headgasket gone on k-series

hi all,well i went out to take a look at the hdc on the freelander found the fault and fixed it took it for a spin and all seemed to be good and i was proper chuffed with myself but when i opened the bonnet i thought where the feck has all me coolant gone. so after checking for any leaks i topped it back up with water and ran the engine and after a while bits of oil started coming through and i checked the oil filler cap and it started to milk up and the dipstick too and now i can hear air in the heater ,its got to be the head gasket right?. so today ive been and bought new uprated headgasket with new headbolts a new cambelt and tensioner i may aswell replace that while im at it even though it was done about 20000 miles back,new oil filter and oil,engine flush and radiator flush and that little lot set me back £171 quid:doh:where does it end.so thats my little job for the weekend .but do i need to lock off the cylinder liners with this little kit you buy or can i do it without them? any info on fitting these bits would be great

cheers all

did ya check liner heights? and replace the rail?

was head skimmed as well?

i havnt touched it yet is there other stuff i need to be doing then? the new uprated headgasket comes with a protection shim to fit aswel and this apparently eliminates any need for skimming or is that not so?

Yes, it needs skimming even with the protector shim.

so have i got to strip the head down completley before it can be skimmed?

eltel said:

so have i got to strip the head down completley before it can be skimmed?

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ya cant do it with a hand grinder of file !!!

robint said:

ya cant do it with a hand grinder of file !!!

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a bit of wet and dry maybe?

Old skool mechanics sometimes used a flat thick sheet of glass & grinding paste but whilst that might have worked back in the sixties for some very simple heads with minimal distortion & hours of graft, I don't think it would cut it with todays fine tolerances. Oh & don't ignore the previous post advising you to check for liner slippage.

being a pernickety sort of bastid - Liner slippage and liner heights - both are critical.

so i better get the kit that locks the liners then and check their heights

Definately use NEW head bolts

ianda12 said:

Definately use NEW head bolts

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:doh::doh: When do you not use NEW head bolts??

It's common sense if nothing else that If the head comes off the bolts must be replaced with new when the heads are replaced as a matter of course due to the stresses they are put through when torquing them down and day to day running.
If not, you risk snapping them and as the head bolts on that particular engine run right down to the sump they will be a pain in the ass to remove if they were to snap.

i think i would have stripped it and checked everything before i bought parts, 20000 since it was done the last time is rather ominous.

sequential HGF on K series - tiz very common .

If it's happened before you may want to get the hardness of the head checked? And if it's gone soft then get hold of a new or professionally re-conditioned head. With the K's having an alloy head they're prone to going soft i believe.

No amount of skimming will stop another hgf on a soft head (maybe what causes sequential hgf on some engines).

GasFiredDisco said:

Yes, it needs skimming even with the protector shim.

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Rubbish, only skim if out of tolerance(warped) by 0.05mm

eltel said:

so i better get the kit that locks the liners then and check their heights

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What you mean liner clamps, you'd only use these if stripping out a piston or big end bearings.

Just lock the flywheel and dont turn the crank when the head bolts have been slackened

GasFiredDisco said:

:doh::doh: When do you not use NEW head bolts??

.

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When there is no need to!

when thread length <97mm, measured when the bolt is dropped into the rail and free standing,

listen to this man ^^^^^^

he knows a thing or two about hippoo injuns.