[kaltrol]

Driving home from work a few days ago, caught a wiff of a hot oily smell with traces of coolant, noticed the temp gauge waver then BANG!! temp needle smacks the big red H. By this stage i already had my foot on the clutch and coasted off to the side of the road. Under the bonnet i found my bottom hose had blown off. Seems the culprit was a rough ex owner or dodgy mechanic as the hose outlet on the botom tank had no more than 10mm of perished broken plastic to tighten the hose clamp over. I dodged her up, filled her with my drinking water and with a lot of arguments (no compression!!) the old girl started and I nursed her home.

Prior to this I had already noticed oil leaking from the back of the head, checked and tightened rocker seal bolts so a warped head im guessing. So with 260k km and a severe heart attack I'm now left to decide if I just replace the head, fix the cooling issue and put her back on the road, or pull the motor and go the full rebuild.

Lookin at $7.5+ for transplant motor, and being I'm a heavy vehicle fitter with my works full workshop at my disposal the DIY approach seems the best financial approach seems to be the next trek my GU and I will be taking...

KALTROL
98 2.8dt lpg inject.

 

[Troys 5.7 GU]

I feel for you buddy, I hope you get her all up and running quickly.

please take note of the culprit - Seems the culprit was a rough ex owner or dodgy mechanic
Not a 2.8 thing - Bad owners create bad cars

Go and beat the old owner with hose LOL
Cheers

 

[RosieBear]

put a donor 4.2 in her, will be cheaper in the long run.

 

[camp road]

Driving home from work a few days ago, caught a wiff of a hot oily smell with traces of coolant, noticed the temp gauge waver then BANG!! temp needle smacks the big red H. By this stage i already had my foot on the clutch and coasted off to the side of the road. Under the bonnet i found my bottom hose had blown off. Seems the culprit was a rough ex owner or dodgy mechanic as the hose outlet on the botom tank had no more than 10mm of perished broken plastic to tighten the hose clamp over. I dodged her up, filled her with my drinking water and with a lot of arguments (no compression!!) the old girl started and I nursed her home.

Prior to this I had already noticed oil leaking from the back of the head, checked and tightened rocker seal bolts so a warped head im guessing. So with 260k km and a severe heart attack I'm now left to decide if I just replace the head, fix the cooling issue and put her back on the road, or pull the motor and go the full rebuild.

Lookin at $7.5+ for transplant motor, and being I'm a heavy vehicle fitter with my works full workshop at my disposal the DIY approach seems the best financial approach seems to be the next trek my GU and I will be taking...

KALTROL
98 2.8dt lpg inject.

do research somewhere in cyber world, maybe you could import a engine for around $3500, ive heard of this around these traps a while ago...

 

[truckster]

Duramax...

 

[dlp81]

Duramax...

Hell yeah

 

[Jacket_1985]

put a zd30 in it!

 

[streeter]

haha screw that it will cost the world for a duramax....

just put an rb30det in it or an rb25det (plenty of threads on here about it) well and truely a better option or even just a simple v8 swap will work out the same in the end if the new heart is really going to cost you that much for a runner or rebuild.

 

[b00s7ed]

yeh a cooked my 2.8 aswell mate.. was the thermostat in mine.. im currently putting a rb25det neo engine in it but before i decieded to do that i spend a fair bit on the diesel engine. so if you need parts let me know.. i have everything bar head because its cracked but i have the block with new bearings main and big end, new crank honed and new rings, pistons were checked and my rods got measured and a new turbo..

 

[kaltrol]

Thankyou all

Cheers to all who have offered advice and parts etc, it is much appreciated.

 

[BeNos]

id either go full rebuild, with big dollars or for just as much, td42t conversion. works out alot better long term. bulletproof engine.
or if looking to change to a petrol. a v8 would be good but probably costly as gearboxs are different.

seems though weather dodgey mechenic previous or not. its a case of another 2.8 bites the dust.

 

[BeNos]

put a zd30 in it!

hmmm jacket you have some pretty silly things on this forum, but this easily takes the cake as the dumbest thing ever. or taken the wrong way a very dumb costly excercise haha.

 

[GUTourer]

i think he was pullin the p!ss .......lol

 

[GU Duke]

hmmm jacket you have some pretty silly things on this forum, but this easily takes the cake as the dumbest thing ever. or taken the wrong way a very dumb costly excercise haha.

i think he was pullin the p!ss .......lol

I had a good belly laugh when I read his recommendation... Somehow I think that is all he intended!

 

[camo75]

can i suggest pulling the head off and checking the bores to see what condition they are in. If you only overheated the motor chances are all you need to do is replace the head. Heads for the 2.8 are cheap i replaced mine this year and had a couple of prices in the $1500 range for a complete head ready to bolt on (most of these even came with a new timing belt kit)
If you are able to do the work yourself check the bores buy a new head and your all fixed for well under $2000.
The bottom ends of the 2.8 are known to be a strong unit and other than the harmonic balancer issues causing damage to the crankshaft not much else goes wrong with them.
You might want to invest in a new radiator though.

 

[T0nka]

this thread is making me nervous

 

[BRAHMAN]

I agree with camo 75. They are a bullet proof motor. Look after them, and they will serve you for years ah. It's the previous owner,diy or useless blokes that call themselves diesel mechanics that ruin the rep of these motors. My 2 cent worth.

 

[Troys 5.7 GU]

I agree with camo 75. They are a bullet proof motor. Look after them, and they will serve you for years ah. It's the previous owner,diy or useless blokes that call themselves diesel mechanics that ruin the rep of these motors. My 2 cent worth.

x2 What he said

 

[99GU2.8]

I went through a similar fate a year or so back.. Went through the process of a head rebuild. All is good and the motor is purring again... It wasn't that cheap in the end, and in hindsight I should have pulled the motor and put a 5Ltr V8 and gearbox in it for the same price.

It goes, but it is still a 2.8...... Thats what you need to ask yourself, it could be a good time to get an engine you coudl be happier with

Your call.....