Plea of help from Rover peeps...

[JamesV6CDX]

Hell no!!

Gimme VX any day,

[familyman]

K series blinding 4 pot. So good that Lotus used it in the Elise for years. It was the best weight torque bhp at the time.  They ended up with a regular 190 bhp out 1.8 normally aspirated in the Exige now thats not bad. Very stong for its size, The head bolts run right through block and clamp the main bearing carrier to the block as well.(although there are smaller bolts down there to stop carrier falling off when head removed) creating a strong sandwich effect clamping whole engine together.

When you replace head you can reuse bolts but you have to measure them to make sure they haven't stretched to much, supplier of bolts would be able to tell measurements, or quick call to local landrover dealer they are usually quite helpfull. you shouldn't  turn engine over with head removed but if you do do it very slowly to prevent main bearing shells spinning.  Only other thing i can think of is be very carefull when replacing head so as not to damage rubber seal on gasket, very easily done. Tough heads and don't normally need a skim, use straight edge and check with feeler gauges, usual stuff.

If you can work on 'meega v6 this will be a doddle,  Good luck

[TheBoy]

K series blinding 4 pot. So good that Lotus used it in the Elise for years. It was the best weight torque bhp at the time.  They ended up with a regular 190 bhp out 1.8 normally aspirated in the Exige now thats not bad. Very stong for its size, The head bolts run right through block and clamp the main bearing carrier to the block as well.(although there are smaller bolts down there to stop carrier falling off when head removed) creating a strong sandwich effect clamping whole engine together.

When you replace head you can reuse bolts but you have to measure them to make sure they haven't stretched to much, supplier of bolts would be able to tell measurements, or quick call to local landrover dealer they are usually quite helpfull. you shouldn't  turn engine over with head removed but if you do do it very slowly to prevent main bearing shells spinning.  Only other thing i can think of is be very carefull when replacing head so as not to damage rubber seal on gasket, very easily done. Tough heads and don't normally need a skim, use straight edge and check with feeler gauges, usual stuff.

If you can work on 'meega v6 this will be a doddle,  Good luck

Thanks for info/advice

[familyman]

Hi TheBoy just remembered something else, while you've got the head off replace the thermostat as it sits under the inlet manifold on the back of the front casing and is an akward job to do when its all together, also check the metal coolant pipe off the back of it as this is prone to rusting from the outside in!  Use to paint them with some heatproof paint to prolong life

[JamesV6CDX]

Thanks for the input mate. Agreed for the most - engine turning needs to be kept to a minimum when the head's off, but if it does need to be turned a fraction then you can do so, if gentle on the crank.

I'm very hopeful we'll use new head bolts as a matter of course, seems a faff measuring them and risking it when they're only about £20 a set..  

[Markie]

To me this was a good engine fatally flawed by Rovers cheap cost cutting.

Agreed its used in the Lotus and many Kit Cars.....however amoung other things that gasket is a major flaw.

They were however told by Lotus about this early on and decided to ignore it and not change the design  

[TheBoy]

My view of the HG problem is because it was designed as a 1.1, and has been bored out further for others. The 1.8 was the most prone. Is this right, or is it another design issue?

[Markie]

My view of the HG problem is because it was designed as a 1.1, and has been bored out further for others. The 1.8 was the most prone. Is this right, or is it another design issue?

From experience the 1.8`s VVC`s (143bhp) are VERY prone to goint and hard to fix.

However the twin cam 1.8 (120ish) doesnt have a record of this.

1.6`s are okay and usually 1.4`s are the most frequent to go.

Think the original K was from a 1.4 or 1.6 engine as certainly in the rover 200 series/ 25 series the 1.1`s came a bit later into production  :-/

[Markie]

..and the original head gasket is utter garbage and was eventually redesigned and put into later freelanders.

Hence ALWAYS get a post 2001 designed gasket.(or paynes)

[TheBoy]

My view of the HG problem is because it was designed as a 1.1, and has been bored out further for others. The 1.8 was the most prone. Is this right, or is it another design issue?

From experience the 1.8`s VVC`s (143bhp) are VERY prone to goint and hard to fix.

However the twin cam 1.8 (120ish) doesnt have a record of this.

1.6`s are okay and usually 1.4`s are the most frequent to go.

Think the original K was from a 1.4 or 1.6 engine as certainly in the rover 200 series/ 25 series the 1.1`s came a bit later into production  :-/

I though the 1.1 was the first out, and fitted to Metros, followed by 1.4?

Is 1.4 more common failure simply because there are far more 1.4s?


Mine is a 1.6, and failed. Always had regular coolant changes (told old coolant may be a cause), though last change in the summer, I flushed and put in Vx Red - was this a mistake?

[Martin_1962]

As an engine fan I followed the development.

Started as the 10nbhp 1.4 16 valve for Rover 200 then a 1.1 and 1.4 8v for Metro.

The 1600 is a bored out 1400 to replace a Honda lump.

1.8 is stroked 1.6 AFAIR

[miked]

The wife has a 1.4 25 (2001).  Its a stop gap till March when she wants to swap it for an Alfa 147 (not sure which is more fragile?)

Anyway, I knew the bloke we got it from.  HG had gone and he had replaced it.  Talking it through with him, he told me that the original HG on cars up to 2001 were paper based.  Replacement ones are metal?

One thing he did say, always replace the bolts.

[TheBoy]

I know the bolts are stretch bolts that go all way through block.  When I did engineering A level, I was taught to never reuse stretch bolts...

[Marks DTM Calib]

To many floors on this engine.....and a very poor torque curve to hence why Honda never used it and modifed it for variable valve timing as standard....awful to drive in the heavier cars (absolutely terrible in the freelander aplications!)

Some think that the through bolts are a good idea.....in race aplications yes but, then you would use studs not bolts to get a greater clamping force.

Not actualy that big a favourite in kit cars, the red top vauxhall, Honda 4AGE and Zetec are much more popular mainly due to the high level of unreliabilty in the K series and the difficulty in getting a good one plus, there not actualy that light...........rear wheel drive boxes are also a pain to mate to them.

Its an over rated engine which is only viewed highly in this country....because its deemed to be british.....and we like that sort of thing!

New bolts every time.......

[VXL V6]

I read in Car Mechanics that Land Rover have developed a new head gasket for the K series (as used in Freelander) and it's supposed to be a lot stronger than the previous version, it hasn't been in use long enough though to prove that it is any better.