Inlet temperatures

Right oh ladies and gents who can help with this query.

I organising myself to do some porting and polishing of my FL 1.8 head. There is some burr cutting to be done on both sides but most of the work is sanding and buffing. But, on the inlet valve side and opposite the inlet port itself and beneath the valve seat, the valve seat is quite proud of the alloy casting. I could nibble away at the lower seat rim on each inlet seat a bit. However I'm reluctant to try that.

Instead I could fill that lip which is about a third to half the seat on the plug side. I'm looking at a product called: Quicksteel Aluminium Epoxy Putty Repair Kit Quicksteel. This is good for temps up to 250ºC. There is another product: QUIKSTEEL HIGH-TEMPERATURE REPAIR KIT. This is applied as a thick liquid and it's good to temp's over 1000ºC.

Questions now:
1 What is the temp beneath the inlet valves ie in the inlet runner areas?

2 HaVE any of you used these products?

Thanks,

HTR

I don't like the idea of sticking anything to the head of a k series......

Imagine if it came away...... Also how would it affect the cooling of a already sensitive head....

A bit of polishing and porting is fine but I think I would be entrusting it to a specialist if you ain't totally sure of what you are doing.

Good point! When I do the P&P I'll clean up the coolant passage outlets/inlets on the head too. Heat retention is a concern as the filler is on the spark plug side of the valve. The inlet side is cooled by the incoming air/fuel charge. The coolant openings and galleries are correspondingly slightly smaller too as opposed to he exhaust side.

Hmm, what to do? Fill and smooth to enhance air flow or gnaw and nibble to improve a poor valve seat situation.

HTR

Grind the valve seat insert out to match the rest of the port. I have used filler in the past but I spent the whole time hoping it didn't drop out!
Clean the flash out of the coolant galleries. It's obvious where the casting should finish.

I would recommend any of those and I speak from experience as in 2012, I renewed the head gasket on my 1.8 K series 2000 Freelander but neglected to renew the oil rail to the uprated - result, in early 2014, the head gasket lost clamping load and coolant started to leak and progressively the leak got larger and larger.
Anyways, I have just finished the rebuild. I not only renewed the head gasket, but I renewed the oil rail to the stronger one, I used Hylomar blue spray sealant on the engine block face, both sides of the gasket and shim and none on the cylinder head face (2 coats of Hylomar on each), and I even put a tiny stethoscope snake cam in the engine block coolant passages to video and confirm that Hylomar sealant didn't block the coolant passages, not even the tiniest of coolant passages on the inlet side. How did I confirm this? Inserted snake cam in to the opening of engine block where water pump hole is (i already mated engine block and head and torqued all bolts), as snake cam was filming, i slowly started pouring coolant in to the cylinder head through the coolant opening on the inlet sides... and voilla.. it freely flows down the paths in to the engine block.. and voilla! My temp gauge now behaves and stays where it should be at all times, in the centre and the fans at front now have no need to come on.
Here's my video.
1.8K Freelander Head Gasket Renewal and Overheating Fix - YouTube

Htr, i would not recommend you use any chemical formula that could dislodge.. trust me i did. I didn't use that product, but i tried K-seal, Rislone and Chemweld (this last one's Australian made i doubt is on sale there). They worked initially in that they plugged leaks, but they also plugged the tiniest of coolant holes in the cylinder head, and you guessed it....overheating! To completely get that chemical gunk out of my cooling system, i had to renew the radiator, the metal coolant pipe, and the heater matrix. Here's is a video of what my cylinder head looked like when i removed it (note that several of the pencil diameter type coolant holes and completely blocked)
Leak Sealer blockage of Cylinder Head 1.8K Freelander - YouTube
Consequently, my whole attitude to using chemical leak sealers has changed.

"...lost clamping load..." how did that happen? Did you reuse the head bolts?

I've checked the head that came off my Freelander and it's an easier one to mod than the spare I bought. I was going to use one of these aluminium reinforced polymer fillers beneath the inlet valve where the seat projects out by lot [say 1 to 2 mm]. Quicksteel doesn't go into the cooling or oil circulatory systems.

Thank you for your comments and yes I won't be needing it now : ). That was some coolant leak you videoed!

Hylomar Blue - I've not heard of that. What exactly is it and what's its purpose?

HTR

htr said:

"...lost clamping load..." how did that happen? Did you reuse the head bolts?

I've checked the head that came off my Freelander and it's an easier one to mod than the spare I bought. I was going to use one of these aluminium reinforced polymer fillers beneath the inlet valve where the seat projects out by lot [say 1 to 2 mm]. Quicksteel doesn't go into the cooling or oil circulatory systems.

Thank you for your comments and yes I won't be needing it now : ). That was some coolant leak you videoed!

Hylomar Blue - I've not heard of that. What exactly is it and what's its purpose?

HTR

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The bolts can relax clamping loads if they have been over tightened. The strengthened oil rail was introduced to reduce block flex as far as I know. Once the head bolts have been tightened, I can't really see how the oil rail can affect the clamping load.

Wouldn't you be better off cutting the seat protrusion out rather than filling the port. I can only see that having a detrimental effect on flow.

htr said:

Hylomar Blue - I've not heard of that. What exactly is it and what's its purpose?

HTR

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Hylomar Blue is a good old fashioned gasket sealer.

Hi HTR,
I understand that Land Rover was looking for a solution for the 1.8 Freelander for many of the premature head gasket failures, and in 2005, they released a new and improved and strengthened oil rail. Wish I fitted it before, it not only has improved oil holes than the old, but is slightly heavier thus appears to be strengthened over the older one. Put it this way : Land Rover wouldn't have released this new part after research to fix an issue that was affecting many of the 1.8 Freelanders. It can't do you any bad if it's been redesigned and designed to solve one issue. I would still recommend that you fit the new oil rail and use Hylomar blue. Unlike Permatex Ultra Copper, Hylomar also works on temperatures of up to 700F but will resist fuels and oils and remains flexible. Permatex Ultra Copper isn't recommended against fuels, thus its suitability for the head gasket. I used new head bolts in 2012 just like on this occasion, things seemed to be going well until progressively, coolant started weeping out of the cylinder head where the gasket area is. The leak got greater over time. The head bolts were torqued to specification in 2012 but it still eventually lost clamping load. From my experiences, I would give the following advice to any 1.8 K series Freebie owner : don't renew the head gasket without renewing the oil rail and using Hylomar on the head gasket and shim and the engine block mating face. I've never heard of QuickSteel. I successfully was able to prove that Hylomar didn't block even the tiniest coolant passageways on the inlet side of the head gasket, I did this by shoving a stethoscope cam in to the engine block coolant passage when it was still dry through the hole where the water pump sits, then I let it film and started filling coolant through the cylinder head inlet side coolant side (head bolts already torqued and gasket and shim inside correctly). You can't go wrong with the 1.8 K series and Hylomar and the new oil rail. Something else, for all the years I've owned it, I've never ever heard the engine as quiet as it is now after my rebuild. Not only is the temperature needle staying where it should be, but it's quiet as anything!

Hi Htr,
you won't need any product or sealant that works with such extreme temperatures as like 1000 degrees Celsius, if your head gasket has temperatures of that type, something else is bound to be wrong anyhow - as temperatures even close to that shouldn't be evident for the head gasket. Hylomar is adequate and the oil rail. The place where I take my cylinder head to be pressure tested, skimmed, machined, etc, Karl's Heads at Seven Hills here in Sydney, Australia, he has sworn by Hylomar and used it on every gasket he's fitted and after 10+ years states it's not failed him once.

why would you apply sealant to head gasket ?

Extra peace of mind knowing that a successful engine/head reconditioner has been using it here long term without failure : he must be doing something right...

niccage said:

Extra peace of mind knowing that a successful engine/head reconditioner has been using it here long term without failure : he must be doing something right...

Click to expand...

because gaskets are precoated and should be fitted dry as manufacturing instructions say ,things have moved on since the 60s

Well a few weeks later and not a further drop of coolant anywhere and the tank stays at the level I left it in when I finished with the coolant. The twin cooling fans never come on anymore, the radiator and coolant do the jobs they're supposed to do, the engine has never been quieter than now. Also doesn't matter how long I let the engine idle, the temperature needle stays in the half way mark. When I first start her up, you cant hear that annoying gurgling sound any longer coming from the heater matrix area like before.

Interesting advice. Thank you.