new head gasket has failed:( help needed please

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If the water level as only gone down by less than a cup there may be no problem it could be just the coolant pushing round the system and finding it's level, in the manual it says keep an eye on the coolant level once you've refilled and run the engine then top up if needed.

Top up the coolant and see if it goes down again, have you driven the freelander or as the engine been running while stationery.

You also said it sounds louder this could be because it takes a while for the oil to get pumped back upto the hydraulic tappets, did you change the oil and filter, coolant could be in the oil from the original failed hg and when you removed the head.
 
GrumpyGel said:
When are you going to come to the party and help this guy? :doh:

For my own interest here, and hijacking the thread a bit, when you change the cambelt (at its normal intervals) would you also change the tensioner and idler as a standard matter of practice?
Click to expand...

Dependant on how long the tensioner has been hanging around + 60,000 miles I would as routine.
Anything with plastic pulley eg vauxhall -I'd change.
 
digi said:
If the water level as only gone down by less than a cup there may be no problem it could be just the coolant pushing round the system and finding it's level, in the manual it says keep an eye on the coolant level once you've refilled and run the engine then top up if needed.

Top up the coolant and see if it goes down again, have you driven the freelander or as the engine been running while stationery.

You also said it sounds louder this could be because it takes a while for the oil to get pumped back upto the hydraulic tappets, did you change the oil and filter, coolant could be in the oil from the original failed hg and when you removed the head.
Click to expand...

Digi. Reading past posts, it sounds like the oil hasn't been changed :doh:
 
GrumpyGel said:
When are you going to come to the party and help this guy? :doh:

For my own interest here, and hijacking the thread a bit, when you change the cambelt (at its normal intervals) would you also change the tensioner and idler as a standard matter of practice?
Click to expand...

I would change the tensioner and water pump at the same time as the belt. It's false economy not to. If the water pump or tensioner fails before the next belt is due, the belt will need to be replaced again!
 
my apolygies fanatic, i was having a bad day.

to re cap the whole job.....i replaced the head gasket, the water pump,timing belt and tensioner..........

when i was undoing the crank pulley with the head off,the liners had moved up on 1 and 3 i think it was as my clamping device on the flywheel moved as i turned the bolt......i re seated both before carrying on....this is where the water has gone to sump i think as didnt have milky gunge before starting the job...

the gasket and bolt set i bought is this one 120326335590 from ebay.(gasket shop).

belt and tensioner also bought from ebay mpb motors.

i didnt skim the head as after i cleaned it all up i put steel ruler across varios points and it "looked" ok to me...........im thinking that maybe now i should have skimmed it so if im gonna re do this job il skim it.

it was put back together with step by step instructions from a website. i reset the timing using the safe mark on crank pulley cog(bit behind the pulley) and lined both marks on cam pulleys thus being left one exhaust was written upside down and at 3 oclock,right one being the line at 9 oclock. i dont have a cam pulley tool to stop em moving so it was a delicate operation putting belt on so they didnt move....rebuilt rest and bled to instructions....she start first full turn of key although just click it over a cple times to check nothing went thud..but i also spun it over with rachet on crank pulley after i had built it up again to check it all moved freely.

so to me only thing i have done a hash job of is not skimming head and draining oil? (no gunge in sump at all be fore change as it was sniff tested and failed)
 
If the liners moved up when the head was off the seal will have broken letting water into the sump, from reading haynes it says the liners sit on ring of hylomar blue sealing the liner, this will now not be water tight.

I've seen a k16 rover engine rebuild with new parts on another forum with pictures from start to finish and he used hylomar blue to seal the liners aswell but the pistons have to be removed and the engine wasn't in the car when he was doing the rebuild not sure if you can reseal the liners without lifting the engine out, sounds like it's going to be a bigger job than just replacing the head gasket this is why everyone says don't move crankshaft when the head is off, bluming eck.
 
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I'd do a cheap oil change and monitor levels and see what happens
 
fanatic.......my plan was to do a flush and new oil to see....but...if liners are loose is there anypoint?....i was able to turn all four liners whilst head was off.
have i got major problems?

i love this car but i aint got the time or money to pile into it so if its gonna cost me more to do then im thinking of car change.
 
squiz34 said:
fanatic.......my plan was to do a flush and new oil to see....but...if liners are loose is there anypoint?....i was able to turn all four liners whilst head was off.
have i got major problems?

i love this car but i aint got the time or money to pile into it so if its gonna cost me more to do then im thinking of car change.
Click to expand...

Liners shouldn't have been touched with head off and crank shouldn't be moved unless liners bolted down.

If we are at the car is scrap point of view, I would suggest Kseal I have sussessfully used this in cars people didn't have money for proper repair and vehicles worth scrap value.

Others no doubt will disagree, but on scrap engine you have little to lose.
 
squiz34 said:
fanatic.......my plan was to do a flush and new oil to see....but...if liners are loose is there anypoint?....i was able to turn all four liners whilst head was off.
have i got major problems?

i love this car but i aint got the time or money to pile into it so if its gonna cost me more to do then im thinking of car change.
Click to expand...

liners are held tight with the pressure from cylinder head ,hence the need for liners to protrude a few thou, if youve disturbed the liners and broke the sealing, you need to remove pistons to reseal the liners
 
thanks all for advice....

at this time im in two minds wether to re do the job and do it right this time....we now have a second car so i can take this off the road for a couple of weeks at least as i only get weekedns to do work outside as my garage wont fit the car in anyway......

i dont want to scrap he car if im honest as its mint body wise and inside isnt too shabby either plus with the little one and camping trips its ideal with the trailer...

so.......i am wondering......yes the liners moved but shouldnt have been.....

does this make the engine scrap?

is it a repair i can do myself?

i plan at getting head skimmed at work....after this has been done is there anything i should do re garding the gasket...eg....obviously skimming means metal off so do i need to compensate for amount taken off ?

i still have half the full kit i bought with valve seals etc as i only used the hg and bolts from the kit.
 
any tips on doing the liners properly fanatic?

the rest i think i can do.....after learning the hard way the first time i know my mistakes:)
 
You can reseal the liners with the engine in the car drain the oil and make sure theconrod for the liner that moved the bolts are accessable from the bottom, then take the head off undo the conrod bolts push piston out chances are you vcan lift the liner out from the top clean the ledge it sits on and the bottom outside of the liner give it a good bead of Blue Holymer and reseat the liner then stick the piston etc back in.
 
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