Rover T series in a freelander ?

[vitesse]

Hello all,
How does a t-series compare to a K series in terms of reliability?
I have a Freelander with a 1.8 K-series lump and am not impressed with the reliability.
Apparantly the t-series bolted to the pg1 gearbox, so would this be a straightforward swap?

[loudandproud205]

Nope its massive amounts of work. A few people have done it and it gives you a reliable power plant and with the turbo model gives you 200bhp but not of the standard equipment can cope.

[MonzaPhil]

Agreed. The driveline is fundamentally poor in the Freelander so increasing the power won't be good for it. The reason the KV6 works (for a while at any rate) is that the auto box is fairly forgiving.

The other thing to do is lose the 4WD but if you're going for more oomph then it seems counterproductive.

Reliability wise, anything will be better than a Freelander K but will it be worth the effort?

[ChasR]

Are Ks really that bad? I have know of a few to be OK albeit with certain mods done (Genuine MLS headgasket or the LR version; new bolts and a straight head/block). The Lotus guys don't seem to suffer as badly as most owners do...

[sonus]

That's because the Lotus' weigh nothing compared to the free lander and MG ZT/Rover 75.

[stefan]

Hate that engine, tried to like it as it was made in the uk. Had 3 in different cars, all curse word

[composimmonite]

What about a diesel conversion ?
If you were willing to settle for FWD only them I suspect there are a lot of engines & gearboxes combo's that could be fitted.
The Freelander is based on a modified Rover 200 / 25 floorpan. I suppose, in theory, a Honda unit out of a 400 / 45 could be fitted but just a wild guess.

[chairchild]

Buy an early K series freelander, then throw the whole engine+gearbox in the bin

Get an early diesel Freelander, with the Rover L series engine. Keep the IRD, gearbox, and the engine backing plate. The L series shares many fixing points with the T series, so the engine backing plate will fit (with minor work) and fit straight up to the L series PG1. Throw the T/L combo into the K series hippo, to retain the correct rev counter, fuel pump, etc.


Whilst you could also use the K series freelander PG1, the L series version is beefed up far more, and gives more reasonable ratios - the freelander is REALLY short geared!



Or... just get the L series hippo, fit a GT1752 turbo, some Rover SDi injectors, remap, and enjoy 160bhp+. This combo on later L series lumps gets 180bhp+, but as yet untested on the freelander manifold - hence the reservations on output claims.

[composimmonite]

From what I've read the T Series is heavier than the K Series so you need the diesel springs anyway.

[lordyoung1980]

What's up with the K series? Is it the head gasket? Would it not be less effort to make the K more reliable? There was a Freelander ia recent LRO mag that had a Turbo K series from a 75. That looked pretty good.

[Ryannn]

We've had a variety of K-Series cars and only ever had issue with one, a 45 consistently lost water. We've currently got a pair of Petrol FL's and neither have had any problems, one of which has been in ownership for about 10 years!

As with anything, if a previous owner poorly maintains it, you're going to have issues.

What reliability problems have you been having? Is it just head gaskets?

[chairchild]

Also re-reading the actual issue (wanting to swap for "reliability" instead of power)

Just buy an early L series Hippo. Unless you neglect cambelt and fanbelt changes, it'll never die.

[composimmonite]

Neighbour had a Rover 45 that blew head gasket so ended up paying £600+ for repair at garage she's bought the car from not long before. First time after she got it to hot the gasket blew again. I went with her to the garage who initially refused to accept any responsibility as they said basically it was "luck of the draw" with a K Series. I then pointed out that there was a Rover bulletin as to the proper procedure for filling and bleeding the coolant system which needed to be followed otherwise the head gasket could blow. In the end garage admitted they had no idea that there was anything to do other than fill up with coolant. Net result is they gave her a full credit for what she had paid for the car, plus repairs, against a later model Focus. Her father being a Freemason might have influenced matters a little along the way as well
So back to my point - there is a set procedure to fill and bleed K Series engines and it's important they are followed.

[chairchild]

it's also important to ignore 99% of the "pub knowledge" with k series. One of the main ones being that there are TWO types of HG available:

elastic polymer coated: use these when the liners are either flush with the block, or at differing heights.

MLS: use when all 4 liners are proud of the block and at at the SAME height



For best results - reseat, and reseal the liners. Then fit an N-series kit (which... now includes a THIRD type, which is kinda both combined)

www.dmgrs.co.uk/collections/head-gasket-kits/products/ultimate-k-series-head-gasket-fix-n-series-gasket-high-tension-head-bolts-and-revised-oil-rail-equiv-to-zua000530

[ChasR]

You could have suggested the above as an alternative chairchild .

I have had a few cars with 'overheating' issues (Stag V8 and 2 Ford Mondeo V6s) and bar one being an problem child (a 2.5 Mondeo V6 ; it was bodged before I bought it and I took it from 114k to 285k!) the other cars were fine. However, I did not chance water leaks on those cars. Many 'pub' talk guys criticised water pump failure in the V6s ; both of my V6s had plastic impellors and were fine. It was bodging the cooling system on the first car that give it all of the issues.

All I did on both cars was to ensure that good coolant was used (Ford Super Plus in the Fords and G48 in the Stag ; The CoolBlue from Unipart seemed to be rubbish for rust prevention!) and that there were zero leaks. The latter was far trickier in the Stag due to curse word aftermarket parts. Silicon hoses helped alot.

The Stag was fine, but again after the order with the first V6 Mondeo I took zero chances. Under the new owner it has just covered the Club Triumph 10 Countries Run .