1.8 Petrol Head gasket/Timing problem?

Hi,

I have a Freelander MY02 1.8 Petrol Commercial. This is my forst Freelander which i have enjoyed alot since owning it 6 months ago. It had only done 36k miles when i bought it. Sonce owning it i have done 7k miles.

A week ago the head gasket went It seems this is a regular problem. Wishing to save some money ( lost my job recently ) i dedcided with my limited mechanical experience ( Carpenter by trade ) to have a go at the repair myself.

I had a service manual on cd which helped with information etc.

I stripped the head off and had it skimmed just incase. I left the inlet manifold in the engine compartment, i was unable to release the fuel line that is attached to the fuel rail. The 2 lugs that were there are not now that releases the line.

Anyway, The head came back as, skimmed and rebulit just as it was handed over. The cam belt was left in position so no need to take the pulley off or remove the engine mount. The belt was only replaced 10k ago.

I used new head bolts, and bought a full head gasket set to OEM standards.

All the assembly work seemed to be ok. Carefully checking connection, plugs etc. I did have to [ut a new coil pack and 2 new ht leads on as the inards had come appart. Left half on the spark plugs! As a matter of course i replaced the plugs too.

As per guide, i revolved the crankshaft around twice, making sure that the pulley park was dead opposite the top mark on the lower cam cover.

The cam shafts were lined up exhaust- inlet exhaust inlet just as the diagram showed. Belt was fitted and tensioned. I manually turned the crankshaft over 2 times again and the cam markings were as they should be and no fouling was encountered.

On trying to start the car, it just wont go?? You can hear it trying, but its just not having it, before my head gasket went it started first time every time

I have checked all push in plugs, connections, spark at the plugs etc..

Have i missed something fundermental or is there some more checks i can do??

Any help would be much appreciated,

Kind Regards,

Steve

Usual procedure (when removing bottom pulley) is to line the 2 dots on the bottom belt drive with the line on the engine, at this point the 2 timing marks on the cam pulleys should also align (left hand one at 3 o'clock, right hand mark at 9 o'clock)

When you removed the head, were all the pistons down in the block at the same depth?

Just wondering if you have aligned the cam pulley marks but not the crank pulley properly.

One other thing to check - some people have used the wrong mark on the cam pulleys to line up with.

Mantamad said:

Usual procedure (when removing bottom pulley) is to line the 2 dots on the bottom belt drive with the line on the engine, at this point the 2 timing marks on the cam pulleys should also align (left hand one at 3 o'clock, right hand mark at 9 o'clock)

When you removed the head, were all the pistons down in the block at the same depth?

Just wondering if you have aligned the cam pulley marks but not the crank pulley properly.

One other thing to check - some people have used the wrong mark on the cam pulleys to line up with.

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Hi,
Thanks for your reply,

I did not remove the bottom pulley at all, i didnt see the need too since i had left the cam belt in position and wasnt going to replace it. so assumed that by using the mark on the lower cam cover case would be ok. the one that is in the 12 oclok position.

If my memory serves me right, im pretty sure that the pistons were pretty much all at the same level before the head went on, maybe the 2 middle ones about 1/4 inch higher?

both the cam marks were level , with the exhaust mark showing left, then inlet, then 2nd cam the same.

Should i have removed the bottom pulley anyway to check that the 2 dots are centered to the crankshaft mark?

Thanks again,

Steve

remove the bottom pulley and provided you have a cam locking tool and two sets of hands-it is very easy to bump it a tooth out. If you put your location someone may be able to help

From your piston position it sounds like you had the marks in the correct place I am wondering though if you might just be a small amount out with the timing but not enough to cause valve to piston contact.

Its worth checking your bottom pulley marks first just in case.

shudnt the 1.8 be timed and gasket fitted with the pistons half way up/down?

Sounds like your timing is correct if it is as you've (turned 2 revs and everything lines up). Crank pulley if in the right position with lower cover shouldn't need to come off because its notched onto crank sprocket which in turn lines up with mark on oil pump housing. So it sounds like some another problem are all electrical connections correct and in right connectors? is the starter motor trying? can you hear the fuel pump making a noise when you turn ignition on?can you smell excessive fuel from engine after trying to start it? did you reset fuel inertia switch?

DM68 said:

Sounds like your timing is correct if it is as you've (turned 2 revs and everything lines up). Crank pulley if in the right position with lower cover shouldn't need to come off because its notched onto crank sprocket which in turn lines up with mark on oil pump housing. So it sounds like some another problem are all electrical connections correct and in right connectors? is the starter motor trying? can you hear the fuel pump making a noise when you turn ignition on?can you smell excessive fuel from engine after trying to start it? did you reset fuel inertia switch?

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Many thanks to you all, Your comments are useful.

Fuel pump is working, I can hear it when ignition is turned on, However, I cant smell excessive unburnt fuel, and i wasnt aware of the fuel inertia switch? Could someone please advise where this is located?
Will also check down the electrical route too.

Thanks again, Steve

Found the fuel switch, it must be on a micro switch since it didnt seem to have either an up or down position? I pressed it anyways a few times and it hasnt made a difference. It really wants to start but at best i cant get it past a lumpy tickover, if i try and give it some throttle it just cuts out. I know it sounds like a timing problem, but having triple checked the markings its making me think the problem is lying elsewhere?? Anyone in the Grimsby area can help??

Thanks, Steve

grimsby a little too far for me, did it cook up?- if so you may have sticky rings a teaspoon of oil in each bore will free it full throttle and crank or tow up road

Is it actually starting and just running rough or is it starting running rough for a few seconds and just cutting out

were the cams removed?

Cam sprocket locating dowels/lugs?

It will be something simple that has been overlooked, give all connectors and vacuum pipes on the manifold the once over again,

Keep us updated!

Hu Guys,

Thanks again for your input, I am trying all your ideas still. Still no luck so far.

The cams were removed by the engineering company that skimmed the head. To be honest he said that it didnt really need doing but since i asked to have it done anyway he did. The cams were removed but refitted by them, i said i wanted the head back as it came to them. Since they said that they did about 5-6 of these Freelander heads every week i assume that they knew what they were doing. At the moment i have to assume that the cam pulleys were put back as they arrived.

I had the vehicle towed around my village and the best i could manage was a continuous lumpy tickover, but as soon as i tried to throttle the engine it just cut out. It sounded like it was either only running on 2 cylinders or that the timing was so far out it wouldnt take any gas. Thats the only way i can really describe it.

Ive checked so many times the timing marks, both crank pulley and cam marks. Crank is at 12 oclock against the bottom cam cover mark ( bear in mind the crank pulley was never removed so the crank sprocket mark should correspond ok.) The camshaft marks appear as they should in the workshop manual. reading from left to right ex-inlet ex-inlet straight through in perferct allignment.

If i have the above correct then i need to assume i have a fuel or electrical problem?

I have pressed the fuel initia switch a few times, both with ignition on and off ..

The fueld inlet pipe into the fuel rail was never removed from the manifold so if that needed to be pressurised it still should be.

Coil Packs and ht leads..... When i removed the ht leads and coil packs some of the internals were stuck to the spark plugs... I was told these could not be repaired so i had to buy 2 new ht leads and one new coil pack....

looking at the engine from left to right i have a coil pack in cylinder number 1 with the ht lead going into cylinder number 4. Then i have an ht lead in cylinder number 2 with the coil pack in cylinder number 3... Is that correct??

What did slightly worry me was that i wasnt totaly convinced that the coil packs made a good connection onto the spark plugs... SInce the gap to push down before they got bolted down wasnt very big. I have to assume that this is correct since you cant push them down any further?

I did pull out the lead and spark plug of the last cylinder just to check that i had a good spark. This test was ok, the plugs are also new.

I have cleaned the throttle body, checked all the push in plug connectors. I cant see that these can be plugged in wrong since they seem to be all a matching male/female.

Battery is fully charged, |Fuel pump can be heard priming on ignition...

SO thats where i am at the moment.... Very frustrated!!! lol

Any more input will be appreciated, I am going stir crazy without my wheels !!

Your coil packs and HT leads are in the right position.
Now this might be a long shot but there is two connectors which if plugged the wrong way round would give your symptoms because they look the same.
Theres a green connector(inlet air temp connector), well above that, and below your throttle position sensor theres a black connector(engine harness to injector harness) that connector is the same fitting as the speed sensor connector which is on top of the gearbox near the crankshaft position sensor.Now if these 2 were the wrong way round the engine would try to start but sound rough and just cut out.So if all else fails its worth checking.

Finally problem sorted today!!

It turns out that the cam sprockets were infact 180 degrees out! The engineering company by mistake had put the pins in the wrong holes on the sprockets. I was unable to remove these myself so i had a local Landy Garage sort this for me. I am pleased this is now resolved but a bit miffed that my glory was taken away from me, since had these been fitted correctly as i had paid for, the job in hand would have been a gooden!!!

I would like to say thanks for all the input from you all, i learned alot and hope that one day i can return the favour,

Thanks again,

Steve

Steve.Field said:

Finally problem sorted today!!

It turns out that the cam sprockets were infact 180 degrees out! The engineering company by mistake had put the pins in the wrong holes on the sprockets. I was unable to remove these myself so i had a local Landy Garage sort this for me. I am pleased this is now resolved but a bit miffed that my glory was taken away from me, since had these been fitted correctly as i had paid for, the job in hand would have been a gooden!!!

I would like to say thanks for all the input from you all, i learned alot and hope that one day i can return the favour,

Thanks again,

Steve

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Send the engineering company the garage bill and a letter from the garage confirming that this was the problem.

If they don't pay Small claims court is ya next option.,

Steve.Field said:

Finally problem sorted today!!

It turns out that the cam sprockets were infact 180 degrees out! The engineering company by mistake had put the pins in the wrong holes on the sprockets. I was unable to remove these myself so i had a local Landy Garage sort this for me. I am pleased this is now resolved but a bit miffed that my glory was taken away from me, since had these been fitted correctly as i had paid for, the job in hand would have been a gooden!!!

I would like to say thanks for all the input from you all, i learned alot and hope that one day i can return the favour,

Thanks again,

Steve

Click to expand...

I thought that was your issue (post 12)

good job, now it's all sorted