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BREAKING NEWS! ~ K Series Head Gasket developments - improved design

265K views 876 replies 163 participants last post by  ron wee 
#1 ·
Found out something very interesting today re: K Series head gaskets......

More later!
 
#11 · (Edited)
Land Rover have redesigned the K series 1.8 head gasket and upgraded the lower rail that the head bolts screw into.

The head gasket has lost it's elastomeric beads and now has a laminated type of construction and the lower rail is beefed up - it must have an effect upon the clamping load. Head torque figures remain unchanged.

Picture three shows the very thin metal coated shim that is fitted on top of the headgasket
 

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#864 ·
Land Rover have redesigned the K series 1.8 head gasket and upgraded the lower rail that the head bolts screw into.

The head gasket has lost it's elastomeric beads and now has a laminated type of construction and the lower rail is beefed up - it must have an effect upon the clamping load. Head torque figures remain unchanged.

Picture three shows the very thin metal coated shim that is fitted on top of the headgasket
hi, new member looking for a little advice re head gasket replacement,just purchased a new head gasket kit as per your photos, the kit gives no clue which way the shim fits, ie steel shiny side to the head or the black side to the head, any ideas ?, i am guessing the black side is a coating/bonding and fits to the head side ?, any suggestions would be very much appreciated, regards, alan.
 
#14 ·
I thought all Land Rover K's were supplied by PowerTrain, if so why did these changes not make it into MGR cars? Have LR been stripping the engines down and modifying them after delivery? Where are LR sourcing there K engines from now if they're still being used?

Too many questions!
 
#16 ·
Well it was said recently (either on here or keith's site) by an ex-employee that PT knew exactly what was needed to stop the head gasket problems, but the P4 weren't interested in spending the money. I wonder if this knowledge has made it over to LR?

This is good news anyway, for TF owners in particular.

Forgot to say, well done Major, a good find!
 
#17 ·
Major.

Are LR actually building cars with these mods, or is this a bulletin for dealers to implement when a car appears with HGF??

None of these engines left PowerTrain with these mods did they??

If LR are building cars with these mods, they must be rebuilding their engine stock with these mods before letting them onto the line.
 
#22 ·
oliverhadi said:
I have the 200 1.4 K16.....should it affect me?

Im kinda confused at which engines your talking about...

You say the K-series....so I guess it should concern me if I was to get HGF?

Cheers

Oli
Thanks for that Major.

This gasket, if designed by Land Rover which looks very likely, will be for the 1800CC K series - as that is all LR use.

The 1600 K series uses the 1800 liners though, so this mod should defo work on a 1600 K.

1400 K has different (thicker) liners. Chances are this should work, but there would be a risk.
 
#25 ·
Roperman said:
is the rover spec lower rail the same across the 1.4 1.6 and 1.8s?

if not then i'd consider giving this a go :)

where did you find this info?
I am 99% sure the lower rail is the same on all models, incl VVC.

Major says the torque and tightening process is the same, so why change in lower rail???

Perhaps it reduces movement/increases stiffness - less HG stress ? ? ? Just speculating. . .
 
#26 ·
I reckon the lower rail is stiffer, giving less 'flex'

There is an image missing from the pics above - there is a very thin steel shim that sits on top of the gasket - it is like an additional coated gasket.

All very interesting.

How did I come across it? Ordered the parts from Land Rover. There is a Technical Bulletin out about it - would like to see that sometime. Anybody work for Land Rover? :dddc:
 
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