Somethings Not Right!?

Anguslives! said:

Thanks for the frown!

I know the K has it's issues but who knows with the upgraded parts perhaps thats all it needs to put the reputation right about HGF. I'm not saying it won't happen again, but it shouldn't happen anytime soon.... Well thats my hope!!

If the motor was fitted in a lightweight sports car being driven under race conditions then the pressure is going to be far greater than how it's driven in a Freelander, therefore it would support that "with the new parts" Gasket failure could perhaps be a thing of the past.

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yp - sorry about that - should have been a .
My concern is, and always has been, that you arent the first to replace all the parts and still have sequential HGF.
For some reason the Petrol Freelanders seems to be worse than cars with the similar engines - maybe its airflow - maybe the cooling design - maybe its the different body weight or driving style - who knows, but it does seem to be particularly susceptable.

Fair point to make, it would be interesting to know exactaly how many of HGF has occured with all upgraded quality parts fitted appossed to HGF with either cheaper after market parts or only using the new gasket...

Perhaps there's a opportunity to increase the credibility of this engine.

Haha I know I'm gonna regret typing that!!

i think the trouble is the engines have to work harder in the freelander, its heavier, and if it is finding grip it is having to work its arse off, if you consider down stoney tracks with wheels spinning the engine will rev quite freely

It's no more prone than the MG or Rover range.

There are some polls on MG-Rover.org for those who wish to see some figures. IIRC around 25% had hgf after MLS fitted, no accuracy in this as head/ block could have been duff from the 1st hgf

to be fair we don't seem to hear about hgf from engines with mls and oil rail fitted at factory.

Anguslives! said:

I'll try and have a looksee tonight for the clip, bet I'm not going to like it!!

See you've used my comment as your "new quote" and is taken out of content as my last Hero was a lollypop stick!

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LOL

Did you find it? the Volvo has 300+ bhp and the lotus has never blown a head gasket to my knowledge, the K engines are fine if treated propperly don't rev em hard when there cold.

I thought that Lotus thought the K series was so crap, they chucked it for a Jap motor?

oldskool said:

LOL

Did you find it? the Volvo has 300+ bhp and the lotus has never blown a head gasket to my knowledge, the K engines are fine if treated propperly don't rev em hard when there cold.

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Haven't had time to look..... errr to be honest I forgot!! I will I will I will.

The Mad Hat Man said:

I thought that Lotus thought the K series was so crap, they chucked it for a gap motor?

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It's a bit of both, Lotus have tried to tackle the issue and even drafted in outside specialist/s to look at improving the faults, they like Rover before rejected some of the work due to costs. They weren't major things which would hit the public hard just reduce their own profits and loss of aftercare costs......

freelance said:

to be fair we don't seem to hear about hgf from engines with mls and oil rail fitted at factory.

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Give it time, 2005/2006 FL1 are probably long out of warranty at the dealership.........that's when Joe Public searches for forum and technical guidance.

Attachment shows a burnt valve, note the de-lamination on the light grey shim (arrowed)

Other attachment shows oil weepage from the MLS on the block. I never used the new rail, but others (with new rail) have reported the same oil weepage.

Northern Irelander said:

Give it time, 2005/2006 FL1 are probably long out of warranty at the dealership.........that's when Joe Public searches for forum and technical guidance.

Attachment shows a burnt valve, note the de-lamination on the light grey shim (arrowed)

Other attachment shows oil weepage from the MLS on the block. I never used the new rail, but others (with new rail) have reported the same oil weepage.

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But didn't you mention before you used the same head bolts as before? I don't know if others only use part of the gear when doing the job, as mentioned my hope is if I use all the new parts then fingers crossed no more issues. Did you take off the sump plate and re-do the seal?

Anguslives! said:

But didn't you mention before you used the same head bolts as before? I don't know if others only use part of the gear when doing the job, as mentioned my hope is if I use all the new parts then fingers crossed no more issues. Did you take off the sump plate and re-do the seal?

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the old bolts are within tolerance only 56k at time of hgf.

As mentioned, those other owners with the oil leak had new parts fitted.

Some pics of a MLS after 30k miles

1. Head just removed with MLS sitting on the block (I wonder if the 94 means anything?)
2. Serious blistering where upper face (black side) of shim sits in coolant cavity of the head
3. Delamination at LH back corner
4. Delamination at RH back corner
4. MLS, hacksaw blade showing how the layers DONT bond, you can easily separate the 5 layers (excluding shim -the 6th layer)
5. Bolts numbered
6. OEM competition gasket................I'm happy

My own personal verdict is the MLS is nowhere near the finished product.

Angus, just enjoy the motor...... you know what to look for and how to fix it (should it happen again)

Thanks to all for the comments on this thread, it's been emotional. The motor still going strong no issues with water or oil, it's done around 400 miles since complete. I will post the last few pictures tonight and get the engine guard tray back on (left off incase of issues).

I have to applaud your pure bloody-mindedness and determination! Congrats on the results so far and fingers crossed for many thousands more happy miles.

Cheers!

Last update on this thread, all is OK, the engines now done 680 miles since the work has been done, a few muddy trips to the lakes and back.

I was going to load the final pictures of the work but must have deleted them from the PC by mistake, nothing really to show you, just cleaned up etc.

I will continue to monitor this thread should anyone have questions I'll try to answer as best as I can.

Good luck with your own HGF....

Anguslives!

Thats good news Angus.
I still maintain yu was bloody lucky and had good fortune on your side, but praise where praise is due - tiz a good result .
raise:

Well the motor's running good, nothing to report so I've chucked back on the engine guard and thats that.

I did whip off the wheel again to check the timing, but this time I removed the outercover and took the lining up from the mark within. Reason for this was I felt it wasn't totally right when travelling down motorways, now it runs like a charm.

so did you check the timing was correct, or did you reset the timing, cause its funny that fitting the engine guard has made it run like a charm?