new head gasket has failed:( help needed please

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I've not long done this exact job on my MGF.
There's no need to remove the pistons from the liners to reseal the liner land. First off drain and remove the sump and the head.
Next make up some liner clamps. These will stop a repeat of the current situation.
If all liners are loose, all will need to be resealed. Do the liners 2 at a time. I'd 2 and 3 first as it's easy to clamp 2 a joining liners. I'll try to explain how.
Turn the crank so pistons 2 and 3 are right down the bore. This makes getting at the rod caps easy. You will need to remove the oil pickup pipe and oil rail. Mark the rod caps with the piston number and which way is to the front. Also if you can't see the mark on the piston crown, mark this also. Once the caps have been unbolted remove the caps, keeping them safe. Now pull the liners up obe at a time from above. Do number 2 first. Remove the liner clean the land in the block and the register on the bottom of the liner. I push the piston up into the liner to make it easier to handle. Don't turn the piston in the liner as the piston won't seal correctly.
To seal the liner, run a thin bead of Blue Hylomar around the register on the liner. When you are sure there is an unbroken bead of sealer, the liner can be pushed back into the block. Ensure you have the piston/ liner assembly the correct way round.
Repeat the process with piston 3.
Now you need to clamp the newly sealed liners to stop them moving again. The clamps can be made with some 8mm studding, 2 nuts, a short length of tubing and some large washers. The studding is passed down the head bolt holes in the block, secured with a nut top and bottom. Under the top nut goes the washer and short tube. The washers then clamps the liners on opposite sides of the block.
Once clamped, gently press the pistons down the bores so that the rods meet the crank pins. Refit the caps in the correct places and to the correct torque. Because the liners are now clamped, the crank can now be turned to bring 1 and 4 into the correct place to get at the bearing caps. Repeat the process again on liners 1 and 4 remembering to clamp the liners until you are ready to refit the oil rail. Your studding will need to be removed to fit the oil rail. The liners can be clamped again by substituting the studding for head bolts, screwed into the oil rail.
The oil rail needs to be sealed to the block using correct sealant. There is a proper Rover sealer for the task (LVV000108EVA). That's about all there is to it. I'll look out some pictures to post for you too.
A little tip on the K series is always undo the crank pulley with the head on :wink:
 
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now thats a very helpful write up nodges thankyou.....i was looking at rave to remove pistons and immediatley saw a flaw in the plan after undoing the caps will the shim fallout? when re fitting the caps...will the shim fallout?
 
Nodge that is an outstandingly helpful reply. I don't pretend to understand it all but then the most ive ever done is a hg replacement which thankfully (so far) has held up.
But a detailed description like that took a lot of time to write and you should be applauded.
Well done that man.
 
so.......i am wondering......yes the liners moved but shouldnt have been.....

does this make the engine scrap? No

is it a repair i can do myself? Yes

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.

Hi, I'm late to this party.

MLS HG can leak, mine did leak from first start up:( Mine was faulty and the supplier refunded me. I fitted a Payen BW750 elastopolymer gasket :)

Is there any visible sign of leakage? I only spotted mine once I put the red/orange coolant in. Use a good light and a small hand mirror and check out around the inlet manifold and the head/block joint.

Was there a serious overheating event? Heads can be saved by peening around the fire ring area and then a skim. [See this link from a lotus forum Cylinder Head Fire Ring Peening - TechWiki ].

Head saver shim? & sealing liners see this web site: K-engine project - A possible low cost rebuild? - Page 5 - The 75 and ZT Owners Club Forums

Check the head to see if it needs a skim. If it does then you will need to remove the cams as some of the valves will protrude. You might like to remove the valves and give them a clean up and then lap them in and replace the valve seals with the ones that are in the headset pack. Do the cam oil seals as well.

Liners. Yes they needed to be clamped when the heads was off. Crank pulley must be undone with the head on... and gets tightened up with the head on too.

Others will advise, check the liner heights prior to removing them. Any that are low [ flush], or worse below block height can be lifted with shims. This measurement may be problematic as the liner/s have been moved and could be unreliable.

Nodge has suggested a useful and workable scheme for re sealing the liners into the block. Mark the top of each liner and the block face so as you don't turn them around when refitting. i.e. the should be in the exact same position at the end of refitting...

Good luck, look forward to reading on how it all goes.
 
thanks htr,

as regards liners, they have already been turned while head was off, be it right be it wrong after id seen the one that lift i thought id best check if the others were loose...soooo they were turned....i will be using an engineers straight edge to check head for flatness at work and i have a depth mic to check liner heights....i read flush to upto +.004" is acceptable...minus is a problem...if minus you said about shims?....can i buy em or do i have to make em? amd how are they sealed?
 
thanks htr,

as regards liners, they have already been turned while head was off, be it right be it wrong after id seen the one that lift i thought id best check if the others were loose...soooo they were turned....i will be using an engineers straight edge to check head for flatness at work and i have a depth mic to check liner heights....i read flush to upto +.004" is acceptable...minus is a problem...if minus you said about shims?....can i buy em or do i have to make em? amd how are they sealed?

The liners being turned is unfortunate but nothing can be done about this now. With luck, any compression lost will be minimal.
All liners must be flush to 3 thou protrusion and square in the block. If you are going to use a MLS gasket, all liners should be within 0.5 thou of each other. If the liners are uneven by more than 0.5 thou or off square to an adjacent liner or the block face then the best gasket to use in the Payen elastopolimer gasket.
 
thanks for that nodge, il get to it as soon as this cold does one:(. il be checking heights etc with the paralell and feelers.for squarness.digi depth mic for heights.
 
If you're pulling the liners to reseal you can get an idea of the alignment from the piston wear pattern "front and rear" - if they have not been turned 180 , not as good as marking them but will get them a bit closer .
 
P38dseGAV i am in bulkington,near nuneaton.

ive had the car at a garage for a test and sniff test passed so work ive done is good they said....bad news is ....previous owner/s put a seal of some description in water/rad.......so the head is blocked.....no water to front of engine or to rad. Fckin amateurs........shopping as we speak for recon ready to fit head.
 
plenty of heads about as the heads are basically the same 1.4 1.6 some 1.8 as some has vvc timing so dont just look at a freelander head look from rover 200 25 400 45 75 all the same just not the 200vvc
 
P38dseGAV i am in bulkington,near nuneaton.

ive had the car at a garage for a test and sniff test passed so work ive done is good they said....bad news is ....previous owner/s put a seal of some description in water/rad.......so the head is blocked.....no water to front of engine or to rad. Fckin amateurs........shopping as we speak for recon ready to fit head.

Freelander 1.8 K-Series Cylinder Head LDF109380L – Special Offer for May 2013 |

they still have them in stock - I couldn't find a better price

Cheers
Simon
 
300 notes for a bran spankin new head!! For that money, why mess with a recon!

yep - it's money well spent. You get the head with valves installed & cam rail. You have to pull the cams and lifters from your existing head and install them - and you need some loctite 574 to seal the cam rail. (oh you'll need to pull the studs from your old head - but everything you need is on your old head)

Whilst you have the head off you might as well pull the sump & take out the oil rail - check the oil strainer & clean it if necessary - if you don't have the uprated oil rail maybe you should consider getting one - it's a lot meatier than the original part.

Cheers
Simon
 
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P38dseGAV i am in bulkington,near nuneaton.

ive had the car at a garage for a test and sniff test passed so work ive done is good they said....bad news is ....previous owner/s put a seal of some description in water/rad.......so the head is blocked.....no water to front of engine or to rad. Fckin amateurs........shopping as we speak for recon ready to fit head.

You aint a million miles from me I'm in Hinckley
 
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