Has anyone replaced the v6 head gaskets themselves with any succès

Hi just curious I used to be a mechanic Lo 20 years ago. I always do my own work. I habe a freelander v6 it’s my first landrover and I have fallen in love with it. However it has cooling issues as to which I have sorted out most of it. I have replaced my own csmblets water pump thermostat etc but I’m still losing coolant. I have found traces of coolant in the throttle body I assume it’s head gasket or inlet manifold gaskets. If is the head gasket can i get away without skimming as I don’t really want to remove the camshaft pulleys and lose the timing. Has anyone done this had anyone te used the old head bolts? And has the répit been successful. I habe read on Other forums that people have not skimmed the heads and reused the bolts then got shut of the car. I am a perfectionist whe. It comes to repairing cars however my budget is limited at this time so I’m putting the feelers out to see what failures and success stories are out there any advice would be grea truly appreciated. I know removing the engine is the easiest way however I live in a forest and engine removal is not possible where I live thanks in advance.

I'v done loads of KV6 HGs. It is best to have the heads re-faced before fitting new gaskets, especially if there's an indentation from the fire ring. There's no need to remove the pulleys, but no problem re-timing the cams if you do.
On the Freelander, it's actually best to remove the engine completely as access to the rear head is almost impossible. Use new OE bolts and follow the correct tightening sequence.

As above always get skimmed new bolts as stretch bolts so cannot reuse

Nodge68 said:

I'v done loads of KV6 HGs. It is best to have the heads re-faced before fitting new gaskets, especially if there's an indentation from the fire ring. There's no need to remove the pulleys, but no problem re-timing the cams if you do.
On the Freelander, it's actually best to remove the engine completely as access to the rear head is almost impossible. Use new OE bolts and follow the correct tightening sequence.

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Thank you for the info. I was trained by Renault many years ago and the way to remove a cylinder head was to reamive all bolts but leave the middle one in and twist the head of rather than lift as the Renault heads were always alloy does that apply to landrover engines

You can't twist a KV6 head like that. It's located with dowels, so rotation is impossible. If the liner is knocked while rotating, the bottom seal will be damaged and coolant will enter the sump.
There's also insufficient room to twist them, without the heads striking the body.

This is what the block looks like, prior to cleaning.

Nodge68 said:

You can't twist a KV6 head like that. It's located with dowels, so rotation is impossible. If the liner is knocked while rotating, the bottom seal will be damaged and coolant will enter the sump.
There's also insufficient room to twist them, without the heads striking the body.

This is what the block looks like, prior to cleaning. View attachment 143435

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Brill thanks again . I also read a lot of stories of the head gaskets failing again do you use any blue hylomar on them or just put the gaskets on dry???

There are many reasons why the HG will fail again. Normally it's due to bad preparation of the head and block, incorrect liner hights or bad fitting practices.

You can't use any kind of gasket sealant on the HGs. They are of the multi-layer shim steel design and coated in a thermal setting epoxy adhesive. These gaskets are sometimes called Klinger gaskets, Klinger being one manufacture of such a gasket design. For the epoxy sealer to bond correctly, the head and block need to be spotlessly clean and grease free. Even greasy fingerprints from handling when fitting can cause adhesion problems later on.

Dry

Nodge68 said:

There are many reasons why the HG will fail again. Normally it's due to bad preparation of the head and block, incorrect liner hights or bad fitting practices.

You can't use any kind of gasket sealant on the HGs. They are of the multi-layer shim steel design and coated in a thermal setting epoxy adhesive. These gaskets are sometimes called Klinger gaskets, Klinger being one manufacture of such a gasket design. For the epoxy sealer to bond correctly, the head and block need to be spotlessly clean and grease free. Even greasy fingerprints from handling when fitting can cause adhesion problems later on.

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What are the tolerances using a straight edge for checking the liners

Liners must be flush with the block up to 3 thou above the block. Ideally all liners on the bank need to be the same hight, or within 1 thou of the adjacent liner. If a liner is below the level of the block, the gasket will fail early. In this case a shim needs adding to the bottom of the liner.

Nodge68 said:

Liners must be flush with the block up to 3 thou above the block. Ideally all liners on the bank need to be the same hight, or within 1 thou of the adjacent liner. If a liner is below the level of the block, the gasket will fail early. In this case a shim needs adding to the bottom of the liner.

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Brill thanks

Darrenbunn6969 said:

Brill thanks

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Well driving last night the expansion tank filled up but not to the top and I could here gurgling noises in the coolant pipe so I guess I have air in the system again does this sound like cylinder head as I habe I coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant