NEW from Uncle traveling Curt

The good news is I have a good internet connection right now and am able to send the pics. The bad news is that I am stopped in a town 400kms west of Sao Paulo, Brasil with a broken motor…once again it seems the head gasket has blown…. The problems with the motor started the day after I took the truck out of the shop in Buenos Aires. I drove 600kms and noticed overheating b/c of pressure in the coolant system. So I had a mechanic remove the head and sure enough the gasket was burned between cylinders 3 and 4. The mechanic who had did the complete overhaul in Buenos Aires had installed a custom gasket that was 2.2mm thick as someone previously had ground down the block too much. The factory gasket is only 1mm and if installed the pistons whould have hit the head… but the custom gasket was not reinforced between the cylinders. That is why it blew…so I had a choice.. install 2 factory gaskets (1mm x2) or use a Maxion gasket (1.7mm). Maxion is a brasilian parts company that owns the rights to make the 300tdi engine in brasil. The maxion engine is here in fords, GMs, and over stuff – very common engine here. So we installed the Maxion gasket (not a perfect fit, but with the help of some gasket maker got it to work). I drove 500kms, and then retorqued the head bolts. Everything seemed fine. I went another 1500kms and then there started to be small oil droplets coming out of the exhaust manifold gasket where the turbo is attached. So I torqued the exhaust manifold a bit and the problem stopped for about 500kms. Then I noticed that I could here the exhaust coming from the snorkel..bad problem…I stopped at a mechanic and he said the problem was that the valves needed to be set..yes, it was true that the valves had somehow become messed up and sloppy, but I thought that there must be another reason for this.. the mechanic insisted that the valves was the only problem..so the valves were reset. I drove about 1000kms and then I noticed the exhaust sound in the snorkel again and more oil leaking from the exhaust manifold. I checked the valves and they were completely messed up again. So I reset them myself, but I also noticed that I had pressure in the coolant system..so here I sit in Lins, Sao Paulo state, Brasil. Waiting to take the engine to a mechanic and have the head removed. I am sure that the gasket to done…..but I want to know why.