Head Gasket Replacement

As some of the regulars here may recall, my Freelander blew it's headgasket just before Christmas but due to illness I've been unable to do much about it till recently.

Anyhow, have been stripping the engine bit by bit over the last couple of weeks and have finally gotten to the point of lifting the cylinder head today.

Underneath all looks well, testifying to my getting it off the road within a few miles of it starting to overheat. The old head gasket, SLS type, remains in remarkably good condition with no obvious signs of failure, but there was no doubt water was getting into the oil. Again, presumably a sign of quick diagnosis.

Now the head's off I can put a straight edge against it to see whether it's warped at all. Hopefully not but if it needs skimming them off it'll go. It'll be a bit of a pain if it does need doing though, as the nearest place is 125 miles away. Ah well.

I've got a shiny new MLS gasket ready to go back on, together with the beefier oil ladder and new inlet and exhaust gaskets. Also got a set of metal dowels but it looks like someone has already fitted these in the past.

There's a few piccies in my Photobucket if anyone's interested.

do yu reckon, coz of the dowels, its already had one HGF (at least)?

The Mad Hat Man said:

do yu reckon, coz of the dowels, its already had one HGF (at least)?

Click to expand...

Yes, but presumably before the MLS gasket was introduced.

or they didnt bother to use the MLS! - I know of garidges which still dont use the MLS.

head will be warped for sure, mine was the same- head gasket looking like new, but coolant loss into oil. dont forget to check the height if your liners.
best of luck
Dylan

Yeah, you're probably right. Just a real pain having to drive to Glasgow with it.

What's the procedure for checking the liners height? Straight edge and feeler guages?

Yeah liners should be 0.075mm above the block. When checking the head, shine a bright spotlight behind the steel rule. Any chinks of light will show you where the possible warage is. Check in the longitudinal, lateral and diagonal planes, no more than 0.05mm waarpage

typo - Warpage

Northern Irelander said:

Yeah liners should be 0.075mm above the block. When checking the head, shine a bright spotlight behind the steel rule. Any chinks of light will show you where the possible warage is. Check in the longitudinal, lateral and diagonal planes, no more than 0.05mm waarpage

Click to expand...

Well they all look ok. Most just proud of the block, and one just about level, but none lower.

I quite like "waarpage". Has a nice rural Suffolk sound to it

iz not a case of looking ok - they MUST be measured - i think its 5 thou proud.

0.000 to 0.075 according to the Good Book.

mm or inchees

The Mad Hat Man said:

mm or inchees

Click to expand...

You mean there's a difference? !

You can tell I work for NASA, eh?

Well, the head's gorn off to Glasgow for skimming today. That's a 250 mile round trip by car so I entrusted it to Royal Mail instead.

Hopefully get it back early next week and I can start putting the whole thing back together again.

At just over 18 kilos it cost £13.33 Standard Parcels rate, or (wait for it) £56 if I'd chosen First Class!

So you didnt price next day delivery then?
When its all back and engine running it will be forgotten about.