overheating/no power/no oil in water

Hi, any ideas on this would be greatly welcomed.
I have 1.8 freelander (2001) had the head gasket replaced 40k ago, with the new bolts, gasket etc. Took the caravan away this last weekend and noticed after about 40 miles that we had no power when accelerating (2500rpm +)
Pulled over, and she was overheating, the temp gauge in the car was reading normal, when she cooled down there was no water loss, yet the car still didn't want to move although she will start and can go about 15mph, there is no oil in the water and no water in the oil. We got the breakdown guys out, who checked the usual and couldn't find the fault, we've since been told it might be the head gasket again, before spending every penny we have on fixing her does anyone know of any other problem that might cause this or is it that great K series fault again, even with the improved bolts and gasket fitted?
Thanks

Gracewing said:

Hi, any ideas on this would be greatly welcomed.
I have 1.8 freelander (2001) had the head gasket replaced 40k ago, with the new bolts, gasket etc. Took the caravan away this last weekend and noticed after about 40 miles that we had no power when accelerating (2500rpm +)
Pulled over, and she was overheating, the temp gauge in the car was reading normal, when she cooled down there was no water loss, yet the car still didn't want to move although she will start and can go about 15mph, there is no oil in the water and no water in the oil. We got the breakdown guys out, who checked the usual and couldn't find the fault, we've since been told it might be the head gasket again, before spending every penny we have on fixing her does anyone know of any other problem that might cause this or is it that great K series fault again, even with the improved bolts and gasket fitted?
Thanks

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This does not happen over nite. Do you check your oil and rad water on a weekly bases?

it probably is dear old sequential hgf, but another thought, is your fuel pump delivering enough fuel.

yes the oil and water is checked weekly she doesn't use either but i always give them an extra check before we tow the caravan so i know it was ok before the journey, and the breakdown guy checked that fuel was being delivered ok and it was.....so probably is the head gasket

When I had a modified gasket, head skim etc carried out on one of my previous cars (Rover 75) the new gasket blew after about 10,000 miles so I would imagine that you could have the same problem.

Right.

I think that people call HGF on Freenlanders far to often and I'm of the camp that says that sys a HGF is CAUSED by a cooling system problem, not the other way around. If I was in your position I would, of course, be rightly worried that an HGF repair bill is lurking round the corner, but as you asked there are other things to look at first.

Simple option is the expansion tank cap failing. The purpose of this cap is to hold the cooling system at pressure. By begin at pressure the coolant will boil at a higher temperature so cools the system works. If the cap fails then the coolant will boil at 100deg not say 110 and engine will overheat. Typically this is discovered by hissing gurgling sounds in the engine bay when sitting at traffic lights etc. £10 fixes it.

Next off, the rest of the cooling system. For example is the thermostat opening fully and at the right temp? The fact the dash temp was ok but the engine was overheating may indicate this is possible? (I think) . Obviously there sensor could be faulty but that would sound coincidence.

Also how about the water pump? MGF forums are full of stories on this failing so its worth considering, I think if you are happy to run it up to temp you should see coolant retuned int to he expansion tank.

Finally, as you were towing its worth checking the fan operation, I think the Dash temp sensor is also the fan sensor (but I'm not sure) so if the car needing cooling assistance from the fan and the dash sensor is iffy it may not have had that extra blast from the fan.

So as its not cooling, begin totally crazy, I say check the cooling system fist!

Good luck

thanks guys, i'm thinking that given she over heated yet hasn't got oil/water contamination, that the water pump may have gone, when she broke down and we checked the expansion tank there was no water returning into it.....but given we have no power then i'm presuming that the water pump failure has caused a HGF....i think we'll get the parts in for the water pump along with a new head gasket and see what happens. Thanks again for input, wont get the parts for a bit so will keep seeing if anyone else suggests other things it might be till we hopefully get her fixed.

Gracewing said:

thanks guys, i'm thinking that given she over heated yet hasn't got oil/water contamination, that the water pump may have gone, when she broke down and we checked the expansion tank there was no water returning into it.....but given we have no power then i'm presuming that the water pump failure has caused a HGF....i think we'll get the parts in for the water pump along with a new head gasket and see what happens. Thanks again for input, wont get the parts for a bit so will keep seeing if anyone else suggests other things it might be till we hopefully get her fixed.

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Get a compression test done first before taking the head off, if you are not loosing water and dont have mayo in the oil or mayo floating around in the coolant then its maybe not HGF - overheating maybe caused by a faulty thermostat. Your power loss might be a burnt out valve.