"K" seires head gaskets

[john boy]

Just a quick question just taken the head off the mrs's freelander due to water  problems :roll: what dowls should be in there plastic or metal and should the linners be sitting proud of the block? if not would you do the linner seals at the same time? I can see where the gasket has failed it looks as though it's been a botch job to sell it on by a dodgey trader at some point.
 
Cheers john boy :)

[redhand]

Just a quick question just taken the head off the mrs's freelander due to water  problems :roll: what dowls should be in there plastic or metal and should the linners be sitting proud of the block? if not would you do the linner seals at the same time? I can see where the gasket has failed it looks as though it's been a botch job to sell it on by a dodgey trader at some point.
 
Cheers john boy :)

Multiple head gasket failure HGF is common place on Kseries engines. change the plastic dowels for metal ones and get the composite gasket. Just pulled this off Landyzone.

It is widely accepted by 4WD mechanics that Freelander K-series engines are known to drop the cylinder liners into the block. Because the liners are steel and the block is alloy, the liners being harder, work their way into the block. Because the engine block and cylinder head are composed of different materials they expand at different rates with heat generated during running of the vehicle, causing the head gasket to fail. The bad news is; If the cylinder liners drop too low, the engine needs to be replaced (there is no economically viable repair procedure) - this is fact, confirmed by Land Rover in their Technical Advices.
There is almost no warning of the impending failure, and the problem is unlikely to be identified during routine maintenance checks. The fault has nothing to do with vehicle maintenance - more to do with poor design.
It seems the problem with the design is acknowledged in Land Rover's own Technical Bulletin 0036 issued 18 June 04 and Bulletin 0026 (distributed to it's dealerships worldwide). The bulletin highlights an engine overheating problem caused by a leak from any part of the engine/cooling system. Although this bulletin is designed to assist mechanics to repair the fault, in the vast majority of cases serious engine overheating has already occurred resulting in oil contamination of the cooling system and total engine failure.
There are many checks that need to be done to establish if the engine is repairable, however the Land Rover technical bulletin states "if the cylinder liners have dropped below the block face, the engine must be replaced". This is the crux of the problem. If you owned a k-series petrol Freelander, anecdotal data widely available on the internet suggests that the statistical odds are against you getting past 80000 km without a total engine failure and replacement. Once you have spent about $A7000.00 on a new K-series engine, statistics say that it will fail again before 80000 km.
That's not just bad luck.... that's poor design.
The early Freelanders (pre 2001) were sold with a 2 year 50000 km warranty, which seems to be about the average lifespan for this engine. The head gasket/cylinder liner design fault has not been classified as a recall (probably because of the sheer volume of complaints and the huge cost of rectification). Land Rover is unlikely to honour any claims beyond the product warranty period.
If you paid for an engine replacement, would you expect the engine to have been modified to overcome the original design fault? Why have so many K-series Petrol Freelanders had multiple head gasket failures?
From any angle the ownership of a K-series Petrol Freelander should be carefully considered.

[john boy]

Cheers for that it's getting a new gaket and moved on then ;)

[V8MoneyPit]

There is a new gasket kit available from X Part. Read about it in Classics Cars For Sale magazine (Feb 2010 issue). Might be worth checking with your local main stealer to see if they know about it.

But it sounds like the liners have moved, which is a far more difficult and expensive issue.

[redhand]

But it sounds like the liners have moved, which is a far more difficult and expensive issue.

If they're still proud of the head then they haven't moved. As thats where they're supposed to be.

[maggers]

FAI do a head set with the multilayer gasket, available from  the likes of Euro Car spares. I've fitted a few & not had any further problems. It comes with a steel shim which fits between gasket & head face coated with a sealer which bonds to the head with the heat of the engine. The main problem with series engines is that when they overheat the gasket digs into the head face. When they are made the face is heat treated to harden it, this is only a few microns thick and Rovers' recommendation was that they should NOT be skimmed. I have seen heads skimmed, fitted & taken straight off to reveal the gasket dug in again - a total waste of time & a major reason for re-failure of the gasket. The trouble is many so-called "experts" will have you believe otherwise & sell you a skim. Using the shim is the only way past this as it takes the pressure of the gasket rather than direct on the head face which can now be skimmed.

[carbore]

There are quite a few things you can do to a K series engine to overcome HGF tendencies, in fact some of them were done by Landrover as a recall. The main thing is the thermostat position change. My Elise also has an water-to-oil cooler that stabalises temperatues between oil/water and hence head/bottom end. The uber HG is just the icing on the cake as the cuase is the intrinsic problem with the cooling.

I have posted a few long threads about (around a year ago, or later) which you can pull out with a search.

But to be honest I would not have a K in a freelaner unless I had a very good reason (e.g. got it for silly money etc) or really wanted too!

[V8MoneyPit]

But it sounds like the liners have moved, which is a far more difficult and expensive issue.

If they're still proud of the head then they haven't moved. As thats where they're supposed to be.

Sorry mate, it comes from not reading your previous post properly  :oops:

[john boy]

Cheers guys just one question now done the gasket come to start it and got no compression :shock: timing all bang on do the elements need to be compressed and cleaned out of the old oil?

[carbore]

Did you replace the head bolts? These are streach bolts and have to be replaced with the gasket?

[john boy]

Yeah had new bolts a a multilayer gakset and a head skiw as well. the only thing i think is the elements are jacked out and the the spring aren't strong enough to comprese them back again. going take the carrier off this morning and see if there's any compresion.

[john boy]

Right sorted it's alive :lol: :lol: :lol: tappet elements were full off  oil and water mix and oh boy did they take some cleaning out :lol: :lol: :lol:

[carbore]

Well done.

Thanks for posting the fix as well as some people never bother, which means we dont learn where to look.

Thanks

[john boy]

Yeah just squeaze them in a vice very slowly the when you can compress them with your finger they are ok to go back in again ;)