Uh oh, a K series Freelander.....

[scaryoldcortina]

With HG trouble

 

Right. I've been asked by a woman down the street to have a quick look at her V reg Freelander which has been having some problems lately.

 

So far, she noticed water in the oil, under the cap. A garage (not me) diagnosed HG failure, changed the HG and timing belt, fresh oil and filter, charged her about £600. 100 miles later it dumps all its coolant on the road, she stopped and called the AA. AA man spots split in rad bottom hose but refills coolant and does a pressure test (eh?) says the HG has gone again. Recovered home. So I had a look, just to give an opinion because she's a bit worried about it.

 

The bottom hose has split where it enters the rad, just behind the clip - it looks to me like it tore most of the way through while it was being removed and then burst when the car got up to temp, so so far so good. I'm going to get a hose on tuesday and test it properly. Phew? No.

 

While I was checking it, I dipped the oil - none on the dipstick at all. Not a drop. Uh-oh... where's that all gone? It has just been changed 100 miles ago... so I looked underneath. Fresh, clean engine oil all over everything from the anti-roll bar to the spare wheel cover on the tailgate. Found the engine to inlet breather pipe in the undertray too. Aha! nope, there is one fitted to the engine too. So I felt round the back of the motor - there is fresh oil all over the bottom of the inlet manifold at the no4 end. Carp.

 

Only thing I can think is that the cam oil feed runs through the HG in this corner and its not sealing properly - I can't see anything else ditching almost a whole sump of oil that quick. Can anyone confirm this? (I don't have a manual to hand) and also where is the oil filter hidden? I wanted to check that but couldn't see it. Also, are K series rocker covers gasketed, or just held with sealant? (there are gobs of white silicone all round the top)

 

Worst bit of it all is that the "water" in the oil was just a bit of condensation in the cap by the sound of it. Probably nothing wrong with it to start with!

[Station]

Here's mine, the water galleries are on the outside (and around the liners).

 

 

If there's no oil in the coolant, it probably hasn't been bled properly. There's bleed screws on the metal pipe underneath the distributor, on the engine bulkhead (for the heating), and on the top of the radiator (bleed in this order). The temperature of the air in the coolant system is much higher that the coolant and can blow a hole in the pipe easily. It's important to bleed though, the garage probably hasn't done this. It's easy to do, you only need to do it once.

There's an elbow on one of the hoses (look above the distributor area) that is designed to blow off if it gets too hot. Also the cap on the reservoir should give an indication of overheating by shooting a Vesuveus-esque column of steam, this should be changed if you're cautious of HGF. If you look underneath, the metal part in the middle should be central, if it's lobsiding, it's shagged.

I lost a lot of oil a couple of years ago, I don't know where it went, and only realised when the engine was rattly. It didn't even register on the dipstick, there was about a litre in there.

 

The cam oil feed runs through small ports in the head through the cam ladder and back down, this needs to be sealed with Anerobic Sealant (Loctite 574). Easy job to remove, it'll be red, if it's window sealant, it'll probably be blocked and blowing through the breather pipes on the inlet, lolz.

[revolting peasant]

[scaryoldcortina]

Ta station! No oil in the water (clean OAT - but that proves nothing cos the AA man filled it after it spewed its load) and no water in the oil (or oil in the oil either come to that....)

 

Seems to me that the radiator bottom hose is a funny place to get an airlock though, I'm feeling "damaged by fitter" rather than not bled through. Pressure cap looks brand new, it isn't even dirty yet.

 

It's the oil leak I'm worried about. Looking at your pic I can't see it being the feed (assuming it is in one of the dowels) and there isn't an oil feed to the inlet manifold, so another question! Does the K have a separate cambox like a vauxhall OHC or is the whole head cast as one like a zetec?

[ashmicro]

With HG trouble

 

Also, are K series rocker covers gasketed, or just held with sealant? (there are gobs of white silicone all round the top)

 

K has a reusable rigid camshaft cover gasket, like so:

 

 

Rover RAVE states that a sealant should NOT be used. If the gasket is in such bad consition as to require extra sealing, renew the gasket.*

 

I have the tightening seq., should you require it.

 

edit - *this bit may not be right, I'll check for definite tomorrow.

 

Edit 2 - here we go

 

 

I read eleswehere (prob mg-rover.org) that if the gasket looks OK, just reuse it. If not, get a new one.

[scaryoldcortina]

Well, after waiting 2 days for a bottom hose from land-rover (who wanted the reg and chassis number, then sent the wrong one anyway) I've just been to fit it.

 

Cooling system holds its pressure, everything bled through fine and the motor behaves normally. The burst hose looks like it failed because it was removed roughly during the HG job - the reinforcing cords are torn right where the hose passes over the end of the radiator pipe and the rubber has ballooned in a classic pressure fail. I also noticed that most of the pipework around the head had not been clipped back correctly, the dipstick is broken, timing belt cover is missaligned and a bolt missing. Cambox and cam cover joints both have loads of sealant pushing out, the exhaust to manifold join has also been done with paste rather than a new gasket (GR8 4 CAT_FAIL) and the battery clamp is missing, presumed forgotten about.

 

100% a shoddy job. The sort of thing you expect when the bloke next door fixes it in the street for £50 rather than from a garage charging almost £600! Garage have stopped answering the phone too

[ashmicro]

That's bloody scandalous. Lucky you were on hand to do the job properly. Are the garage owners Mr S Wonder and Mr R Charles?

 

If I were you, I'd be on to trading standards pronto.

[scaryoldcortina]

The owner is already talking to trading standards, we got photos of all the problems and I'm doing a "headed paper" report on what I've found and done.

[ashmicro]

The owner is already talking to trading standards, we got photos of all the problems and I'm doing a "headed paper" report on what I've found and done.

 

 

Excellent, sound like you're on the case, quite literally. Cunts like that give the motor trade a bad name. Top work, sir.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

A small claims court claim only costs a couple of hundred quid, and you don't need to get solicitors involved, so that may also be worth thinking about.

[Station]

If anyone uses white window sealant on an engine, they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a car.

BTW the hoses on these should be replaced after about 10 years and when they're disturbed, they break easily. Mine has busted twice (the one from the engine) on the sensor bit I just trimmed it down and put it back on. Looks like too much reinforcing fibres and not enough rubber inside!

[scaryoldcortina]

Battery clamp fitted, 2 mile test drive performed. aaaand its.....

 

 

 

 

 

Leaking oil like the Exxon Valdez all over the back of the engine again. I'm suspecting that the window-seal "gasket" on the cambox has failed - you can even see oil seeping past it in places, so I've been asked to do the whole job again, properly, with some actual gaskets this time, as soon as trading standards have looked at the current state of the car.

[cros]

This seems like a good place to put knoblander woes, so here we go. Since buying the sorry thing I'm working through a bunch of faults, some built in by the manufacturer and some the result of neglect.

The first issue that presented itself was a clutch pedal needing two feet to push down, and whose bite point was only a gnats cock from the floor.

Freeing the partially seized operating lever solved this, and on removing the slave cylinder bracket I saw that the welds were cracked. I repaired them and put the dubious looking plastic cylinder back in place.

 

 

I was shocked to see that this bracket still flexes slightly when the pedal is depressed, so an inadequate design which I believe was improved on later cars.

There are also tales of the cylinders exploding, but this one has done 18 years and still works; keeping the operating lever lubed would have doubtless alleviated a lot of problems.

The wiring to the single electric fan has chafed through because the hose clip was place in just the right place for this to occur. The clip looks original and this is a common problem. It's such an avoidable fault I wonder if Landrover actually coveted being one of the most unreliable marques?

Fixed in a minute, but never picked up during several main dealers services that the one previous owner doubtless paid through the snout for.

[cros]

I put a new cambelt on today. According to the Haynes manual this job must be carried out on a fine day and requires 3 spanners.

I wonder if they've even opened a Freelander bonnet, I got through about 10 spanners, several sockets and some bits of wood as all my breeze blocks are bust.

 

All the brake hoses are replaced along with some copper ones that had eroded in a way I've never seen before. Last owner must have kept it parked in a midden.

Meanwhile I talked I wife into a little alfresco needle-work and she's done a good job repairing the fag-burn in the passenger seat and stitching the drivers perch back together- it appears to have burst under the weight of a gigantic arse.

 

Once she'd got started she sewed a steering wheel cover on as neither of us liked to touch what's underneath- it appears some nasty reaction had taken place between whatever they make steering wheels from and 18 years worth of sweaty hands.

 

I phoned the local Landrover dealer about getting a spare key, just for fun really. They said if I got a one cut and found another plipper they could make it talk to the engine for £148 inc. vat.

Cheaper than I thought, but instead I pulled a box with lots of wires sprouting out from behind the fuses and have posted it to a bloke who will do the job for 40 quid including 2 magic fobs.

[dome]

Good work. I quite liked mine truth be told although the k series felt like the wrong engine for the car.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Battery clamp fitted, 2 mile test drive performed. aaaand its.....

 

 

 

 

 

Leaking oil like the Exxon Valdez all over the back of the engine again. I'm suspecting that the window-seal "gasket" on the cambox has failed - you can even see oil seeping past it in places, so I've been asked to do the whole job again, properly, with some actual gaskets this time, as soon as trading standards have looked at the current state of the car.

Whatever happened to this one?

 

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

[ruffgeezer]

I'll post up when I get around to replacingthe servo on mine. It is drawing air in from the pedal side, although still working for the moment.

 

I've replaced the knackered door lock for now and got a new seat base to fit too.

[pauldoubleyou]

I do love a good kseries thread. 

 

So if the oil is going into the inlet, is it smoking like a champion?

 

Dont forget on these there is coolant galleries in the actual (plastic) inlet. Which is a dumb idea i know, but sometimes coolant leaks can be cited to the gasket on the inlet. MGR changed it when they realised it was crap and the new versions are green. Old ones black. 

 

If its dumping oil out the inlet i would say that the HG has definitely gone. I would however suggest even further that they probably didnt change it and just charged her to 'fix' the non HGF problem. Which would probably be the above. 

 

They do like to have a 'little' bit of mayo in the cap as standard on these engines. May be because theres so much room in the top of the engine that it created a fair bit of condensation?

 

Anyway, waffling now. 

 

If youre doing the headgasket, itll be about £70 and an afternoons work. If the head isnt warped which you can inspect yourself with an engineers rule and a torch. 

 

Inlet and exhaust manifolds off, half inch bolts, timing belt cover off 8mm bolts, coolant pipes off 10mm bolts, timing tensioner removed 10mm bolt, and the head is ready to remove really. If the timing belt looks alright just reuse it. Set to TDC before you pull the head and DONT MOVE the crank when the heads off. The liners will move and cause you issues. 

 

Get the MLS gasket set off ebay for £40 and this can compensate for any slight warpage as it is multilayered. 

 

FOR GODS SAKE do the thermostat when you have the inlet off. Its a tiny job but you will see how shit it is when you get the inlet off. 

 

MAKE SURE you get a set of new bolts. They are stretch bolts and cant be reused. And for the love of pete DONT DROP them down into the head when you put them in - the rail they bolt into in the sump is kind of 'floating' which means if you drop the bolts it can and will fall into the sump. Which nobody wants. Bolts will 'ping' as you tighten them up, dont panic in the later stages of torque. 

 

I have a certain fondness for a kseries. 

[pauldoubleyou]

I should have re read this thread but the above info stands.. FYI standard way to fit a kseries cam cover is with hylomar blue. The factory gaskets (the big A4 thing) is terrible and will leak in a few weeks. 

 

The last freelander i had was leaking air from the servo through rust on the engine side. Tried to bodge but ended up replacing. 

[cros]

 

What a twat to just replace the disc shields. Nothing else actually needed touching, but I still had to re-new the wheel bearings due to them coming apart when the hubs were pressed out. Its been a chilly job too cos I can't get the workshop door shut with two vehicles in. The Bedford is nicer to work on and was much easier to pull apart even though it was a little bit rusty. I want to get back on it, I'm sure the Freelander won't need anything else doing for ages...

 

[cros]

I got it back on it's feet and tried out tonight. With a new VCU and bearings the nasty noises have gone away.

 

I think I could have got away with refitting the original VCU as when subjected to scientific test it registered 'not completely buggered', but I couldn't face clawing it back out in a year's time.

. Old one.

New one.

 

Last job was to fit a warning system for when the coolant dribbles down the cylinder block. I understand this is an event not to be overlooked, so here's my solution.

 

It's another fish tank float switch in the expansion bottle wired to a warning lamp. Why Landrover didn't see fit to include such a device until several years later is just perverted.

 

(Note, I must stop leaving my nightshirt on the stepladder)

[scaryoldcortina]

Whatever happened to this one?

 

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

She successfully sued her money back out of the first garage, it got another full head set fitted and about six months later it shit its gearbox and got traded for a Citroen c3.