Freelander gussling water

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Been through the HGF with my 1.8 Freelander last year, as long as you get the head checked and skimmed if needed, (most do), new stretch bolts, oil ladder and MLS head gasket as reccomended by Land Rover. At the same time check and replace timing belt and fit a new waterpump whilst it is stripped down.
I found a great bunch of LR & Jag guys called Knockholt 4X4 down here in Kent, they are all ex factory guys and are brilliant, less expensive than a main LR dealer, but still cost me around £700 for the work. The previous owner had the HG replaced a few thousand miles before I bought the vehicle, little did I know the job had been bodged and a cheepo HG had been used and none of the Land Rover reccomendations had been followed, so the HG was always going to fail again. After lots of research and spending a tidy sun on it I now have a really great Freelander I can rely on (I hope!! LOL) The moral is, find a good Land Rover savvy garage that knows the petrol Freelanders faults, that will say the right things and do the work properly.
 
Looey said:
Been through the HGF with my 1.8 Freelander last year, as long as you get the head checked and skimmed if needed, (most do), new stretch bolts, oil ladder and MLS head gasket as reccomended by Land Rover. At the same time check and replace timing belt and fit a new waterpump whilst it is stripped down.
I found a great bunch of LR & Jag guys called Knockholt 4X4 down here in Kent, they are all ex factory guys and are brilliant, less expensive than a main LR dealer, but still cost me around £700 for the work. The previous owner had the HG replaced a few thousand miles before I bought the vehicle, little did I know the job had been bodged and a cheepo HG had been used and none of the Land Rover reccomendations had been followed, so the HG was always going to fail again. After lots of research and spending a tidy sun on it I now have a really great Freelander I can rely on (I hope!! LOL) The moral is, find a good Land Rover savvy garage that knows the petrol Freelanders faults, that will say the right things and do the work properly.
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Some great advice. Thanks, I'll be printing this and taking it to the garage.
 
Peco said:
Some great advice. Thanks, I'll be printing this and taking it to the garage.
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Mayo in the oil, points to HG failure,...........but there is always a cause for this. Yeh, maybe silicon seal gone on the hg, maybe olde age, but there may be other causes for this. I had a hg changed, including MSL gasket, water pump, exhaust manifold gasket,cam belt, comusumables, head check,oats,oil etc, travel for £350. The major cause is overheating,............most garages don't know how to bleed properly, or haven't checked for spilt hoses, a duff coolant cap, a leaking radiator,....there is always a cause..........its finding it,.not just changing the hg
 
Spot on Freeladdy, it's attention to detail like bleeding the cooling system properly, ensuring the jigglevalve is free, and using the correct coolant (pink stuff in my case) as a first step to another HGF prevention. Many peeps have had a replacement HG fitted, dont' use new stretch bolts or the new oil ladder and not checked and replaced any of the cooling system parts, that may have caused or contributed to the problem in the first place. Then when the repair job has been done they stop checking the coolant level at least every couple of days. Never be complacent with a Freelander they will bite you. I have now replaced all the hoses, coolant rail, header tank, new remote T-stat and housing and used new clips. I have also wacked in some K-seal just to ensure all the joints are leak free. My beastie is 10 years old 88000 miles and I intend on keeping it all being well. I did my research and I knew what I was getting into when I bought a petrol Freelander. I just wish my bank manager was as entheusiastic about my Hippo as I am LoL!
 
This is getting worrying. Just don't think we can afford the extra expense to have all these additional things checked. Seriously getting worried about this. Mechanic friend of the family is taking it away tomorrow to have a look at it.
 
Prediction from garage of costs for skimming, timing belt etc £400. Not sure what else that entails, will find out later.
 
Went out to the car on Saturday as we were heading to Edinburgh (from Glasgow)... Thought I'd check that water just in case. The water was very low.. Way past the lower level minimum. I don't know if the problem still exists or if it's an blockage of air as the mechanic suggested it might be..

He told me to keep an eye on it every couple of days and report back along with getting another oil filter change after 500 miles.

I have a feeling it the heater Matrix. Hope that doesn't mean the HG didn't need replaced. :doh:
 
When you top up the water in the header / expansion tank when its this low are you checking the bleed screw every time too?

I had an airlock in my TD4 which took a good few days to eliminate.

Make sure your heater temp control is at max and with the engine idling, open the bleed screw only one turn. You may well hear a hiss of air. Tighten it up again when liquid comes out.

Maybe you'll get no air at all - that'll be good.

You can slacken the bleed screw with a one pence coin.

Don't take it all the way out as it's a slippery little rascal, prone to jumping out of you fingers and disappearing down the back of the engine never to be seen again.

Also don't fill the tank to the max mark - just a little over the minimum will do as there are over 7 litres in there and the level will read max when its hot. If you fill it to max when it's cold it'll just throw it out when hot and next day the level will be back down at about the middle or a little lower.
 
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I have seen this type of post soo many times, when a hg has been replaced. It seems the symtom has been fixed but not the cause. Do you know how to bleed the system to get rid or air locks, its a starting point.Do you know where all the bleeding valves are, put you heater on hot when bleeding. You are loosing coolant so also check underneath for failure of pipes. ( Drive the car over an old sheet, and see if coolant leaks/drips to give you an idea of where the coolant leak may be) Is the oil ok, no sign of mayo, has the coolant cap been changed. I'm sure the guys on here will point you in the right dirrection.
 
Hi Peco,

Where is the bleed screw??

At the back of the engine bay, slightly off-centre to the right as you look at the engine from the front of the car.

You will see a black rubber hose coming through the bulkhead.

You will see an in-line connection with a black plastic screw on top.

It is about the same diameter as a 1p piece. It has a large cross shaped groove on top.

You do not need any special tools - a 1p coin will slacken it.

As I said before do NOT take it all the way out - just slacken a turn and tighten again when liquid comes out.

Check it with the heater set to max and with the engine at idle speed.

You may have to repeat it several times over a period of a few days.

Do NOT do this with a hot engine as the bleed screw will release very hot water under pressure. Do it cold there is little or no pressure in the system when you start from cold.

Hope I've covered everything - if not someone on here is sure to correct me.

This is not rocket science - just experience.

Good luck. :)
 
Singvogel said:
Hi Peco,

Where is the bleed screw??

At the back of the engine bay, slightly off-centre to the right as you look at the engine from the front of the car.

You will see a black rubber hose coming through the bulkhead.

You will see an in-line connection with a black plastic screw on top.

It is about the same diameter as a 1p piece. It has a large cross shaped groove on top.

You do not need any special tools - a 1p coin will slacken it.

As I said before do NOT take it all the way out - just slacken a turn and tighten again when liquid comes out.

Check it with the heater set to max and with the engine at idle speed.

You may have to repeat it several times over a period of a few days.

Do NOT do this with a hot engine as the bleed screw will release very hot water under pressure. Do it cold there is little or no pressure in the system when you start from cold.

Hope I've covered everything - if not someone on here is sure to correct me.

This is not rocket science - just experience.

Good luck. :)
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Going to nip out and do this when it stops raining. Thank you matey.
 
the problem with the k series engine is if you get it very hot it can chatter the liners into the bottom of the cylinder block so they sit low and will not seal even with a new head gasket and skimmed cylinder head, who ever is doing the work must measure these liner heights or there will be problems to follow !
 
Peco said:
OK I'm a dafty. Just to confirm is this is:

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There is also another bleed point you have to get as well, if you follow the wire coming out of the right side of the top cover (cam cover) in that small gap between the pipe and the air filter box you will see a metal water pipe, it has an 8mm bolt on the top of it, this bolt is the main engine bleed point
 
I`ve seen that engine in a little 214 rover. It looks lost in there, should there not be 2 engines in there? :)




I think theres one on the radiator as well. top right as you look at it
 
jedi said:
I`ve seen that engine in a little 214 rover. It looks lost in there, should there not be 2 engines in there? :)




I think theres one on the radiator as well. top right as you look at it
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Some do but not always though as it has a return pipe off the top of the rad on the left which goes striaght to the expansion bottle
 
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