hi i just wanted to post about my bad luck with my vl, the car has had 3 engines in it to date, the last and current engines have both had cracked heads, due to inexeperience and knowledge of changing the engine. the engine it came with was stuffed (so we thought and didnt want to keep anyway), the car had wiring problems (miss fire), all the engines had sat for a few months (noisy lifters). what i now believe we/i have done wrong was not bleed the coolent system, i didnt even know you could, and/or the radiator is blocked or stuffed. im only 18 and swaped the last engine on my own (just about) im self taught, so anyone reading this dont rush into something like i have. i am now stumped about what to do next, im almost out of engines, car's and money. dose anyone have any advise/tips, as i still want the car . thanks in advance Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

chin up and keep trying is all I can say... But mostly yes u do have to bleed the cooling system otherwise u will crack heads like a mofo.... VL's are a nitemare but they are worth it once u have them running right(for at least a week at a time)

yeah im thinking of getting that stuff that blocks the crack (for a lil while) to get me by for now, rip the engine out the exec and get a new radiator and hope to god its all good this time around, the only prob is that this engein has doen close to 800km yes 800, bought it at about 750, that was by far the best car to me.

was the engine rebuilt?

i know the trans in it was, as for the engine im guessing it was i realy dont know, when i picked it up i had just been stolen and found, wasnt in a good condition but she was great to drive (once fixed), part from the breaks, but it had a coolent leak was bone dry and died once i got it home, next morning it ran fine

You can get engines for next to nothing (or nothing!) so money shouldnt be an issue there. Next time you swap an engine over, check the water pump, flush the radiator out, and check to see if the thermostat is working which involves dropping it in a container of boiling water or just buy a lower temperature one. Theres a few ways of bleeding the system making sure theres no air inside, but all I do is jack the front of my car right up so the engine will be gravity fed once you start pouring coolant in the radiator. It seems to work, my engine doesnt get overly hot ever and I've done this a thousand times. As I said, theres a few different ways you can do it so do a search or look in the gregories manual.

Quote: Originally Posted by Magnum06 You can get engines for next to nothing (or nothing!) so money shouldnt be an issue there. Next time you swap an engine over, check the water pump, flush the radiator out, and check to see if the thermostat is working which involves dropping it in a container of boiling water or just buy a lower temperature one. . you cant buy lower temp thermostats as i looked for myself, but drill a few holes in it might help, and when it comes to radiators, let the professionals do it. thats my opinion

Quote: Originally Posted by Inspired you cant buy lower temp thermostats as i looked for myself, but drill a few holes in it might help, and when it comes to radiators, let the professionals do it. thats my opinion no, you *dont* want a lower temp thermostat, if anything its worth going up one notch in temp if you are a daily (more or less) careful driver... There are two bleed screws on the inlet side of the engine, one at the top on the "air gatherer", the other is on bottom part of inlet manifold. Both need to be cycled properly to remove air. I had one dreaded head crack many years ago and installed a cooling system pressuriser which automatically bleeds the air through a solenoid operated water valve. ie. Small electric water pump that puts water into system via one way valve off level sensor line (this raises water pressure to 15psi and some air goes out the radiator cap relief valve) Connect both bleeds together by a pipe as flow is very low there. Run a solenoid valve and pressure gauge off top bleed back to overflow. You can either manually cycle the pump and solenoid or do it via a relay timer at engine start. I had plans to make up a small controller but never got the special bit - a round "TuiT" see pics on my tech link at top of page from sig below Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Lower/higher, I got confused lol. All you have to do is go into repco or any good parts store and ask for a thermostat that will open sooner and they should sort you out. Old mans hemi needs a different thermostat for winter and summer as its such a fussy ass of an engine.

hey thanks for the advise ppl, i dont know if i said this but the engine i might be using was realy good for temp (even without bleeding, never hade any problem with the car) so i might bleed it when i put it in and if the tempsout at all at any time, ill take it to a shop and done correct. i put some chem-i-weld in tonight i have a feeling it worked even tho it said it wouldnt in my case (oil into coolent), tho its to soon to tell, should know late tomorrow. but on the plus side, now that its been bled its running cold as, gota watch them bumps tho coz some reson under heavy rev's the engine didnt like it, fires all over the place and died, wouldnt run smooh enought to keep going, untill i opened the bonet ??, cant be good, i think maybe some water mighta hit the alternator, only a guess.

Credit to the fact you are young and have managed to undertake serious mechanical work and are a self learner. Stick to it its just a matter of figuring out how everything works and then you can see what goes on under the bonnet and you will know what will affect what without having to ask someone. another simple way i used to bleed the coolant system is to undo the upper bleed bolt and pour water down the radiator overflow tube that connects to the cap neck (and joins to the overflow bottle after bleeding) untill no more bubbles flow with the coolant from the bleed hole. you must keep the tube higher than the bleed hole as you fill so gravity can do the rest. Also make sure your radiator cap is properly sealing the system as boiling point of a liquid is related to the pressure is under, in other words if you have a dodgy cap thats not holding pressure the coolant will get hot and will cause all sorts of problems. Also your not changing engines everytime a head failure occurs? if the head is stuffed you only need to replace the head and gaskets, or another possibilty might be the gasket itself is stuffed which you wont know for sure unless the head is pressure tested professionally. Any way good luck with it hope this helps

i have changed the engine two times now, never attempted to change the head yet and i dont think i will this time, i have herd that its a big job and it does cost more that just a swap, and ill need to know how tight to do the head bolts and such, no person i know knows this, or has the tools, so at seems just more simple to swap the engine, while i think about it i did read about replacing a head once in street commys might try and find it, you wonldnt happen to know any good threads on here, every bit of info helps thanks either way

http://www.calaisturbo.com.au/showth...=changing+head (http://www.calaisturbo.com.au/showthread.php?t=125268&highlight=changing+head) that should be a start but another thing you will find very helpful is either a Max Ellery or Haines or Gregory's VL manual, they cover service/repairs to all parts of the VL and give step by step prcedures on how to carry out work. they can be bought from any auto store for around $40, an invaluable item for any home mechanic. Changing the head isnt as hard as you think once you know what to do its a matter or carrying out the work and being careful as you go, i have changed plenty of heads on different cars, sourcing another second hand head, getting it tested as well as a gasket set costs me roughly $300-400. if you do it this way you will know the head/gaskets are fine and have plenty of life left (provided its done right), where as if you pick up a cheap engine you dont know exactly what the condition of things are inside. im sure if you can swap engines over a head change would be a breeze, and as for the torque specs and general procedure you cant go past the books i mentioned earlier.

If you can change an engine then its a cinch to change a head, done it twice on my car, first time for the cracked head due to lack of coolant, second time due to corrosion of a water gallery. First time took a full afternoon to take all the bits off, head sat in the workshop for another 3 days and 1 day to put it all back. Bit quicker the second time, procedure in Vol 2 of VL service manual is pretty good - followed it mostly to the letter the first time.