RD28T Cylinder Head Replacement done WRONG caused bearing failure? or Not?

[dfunkymnky]

Hi, Im Fiona
I'm hoping someone can help me please. I just had my RD28T head replaced and was told it wouldn't idle because they set the valve clearances to stock settings but I apparently have an aftermarket cam. They took the head back off and told me a few days later that they were taking it for one test drive on the freeway and I could come and pick it up. I was driving to Queensland towing my caravan the next day. $2600 later he sent me on the way and said keep a close eye on the temp and the oil..... it seemed ok for the first 1km....first hill it was gutless but I presumed that it was the weight of the caravan which I have towed many times but not for a while due to the cracked head.
We stopped 50km's down the road at McDonalds and 30 mins later we hit the road again.....as soon we got going I heard a tapping noise coming from the near the top of the motor. I pulled over and had a look, checked oil and water, fan belts....it all seemed fine. I tried to drive on further and the noise got louder and louder. It sounded like metal inside the rocker cover flicking around and around. I borrowed my Dad's car and still made it up to QLD luckily.
RACV towed my car straight back to the mechanic for me so he could check the noise in the head. We are back home now and I called the mechanic who should have called me. He told me "Sorry but your bottom end bearing no. 2 has gone....we have pulled of your sump (without calling me first) and you told me l need to replace the crank, conrods and all bearings. He said I must have had a weak bearing and it has let go.
Yes I am female but I dont believe what he is telling me. If my valves were set incorrectly and if one has possibly got bent could this have contributed to the supposed bearing failure. He wants me to come in and he will show me the bearing and tell me my options.
I'd love to hear you opinions on my situation because Im about to loose it GRRRR!!!

[nissannewby]

I don't think the head swap would cause the damage but improper practices will. If they haven't kept the engine clean and try to seal it up while the head was off then some sort of contaminate may have gotten in.

As for it not idling properly because of an aftermarket cam I call bs on that. Your mechanic sounds like he shouldn't be a mechanic.

[MudRunnerTD]

Mat i saw only a couple of weeks ago a 3lt that had been put back together and teh timing belt was 3 teeth out and the whole thing was lumpy and got expensive quickly. It sounds like Fiona's "Mechanic" has put something back together wrong and could not tune it so blamed an "after Market Cam" WTF! Thats a Big call! if it was put together out of timing then he will never tune it.

No way does any of that sound right. Demand some answers. Mat how does she go about getting a second opinion and what recourse would she have?

Mat (Nissannewby) s your man Fiona. If he calls BS he is probably right mate ;)

[rkinsey]

G'day Fiona. I feel your pain sister..!

MY GQ RD28T is off the road due to some dodgey practices from a couple of "Mechanics" that I visited last year. However I cant prove that the issues were caused by the direct actions of the mechanics so I have to wear it.

Im no mechanic, but, if a bearing is gone, then it is gone (or going) and any mechanic worth his salt should of picked up that something wasnt quite right when replacing the head. (Because you have to turn the motor to align the crank shaft so that pot # 1 is at the top of its stroke and in intake phase... I think... correct me if im wrong Matt) A bearing wouldnt let go because of an incorect CAM. The car wouldnt work right from the get go if that was the case. The CAM would be damaged along with the valve stems and seats due to a bearing failure.

I wouldnt think it would be the other way around, but again, I'm no mechanic....

In my situation, because of time, cost and limited resources (Like the rest of us) I have decided to take the Patrol off of the road completely. Its no longer registered and is in the back yard at the moment. I have made three lists of the repairs and upgrades for the Patrol.

The first one is a wish list of everything I would like to see on the Patrol and I mean everything. (GVM went up quite a bit...!)

Second one is a repair everything now list to bring it up to a stage that it is ready for a trip.

The third one is a bear minimum list to get it back on the road within a realistic but not to distant time frame.

I have had the Patrol looked at by a recomended reputable Deisel Mechanic, which cost me two weeks of time and $160.00 labour. They gave me a no BS assesment and said that a complete engine rebuild at $12,000.00 would be the only way to go. Then there are the other suspension repairs, bearings steering linkages etc etc to do as well.

I am looking at my third list. Its about $8000.00 for a rebuilt motor ($5,500.00 for a rebuild and $2,500.00 on injectors and fuel pump repair.) and the nescesarry repairs to make the Patrol road worthy and I can then get the other stuff done later. Should only take the next 18 months to complete for me.

For you, I would talk to the mechanic and get him to explain exactly what the problems are, dont concentrate on what might have caused this one issue. Try and talk to him to come to a mutual agreement and understanding. You might have problems trying to prove that his actions were the cause of the current issues as there was a catastrophic failure in teh first place to have the head replaced.

Just my two cents worth.

Cheers,

Rob

[ronnieY61]

Why did they replace the head in the first place, did it overheat? I have heard if bearing failure due to overheating. I have just rebuilt my sons 2.8 Y61 Intercooled Turbo after he had a trip to QLD at Christmas, he made it there and back but said it was nearly of the scale a few times when the ambient temp reached 47deg the other side of Parks. It was still running but down on compression, during the rebuild I found no 2 and 3 big end bearings possibly only a few days away from total failure. Im still puzzled how quiet it was for an engine that was about to detinate big time, ive kept the bearing shells to show people, most cant believe it was still going before the strip down.

[YNOT]

"I'm hoping someone can help me please. I just had my RD28T head replaced and was told it wouldn't idle because they set the valve clearances to stock settings but I apparently have an aftermarket cam. They took the head back off and told me a few days later that they were taking it for one test drive on the freeway and I could come and pick it up."

This is BS. GQ RD28 has self adjusting hydraulic lifters and GU RD28 has shim adjustable valve clearances. If yours is a GU then the valve clearances are set with the camshaft in place, whether it's a standard or aftermarket cam makes no difference as the clearances are set to that individual cam. I would suspect that the rough idle was caused by the camshaft not having been timed correctly to the crankshaft. I very much doubt that they removed your cylinder head a second time, they just reset the cam.


"it seemed ok for the first 1km....first hill it was gutless but I presumed that it was the weight of the caravan which I have towed many times but not for a while due to the cracked head."

Difficult to say what the lack of power may have been caused by.


"We stopped 50km's down the road at McDonalds and 30 mins later we hit the road again.....as soon we got going I heard a tapping noise coming from the near the top of the motor. I pulled over and had a look, checked oil and water, fan belts....it all seemed fine. I tried to drive on further and the noise got louder and louder. It sounded like metal inside the rocker cover flicking around and around. I borrowed my Dad's car and still made it up to QLD luckily.
RACV towed my car straight back to the mechanic for me so he could check the noise in the head. We are back home now and I called the mechanic who should have called me. He told me "Sorry but your bottom end bearing no. 2 has gone....we have pulled of your sump (without calling me first) and you told me l need to replace the crank, conrods and all bearings. He said I must have had a weak bearing and it has let go."

It's possible that you heard a noise in the top of the engine due to low oil pressure caused by the worn out bottom end bearing(s), how many KM's has the engine done?
As RonnieY61 has stated from first hand experience, the bearings can fail due to overheating (or normal wear) and do so without any discernable symptoms until it's too late. You're new cylinder head may have been the final straw that broke the bottom end.


"Yes I am female but I dont believe what he is telling me. If my valves were set incorrectly and if one has possibly got bent could this have contributed to the supposed bearing failure. He wants me to come in and he will show me the bearing and tell me my options.
I'd love to hear you opinions on my situation because Im about to loose it GRRRR!!! ."

I despise any mechanic who tries to take advantage of people with little mechanical knowledge.
If incorrect valve clearances had bent a valve your engine would have been miss firing and running noticably on 5 cylinders, probably would have been blowing black smoke as well.

Tony (qualified mechanic)

[Rustyboner81]

I assume that that engine is computer driven. Im also assuming that the engine has a knock sensor which is designed to pick up knocks inside the engine and report an error code that "any" mechsnic can pull.
I find it difficult to believe someone would replace a head and not check codes. If it was on its way there should be a record of it on the computer.

Sent from my GT-I9305T using Motorculture mobile app

[Parksy]

I'd be interested to know if they've put the head gasket on correctly and whether they've used silastic or similar on it also. Blocked oil ports will cause oil starvation if it can't get back to the sump in time and this won't be doing your bearings any favours.

[blj007]

Hi Fiona,agree with Tony,your being feed bs.Just curious to know why head was off in first place.Have seen a 3.0 litre head taken off for noise and misfire.Vaves and injector replaced and refitted[dropped valve was blamed]On 2nd revolution all hell broke loose-noises,smoke ect.further checks by someone who new what they were doing confirmed worn bearing allowing piston to hit valves and injector.their was no loss of oil pressure because shell had rotated enough to block oil holes.Also as sugested possible blockage caused by excesive sealant useage.If your a member of a motoring club-RACQ,RAA,RACV ect,get them involved or consumer affairs in your state.I am also qualified mechanic and hate to see these stories.Also hope your not being treated like this cause your female.Good luck with this,will be watching to see how you get on.Regards Brian