91 & 90 OM606 UMM Alter II & 80 Cournil - Paris Dakar build?

Hey alter ( alter means older in German but used as a greeting between teenagers around here),

that's some Action Man antics going on there and now you've got a whole convoy to take down to The Cape. Can't you airbrush that Multivan out of the post though? That's what the middle-class mumsies drive their kids to kindergarten with! Don't want to think you're a weekend warrior so maybe a camouflage vest too?

Interesting, Alter in this case is named after a Portuguese mountain horse I believe.

Ahh, it's usually loaded to the gunnels with outdoors gear, tooling or work related stuff (subsea salvage - exploration - exploitation is the company strap line).
Wasn't enough room to land the heli so had to take the van.

Hey alter? Looks like the Wild Geese. Let's form a convoy of all your Alters and go and bring 'democracy' to a sub-Saharan state.

Ahh thanks, you're welcome. Yes get on it! Since replacing the head a few weeks ago we did 500 miles in it within two weeks, including a couple of days laning around where we are in devon. You'll remember why you kept it as soon as you get offroad!

How about a trip to the Congo on an expedition in search of Umm-Bongo?






Alright Alright, fine, I'm going.
Coat, hat, door.

Well.. I sort of knew it was coming. I'd been putting off taking the head off of little UMM for a while, but on his last trip out he used all of his water in 15 miles on a laning trip and every time I was at a junction or stopped in traffic he was creating a giant transit van sized cloud of steam on the exhaust (drivers) side.. slightly embarrassing and alarming at the same time.. still carried on running though whilst getting topped up regularly!

So, these XD3TE motors are known for the aluminium head becoming porous between an inlet and coolant passage. So I spoke to Ian at cylinderheads.co.uk and he had a new one cast for me abroad (eastern europe I think?) and then machined at his works before being sent down to me fitted up with valves and with all the appropriate bolts and gaskets needed. £830 for the privilege but no other solution really.

IMG_0059 by Alex de Vries, on Flickr

You're fortunate in that you can remove the fan cowling in a few minutes and then I usually sit ontop of the radiator with my feet on the front axle in this space. Folding the bonnet right back so it is up against the windscreen gives you fairly good access to all but the furthest end of the motor. Just make sure you tie the bonnet off to something as you don't want that dropping on your head. Fact.

IMG_0061 by Alex de Vries, on Flickr

So with the fan and ancillary belts loosed off and the vacuum pump removed you just have to unbolt some brackets, move the diesel lines out of the way, drain the coolant and remove those hoses, pull the power steering hoses out of the way and cable tie down towards the front of the engine, support the turbo and exhaust and remove the exhaust manifold bolts. Now you can remove the rocker cover, remove the rocker shaft as one piece (don't lose the oil seal), remove the push rods (mark a bit of card up and punch each one through so you keep them in order), remove the injectors and glow plug wiring, then you can start cracking off the head bolts off.

Remove the head as one unit with the water pump and fan pulley assembly and also with the inlet manifold attached. Just watch out for the oil line that goes to the vacuum pump. And there we go, old vs new..

IMG_0066 by Alex de Vries, on Flickr

IMG_0069 by Alex de Vries, on Flickr

New head gasket on, the old one had no damage visible so it confirms that the head was porous.

IMG_0084 by Alex de Vries, on Flickr

No special hints or tips for this job really. Only to take your time and not lose any little oil seals or bits. Also that the rear most head bolt has to be undone but there is not the height to remove it or install it so leave it in the head loose.

IMG_0085 by Alex de Vries, on Flickr

IMG_0099 by Alex de Vries, on Flickr

The only tool I absolutely needed was a Snap On torque wrench with digital control and also the ability to do angle measurements as well. I simply couldn't of used my analogue torque angle measurer as there wasn't the room to get it in, especially the rear most bolts, impossible. Highly recommended even if it was several hundred bucks.

Now all back together and tested for 500 miles on and offroad, no loss of oil or water. Winning.

This gets more Wild Geese by the minute. Time for a regime change.



I didn't touch da rabbit! Those ladies only had eyes for the blokes who operated the water ski-tow or the 'pirates' of Treasure Island though they were all sweetness when they wanted a free Cornetto.

So is the intention to use the new tyres as flotation devices as well as road & off road use?

Very nice please keep the pictures coming?

I'd say there could be some inspiration taken by Ibex from UMM. It is purely practical though if you think about it.

Those sloped front bonnet corners mean that you can see where you are placing each tyre when offroad rather than guessing when you have a long flat bonnet such as you'd see with anything else other than a forward control.