Freelander 1 Engine seized after HG changed

Hi. I’m new here but urgently need some advice from fellow experienced members.

The car is Freelander 1.8i 2005. 18K type. The story is that there was water in cylinder 4 so HG decided to be replaced. When mechanic opened the head he somehow turned camshaft so cylinder liners moved up. He then opened the oil try and fixed the all cylinders to place. Then done the head and fixed it back. The cam belt was removed too. When engine started it was knocking noises as from hydraulic lifters or valves. When the car on test-drive reached high speed (RPM) the engine seized. Now the camshaft is rotating but both upper shafts not. What could be the cause of it and what possible damage could have been done to the engine?

Many Thanks in advance

It was put together with crank and cam out of mechanical timing and it blew up the timing belt when things started crashing together.
It's just a guess.

West Slope Rover said:

It was put together with crank and cam out of mechanical timing and it blew up the timing belt when things started crashing together.
It's just a guess.

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Thank you for replay. My thoughts are the same. I don't see any other reason. But now what damages it could be and how to fix them? Buying a new engine or this could be fixed?

Sorry... But I agree with West Slope Rover - I don't think I have ever done a HG and refitted the heat with the crank AND cam out... surely you set the crank or pistons to a known point - hazard a guess here, but TDC (Top Dead Centre) then rebuild your Cylinder Head setting the Cam(s) to the right point... again this is usually adjacent to TDC.
then you know your cams and crank are timed roughly in the right position.... then the cambelt is fitted, ensuring all timing marks are aligned....
or have I missed something - such as a new way of rebuilding an engine..
in short.. I was always told to rebuild from the bottom upwards....

I suppose anything can be fixed if you're ambitious, talented and well funded.

If it were me, I'd buy something other than a Freelander 1.8. Chalk this one up to experience and move on.

looks like another engine to me, depending on how many valves have hit the pistons.... how damaged the piston crowns are... has any of the valves broken off and smashed into the head and destroyed the head..... you don't know unless you strip it... and chances are... new motor required!

Well.. What I stacked with this car in Ukraine so it must be out. Thanks god the workforce here is cheap (although not knowledgeable) but time and delivery is expensive....

Find yourself another engine and a new mechanic, they are not difficult to work on but there is a procedure to follow, it's written in books, it's all on the web, there is no excuse for getting it wrong other than ignorance And laziness, in failing to search for procedure

Just for info - The engine is known as an 'interference engine' in that badly set timing or timing belt failure means that there will be valve-to-piston contact, resulting in bent valves.

freelance said:

Find yourself another engine and a new mechanic, they are not difficult to work on but there is a procedure to follow, it's written in books, it's all on the web, there is no excuse for getting it wrong other than ignorance And laziness, in failing to search for procedure

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again... I agree completely!

Yep. Again! Many Thanks for your replays. I have no idea now how to bring the whole new engine here!

Sell it for the going rate of a good fixed car to your mechanic and let him sort it. He is responsible for breaking it.

Either timing, OR...

It's also likely he's used silicone sealant when putting the cam rails back on.
This is a death sentence for these engines - the silicone gets into the tiny lines and you lose lubrication to the bearings on the camshafts (the ones at the top of the engine.)
They'll make a racket on startup and not settle down, and if you thrash it they'll seize really quickly.

You MUST use anaerobic sealant on the cam box, and nothing else if you want your engine to survive.

Before shipping a whole engine, take the head back off and see what the actual damage is, you may find that it's just the head that needs replacing and they're cheap - many K series get broken up every week so there are plenty of cheap used heads on ebay. If you fancy a risk. Even the brand new ones are sub £300 still.

There is also a PRECISE torqueing procedure for the cam box, and if anything it's more critical to follow it than when you do the head bolts. You can warp the whole ladder and... yeah, not nice.

Take the head back off and check whether you've had a piston to head collision or just the cams have seized. Heads are cheap and light for these engines so would be easy to get hold of.

My guess is silicone has been used on the bearing ladder. This will block the oil feed to the main bearings, causing the engine to seize.

Nodge68 said:

My guess is silicone has been used on the bearing ladder. This will block the oil feed to the main bearings, causing the engine to seize.

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I think he may have messed up his descriptions, from how I read it camshaft = crankshaft?
Seems that the top of the engine was noisy on startup and has now seized...

B34R said:

anaerobic

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is that a type of exercise??? - lol (yes I know...)

xpuser8334 said:

is that a type of exercise??? - lol (yes I know...)

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used to use a similar type of stuff when threading pipe work to seal the threads.... good stuff too!

B34R said:

I think he may have messed up his descriptions, from how I read it camshaft = crankshaft?
Seems that the top of the engine was noisy on startup and has now seized...

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Possibly. Whatever is up with the engine, a replacement would be easier than a repair, if one is available locally.