Freelander 1 Freelander 1 TD4 starting woes!!

Blinkin Ek, you're keen

Hahaha
You could say that.
I’ve never seen piston heads so destroyed by over fuelling I’m guessing, so whilst head was off it seemed stupid not to replace. Everyone said you have to take the block out but seeing as I wasn’t going to mess with the crank they pushed out from below.
As you can imagine, clouds of steam pouring out after all the time spent on it was to say the least, disappointing and I can find no reason for it.
Once it’s up and running I am going to post the ‘how I did this’ story on here as I’ve photographed it all step by step.
Normally I’d have given up long before now but just decided there is nothing a mechanic do that I can’t do as long as I have the tools and the understanding of what’s going on. It’s been a quiet month for work so why not.

Cadnant1962 said:

Hahaha
You could say that.
I’ve never seen piston heads so destroyed by over fuelling I’m guessing, so whilst head was off it seemed stupid not to replace. Everyone said you have to take the block out but seeing as I wasn’t going to mess with the crank they pushed out from below.
As you can imagine, clouds of steam pouring out after all the time spent on it was to say the least, disappointing and I can find no reason for it.
Once it’s up and running I am going to post the ‘how I did this’ story on here as I’ve photographed it all step by step.
Normally I’d have given up long before now but just decided there is nothing a mechanic do that I can’t do as long as I have the tools and the understanding of what’s going on. It’s been a quiet month for work so why not.

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Good luck. Hope it plays ball for you when its put back together this time.

Cadnant1962 said:

Has anyone done this with a cylinder head as well using a multi layer gasket?

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Don't use any form of sealant on a MLS gasket.
The black coating is a thermo-activated sealer, which will soften and fill tiny voids in the joint surfaces when the engine reaches running temperature.
Additional sealants prevent the gasket sealing correctly, so must be avoided.
The joint surfaces need to be as clean as possible, or the gasket can't do its job.

I've just done my FL2 head replacement, which also uses a MLS gasket. So far it seems ok, but the previous gasket was leaking slightly around the head oil passage, but time will tell if this second gasket leaks in the same place.

Thanks Nodge
I thought I’d get a definitive answer from you.

God knows why the first one failed.
Hugh

Just checking, have you seen the guide that shows how you determine whether to use 1,2 or 3 hole??
It's covered in Haynes.

Cadnant1962 said:

God knows why the first one failed.

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Who made the gasket?
Presumably you used new bolts, and followed the strict and long winded tightening sequence correctly.

When doing the initial torque settings, go back over the bolts a few times, as often the first bolts tightened will slacken off, so it's also best to go back over them, to take up the slack.

Hi Nodge, yes I measured the highest piston at TDC across all cylinders, to the face of the block using the appropriate tool and went for three hole this time though it is borderline between 2 or 3. I followed the sequence but didn’t re tighten for fear of snapping a bolt the tension being so high.

What was difficult was keeping the engine still due to the lack of support on the rhs with the mounting off.
The gasket was from Bearmach but the se IBD one I’ve just bought is a Britpart gasket (Payne) and looks and feel much more substantial.

just waiting for the rain to stop now!

will let you know how it goes

hugh

Cadnant1962 said:

What was difficult was keeping the engine still due to the lack of support on the rhs with the mounting off.

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I had the same issue last month, when fitting a replacement head to my FL2.
The torque is so high, the engine twists a lot, without the upper mount missing.

In the end I supported the sump with about three jacks in a triangle.
Just waiting for new bolts (again!) to turn up.