Thinking about it
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| posted on 12/7/11 at 07:54 AM |
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K series head gasket question
Is it just the 1.8 or all that seem to be subject to premature failure?
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 12/7/11 at 08:11 AM |
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K series head gaskets normally fail at between 70k to 90k, the upper being normal failure limit. They do however, fail at an earlier interval, but,
this isnormally due to some other factor, ie, overheating (due to insufficient coolant, insufficient oil, thermostat sticking shut, coolant airlock,
etc), insufficient prior repair, cylinder liners moving (various reasons but primarily engine overheated).
When fixed properly (diagnose reason for failure, skim head, replace water pump and thermostat (make certain of air bleed hole), replace head bolts,
flush water system, check both rads and refill coolant with proper antifreeze mix ensuring no air locks prior to start up) they should be good for
another 90k.
JGG.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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liam.mccaffrey
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| posted on 12/7/11 at 08:12 AM |
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I think the 1.8 was worst when used in the freelander, but they all suffered a bit my 1600 went at 68k.
Easy enough to remedy and prevent with a bit of research
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 12/7/11 at 08:27 AM |
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All the engine size variants can fail, though the 1.8 is probably a little more prone, especialy when fitted to cars with long coolant paths (e.g.
MGF/TF) and the heavy Freelander which means it tends to get a thrashing from cold.
Many failures are down to loss of coolant from e.g. leaking inlet manifold gasket or water pump, so by regularly checking coolant level you can ward
of failures from these.
Even if it does fail, as long as the engine doesn't overheat significantly it's not a job to be worried about; there is nothing especialy
complicated about changing the gasket as long as you take care to follow all the guidlines such as measuring liner heights and bolt lengths. Throw it
back together like an old iron block engine (like many seem to) and it will likely fail again however.
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wylliezx9r
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| posted on 12/7/11 at 08:41 AM |
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One of the biggest problems is when the piston liners raise. As far as I know there is no repair for this and if undiagnosed the gasket repair will
last about 2k.
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.
George Best
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 12/7/11 at 10:01 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by wylliezx9r
One of the biggest problems is when the piston liners raise. As far as I know there is no repair for this and if undiagnosed the gasket repair will
last about 2k.
They don't rise, they sink if the engine is badly overheated. They are supposed to be raised above the surface of the block, the absolute
height and the variation between cylinders is important.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 12/7/11 at 11:03 AM |
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Normally gasket design the slight seapage can start to occur between thw water and oil sides after the 40,000 mile mark --- simple job to change
to the revisedd multiilayer gasket 2 hours work + oil and coolant, no other parts required contrary to what you might hear elsewhere the revised
oil rail is not required and it is actually better to reuse the old bolts.
With the multilayer gasket you can expext the gasket to seal for 150,000 miles plus.
To sink the liners on a k series it has to be seriously overheated not just boiled but over heated to the extent the plastic parts on the exterior
of the engine shows signs of starting to melt.
The reason a k series can get to this stage is the temperature gauge is driven by the ECU and is set to remain firmly planted on "N"
between 70 and 120c.
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