can also clearly see the k-seal that my Grandad used approximately 4 years ago. It still blows my mind to think that this car ran for over 4 years with a buggered head gasket.

And here is the underside of the cylinder head, can anyone guess where it went? 



After a morning with the trusty engine shop I use back in Birmingham, they concluded it was not warped, but took 5 thou off to freshen it up, and lapped the valves. It cleaned up like new!



Ordered the new head bolts and a 5 notch head gasket to be safe. Unfortunately, after cleaning the block face up, I was presented with substantial corrosion near the fire rings and the water passages







Being slightly disheartened, since I wanted it running again, I called upon a google search and discovered JB Weld. I don't have any photos showing the filling and prep around the corrosion, but I spent a good 2 hours or so making sure it was as flat as possible with very fine sandpaper. 

After putting the head back together, I was on to the task of getting the head bolts torqued down, I did it in 4 stages in the correct tightening sequence, 20nm, 60nm, 110 degrees and 110 degrees. I would consider myself above average in terms of strength (230kg deadlift, 160kg bench press, 170kg squat), but holy moly Batman, I was getting a major sweat on tightening those head bolts!

I didn't really take many photos from this point because I was on a roll, he says, until I tried to fit the gearbox back on!



Bloody thing took me the best part of 2 hours. Next time I will get a proper alignment tool, but I got there eventually...



And then I put the engine back in the car, and the rest is history!



In summary, I replaced the following parts whilst the engine was out

- Head gasket and head bolts
- Both crankshaft seals
- Camshaft seal
- Clutch, pressure plate and thrust bearing
- Injector seals
- Rocker cover gasket
- Tidied up rusty threads around the head
- Inlet manifold and exhaust manifold gasket
- New coolant pipe from back of engine to bottom drivers side of radiator
- New radiator
- Auxiliary belt (shortened, air con delete)
- Gearbox mount

Issues along the way

- Pitting around the cylinder block face, I think this may have been either due to lack of maintenance along its life (i.e. infrequent coolant changes) or the head gasket being shot for so long, or a combination of both
- Head bolts sounded horrible when tightening back up, and that was a graft in itself
- Getting the gearbox back on was an absolute pig, alignment tool next time for sure!
- CV boot clip on inner CV joint drivers side was awkward to get on, must have taken me well over an hour to fit it properly and crimp it down
- Not fitting gear linkages correctly caused one to pop off, had to get mole grips on to make sure properly connected and ensure pitch angle was correct
- Flat battery when trying to restart the engine after putting it back together, bought a 12A fast charge and that was solved in an hour
- Earth lead wasn't tightened as well as I thought on the gearbox, meant it would not start intermittently (just a click from the start motor, no turning over)

Surprisingly easier things than I had anticipated 

- Keeping the timing locked up, I can't stress this enough but just take lots of pictures with tip-ex markings!
- Taking the engine out of the engine bay, surprisingly easier than I thought, just need to drop the gearbox side first and twist engine out with cam belt side toward you first

Some more notes...

I didn't change the cam belt and water pump, it was fitted at 166k just over 2 years ago, so I figured there's at least another 2 if not 3 years left in it. I actually changed it previously, so it won't be too much of a pain to do again with the engine in. I plan to give it a full service very soon. I'm running water only in the cooling system to flush out all the old crap. I'm also running a drilled thermostat and will change it for the new one I have this weekend, along with fresh water and antifreeze.

One final issue whilst test driving it for 45 mins last night, after sorting the gear linkages out, I forgot to tighten up the charge pipe from the air box to the inlet pipe, no wonder it was boosting loud and not very hard.

Took it to work this morning, 35 miles into West London. She's running lovely, everything feels much tighter than before. I also discovered that two fuel injector lines were leaking before I did the head gasket, so with this tightened up, fuel efficiency should also be a hair better! There's also no crazy pressurizing from the coolant system now!

Hope this is of use to someone, I will keep it updated with odds and bobs I'm doing over time and if anyone has any questions at all, I'd be happy to help. 

I plan to take it back to Birmingham soon to the cemetery to tell my Grandad what I've been up to with it. Just wish he was still here so I could show him in person.

---

Good work Simo. You've managed to do more in a couple of months than I have in the past year! Really pleased for you that it's gone so we'll considering the car's sentimental value.

Thanks for your kind words Mighty, what are your plans for yours?