Freelander 1 V6 Engine Replacement

Hi All,

Around 6 months ago I posted on this forum about my Freelander 1 V6 Engine running hot and losing coolant.

I replaced the expansion bottle and shortly after had a little white smoke coming from the exhaust. This seemed to get worse over a few weeks. Someone recommended I try K-Seal, which I did, and this seemed to repair the gasket leakage. Great.

Recently, I noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust again so went about buying more K-Seal, hoping I could patch it up again. Unfortunately this time, it didn't work. I also tried the K-Seal Ultimate but that didn't work either. I was losing around 300ml of water every 10 miles from the expansion bottle.

Yesterday when I was driving home I noticed that suddenly the blowers inside the car stopped producing heat. Just cold air. That was when I had an 'uh-oh' moment and realised there was no water going around the system. The car made a few funny noises but luckily I was only around the corner from home and managed to get back. Upon looking, there was no water left in the expansion bottle and when I tried filling it up, it just ran out of the bottle but not on the floor from what I could see. Weird. I figure it must have been running around the system to replace the water that had escaped previously.

Today in better light and starting the engine from cold I proceeded to fill the expansion bottle again. This time I could see water was coming out from the bottom left area of the engine (see pic). I can't see exactly where the water is coming from, not even using mirrors.

So.. Engine knackered. Trouble is, I really like the car and is perfect for what I need (I have to drive on a farm track at least 3 times per week) so would like to save it if I can rather than buy something else.

I've seen replacement second hand engines on eBay from around £350 complete. I'd be willing to take a punt and try one but I CANNOT find anyone who is prepared to undertake the work! Literally all the local garages that I've tried just don't want to job. I'm even willing to buy an engine hoist and remove the engine myself (excellent step-by-step video on youtube on how to do this) but putting a replacement engine back in without damaging something is the part I couldn't do myself!

Does anyone have any suggestions? (I know some of you will say scrap it!) Anyone know of any good garages in the Cardiff area that would help me?

Thanks,

Andy.

Possibly the thermostatic valve must have cracked.. Remove the engine cover and look in the middle, between the admission entries.
If broken, the water comes out of the middle of the block and runs to the corners.

That water leak is a typical thermostat or link pipe failure. It's probably been like it for ages. When the leak is only small, the water evaporates away unseen. You need to take the front inlet manifold off to gain access to change the thermostat. However you can see if it's leaking by removing the air filter housing and looking into the 'V' with a torch

I'd be very careful buying replacement V6 engines. There's quite a few V6s over here and a very big chunk of the ones for sale are sold with overheating and/or coolant loss issues - that's just the sellers being honest as well!

I wouldn't trust putting a bottle of K Seal in my engine - unless it was a last gasp effort to "get me home". If I'd put 3 bottles of the stuff in - I'd be expecting a very clogged up cooling system.

I believe you are best putting your money into a replacement Freelander.

Oh, additionally, as GG says. K seal is death to the KV6. It's water ways are easily blocked which causes hot spots and possibly gasket failure. Whoever suggested K Seal for a K series has no clue about about what they spout.

You could PM @Hippo and see if he has any suggestions as a very experienced V6 owner.

Thank you so much for all your positive replies.

I will certainly try to look under the air filter housing to see if it's leaking from there. If it is, even if I replaced the valve / pipe there is still white smoke coming from the exhaust so to me that's an issue with the head gasket? So there wouldn't be much point in replacing the thermo valve?

The suggestion of using K-Seal came from a local 'Land Rover specialist' I guess if I do end up scrapping it, at least it gave me another 6 months of life!

There is a LR breaker near Ross-on-Wye who recently sold a KV6 engine complete with inlet manifold and ECU with a 90 warranty on eBay for £349. I tried to call him the same day it was listed to ask a compatibility question but the phone kept going to voicemail. The engine sold just hours later. Gutted! The seller came back to me the next day via eBay's messaging system to say it had sold but is expecting another engine in next week. I've asked him to keep me posted. I hope he comes up trumps.



Ironically my Freelander has always driven perfectly even with all it's issues. The car is in near perfect condition. Inside and out. Everything works except the sunroof! I hate to give up on it if it's just a case of swapping the engine, and if I can't get any mechanical help, I'll have a go at doing it myself and make a project out of it. If anyone fancies lending a hand in the transplant in return for unlimited tea and snacks and the kudos of glory then please join me!

By the way I looked at @Hippo profile but can't see a way of sending him a message to ask for his input?! How do I message him?

I've. Fitted a 190 lump to a 160 auto 75, it had been botched and sold on.

personally I wouldn't consider fitting another engine without
timing belts can be done without locking tools,
thermostat and inlet gaskets,seals and o rings.

anyone willing to entertain it will want £800 plus parts and an engine-unless they are stupidly cheap or bodge it.

I wish you luck

Sh*t. It's not looking good is it?

If only I had mechanical skills!!

Seriously though, if anyone wants to help with a transplant I can fully document it (videos, photos, guides, etc) and promote it to show off your skills. Not only would you get massive kudos but it could get you some serious future work!

fanatic said:

I've. Fitted a 190 lump to a 160 auto 75, it had been botched and sold on.

personally I wouldn't consider fitting another engine without
timing belts can be done without locking tools,
thermostat and inlet gaskets,seals and o rings.

anyone willing to entertain it will want £800 plus parts and an engine-unless they are stupidly cheap or bodge it.

I wish you luck

Click to expand...

Every garage / mechanic I've asked has point blank refused to even entertain the idea of an engine swap. Didn't get anywhere near discussing timings belts, etc.

Andythedrum said:

Every garage / mechanic I've asked has point blank refused to even entertain the idea of an engine swap. Didn't get anywhere near discussing timings belts, etc.

Click to expand...

Changing the V6 engine is a long winded job. This is why people are refusing to do the work. I've done it at home and from experience, I know how interesting it can be. It's made more difficult because the engine is too wide for the space between the bulkhead and slam panel. This means the engine needs to be removed and replaced with it angled at 45°.This is shown in the pictures. Even when tipped 45°, the engine is a tight squeeze as can be seen.
I would change an engine for you but as you are a good few hours drive from me, it's not practical. I spent something like 6 weeks doing the engine change, but that was on a very part time basis. I did lots of other jobs at the same time. I fitted new timing belts and a thermostat in addition to the changes needed to fit my doner engine into the Freelander. In total it took something like 20 hours to complete.
Here are some pictures of the engine removal. Refit was a basic reversal of the removal procedure.


Check out the thermostat piping first though

Andythedrum said:

By the way I looked at @Hippo profile but can't see a way of sending him a message to ask for his input?! How do I message him?

Click to expand...

"Start a conversation"

Awesome pics Nodge. Thanks for your time and effort. Is that your own Freelander? Why did you have to change the engine? Were you having the same problems I'm having?

I'm going to have a look at the thermostat piping tomorrow. If it were broken and I replaced it, I'm still up the creek because of the white smoke coming from the exhaust and thats bound to get worse very quickly.

I've decided once I've found a reasonably priced replacement engine, I'm gonna have a go at the transplant. My way justifying it is when I bought the Freelander, it came with a private number plate and it's current value is £675 (which is for sale by the way!), so if I can get an engine and other bits and bobs necessary for the swap for under or around that price I'll be satisfied. All I need to do is sell the plate and it's cost me nothing except time. I was driving last night and saw all these old Land Rovers and Freelanders still driving around and thought, "well if they're still going, why can't mine last another 5 -10 years with a new engine? There's nothing else wrong with it - not even a speck of rust".

I can rent an engine hoist locally for £15 per day so thats good. I have a garage with lighting and now that the winter is coming to an end, I have six or so months before September / October comes when I really need a 4 x 4 for the farm. Until then I can drive my other car to the beginning of the track and walk the mile or so to the top. I can't do that in the winter because the track gets so muddy, flooded and slippy.

Nodge, if you say you did yours in 20 hours I have every other Sunday for 6 months so that gives me plenty of time. If I make a right pigs ear out of it all and end up having to scrap the car anyway, at least I can say I tried to save it and the number plate will hopefully cover the cost. If anything I can turn it into a little hobby and fact-finding mission. As you said, the job is quite interesting and I have an inquisitive mind.

I'm going to ask my regular fitter / friend (?!) (who previously said no to swapping the engine) to come over to mine when I've taken the old engine out and just SUPERVISE me putting the replacement one back in, just so I don't damage it and make sure I make all the right connections again. Wishful thinking I know but I don't have many other options. He can say no.

Have you guys seen a great video on youtube by an Aussie guy called Jasco (who cracks me up btw!)? He's done a complete video on how to remove a KV6 engine. He's so laid back about it all, it seems like he's taking a walk in a park! Haha. I figure if I follow that step-by-step, as a novice I've got a chance. Jasco jacks his car up and removes his engine from underneath. Bit unorthodox I know but that way he doesn't have to tilt the engine 45 degrees. Have a look and let me know what you think.



Thank goodness for youtube!

He's then got another video on how to remove the gearbox from the engine.

Andythedrum said:

Every garage / mechanic I've asked has point blank refused to even entertain the idea of an engine swap. Didn't get anywhere near discussing timings belts, etc.

Click to expand...

That is because you need a low mileage engine, most won't have timing kit and won't entertain it.

We spent more time picking plastic thermostat out and cleaning housing out, than anything else.
Sumps vary between models and manifold link pipes are different

Make sure you do waterpump
Budget £1500 for the job with everything if you can find anyone to do it

Thanks Fanatic. As no-one is interested in the work, I'm gonna have a go at swapping the engine myself! Gulp!

Just don't break cams, we used cam pulley holding tool

I wish you the best of luck

Thanks mate. Have a look at the video I just shared and let me know if you think I've got a fighting chance if I do it that way.

If you have a reasonable patch of concrete your best bet is to drop engine + all onto a dolly, lift the car up and roll it out from underneath, at least with a Td4.

I'm nearly certain that at manufacturing they fit the engine etc from underneath.