Another head gasket issue

Hi iv just bought a freelander 1.8 petrol on a Y plate.

My boss who i purchased it from took it in px and it needed a head gasket,
so he paid £430 to get it done which included head skim mls gasket water pump timing belt and tensioner etc.

The problem is that its pressurizing the water pipes ,
theres no over heating and the heaters etc are red hot

He said the system was pressurizing before the gasket was changed and also the there is evidence of K Seal (block sealer) being used.

All pipe work is red hot after a drive but the radiator is quiet cold , is it possible the K-seal has blocked the radiator ?

Also iv heard that the inlet manifold gasket could leak and put pressure into the system , although there's no missing when the engine is cold and no steam from exhaust etc.

Please don't tell me the piston liners could have slipped as i think i will end up crying lol

Thanks for any replies in advance

Forgot to mention after a drive out for a hour , the rad inlet and outlet are red hot, the plastic sides of the rad from hot top to bottom are red hot , but the alloy part of the radiator is stone cold apart from around 3 inches at the top, could a blocked radiator cause the system to pressurize?

Thanks again

Was there evidence of K Seal use in the engine? If so then the rad could well do with a flush.
The cooling system will pressurise once it's hot, it's designed to.
If it's pressurised from cold then the HG is likely leaking.
Personally I don't like the MLS gasket as it's not as forgiving on liner hights.

Thanks for the reply fella, yeah they had used K Seal by the looks of things iv just been out to flush the rad and there's k seal all over the drive lol,


Once bled off i drove again for half hour and the pipes are solid again , and i mean solid , not the usual amount of pressure.

The hole of the radiator is freezing apart from the plastic sides and exactly 4 inches at the top of the rad which are scalding hot,

The 3 pipes are hot on the prt, as is the rest of the pipe work.

Thanks again Nodge68

Ok so from your description, the rad is clogged. Best bet is try to flush it or replacement. A pressure washer might shift the K Seal but you will get drenched. Or replace it. They don't cost a fortune if you look about.

Thanks again Nodge,

Im gunna buy a new one in the morning, do i have to remove front bumper to replace rad as mine has air con thanks

It's not necessary to remove the bumper on the 1.8.

Just a quick update fella,

So i removed the rad and tipped the water out what remained , and the rad weighed a ton, far heavier than it should.

I took it to work and used the jet wash , when i placed the end of the jet wash inside of the rad and let loose , the lumps of sludge and K Seal that came out was unreal, i have got as much as i can out but im certain there's loads in still as its still quiet heavy for a rad.

Im gonna order one if if cant get one local in the morning , its not worth the chew on i had to remove the rad as all the bolts that connected it to the air con rad were rounded off,

Thanks again , i will update one new rad is fitted in-case anyone else has this problem.

that's the best thing you could have done as for the inlet gasket surly this would have been done same time as the head was as it is of the engine and when you have put it al back together make sure the header tank has no cracks in it

Well Teddywood is funny you should say that as iv just noticed there loads of cracks on expansion tank lol, thats getting replaced to, would that cause it to pressurize? it doesnt use a drop of water.

Thanks fella

If the system was excessively presurised - should the expansion tank cap not have released it? Isn't there a valve in there calibrated to only hold the right pressure?

bigg1115 said:

Well Teddywood is funny you should say that as iv just noticed there loads of cracks on expansion tank lol, thats getting replaced to, would that cause it to pressurize? it doesnt use a drop of water.

Thanks fella

Click to expand...

no the cracks would not make it any more pressurised it would mean you would loose water through the cracks