Slipped Cylinder Liner Signs???

[Divied245]

I found smoking good deal on a 2000 4.6 rover, IF the porblems are not to serious. The owner said it may have a blown head gasket or a slipped cylinder liner. head gaskets are and easy fix for me but, I don't want to deal with an engine rebuild. Are there any tell tale signs of the difference between a head gasket or a slipped liner without taking the heads off? (noises, leaks, oil mixed with water)

[ratboy]

not really. if you know what you are looking for, removing the pan and having a look will tell a lot.

[TerryS]

Liner issues onBosch engine are very rare, but anything is possible. You will not be able to tell much if anything by dropping the pan. Liners do no "drop", asmany people describe. They loosen after a severe overheating episode, and go UP. The ID of the head gasket is slightly larger than the OD of the liner, so they are able to rise above the deck by the thickness of the headgasket. Often times, you can hear a loose liner.
Blown head gasketss leave lots of tell-tale signs. They can occur in many combinations, and not always the same.
1. Look for one or two (adjacent cylinders) spark plugs that look extremely clean when compared to the rest.

2. Unexplained loss of coolant, with no apparant leaks and none mixed with oil
(Oil/water mixing is not that common with blown head gaskets because the water passageway from block to head is no where near the oil passageway. It does occur more often when there's a leaky intake manifold gasket,

3. Detectable antifreeze odor from the exhaust, together with what appears to be white smoke.

4. Hyrdocarbons above 10-15ppm present in the radiator or expansion tank.