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It is widely accepted by 4WD mechanics that Freelander K-series engines are known to drop the cylinder liners into the block. Because the liners are steel and the block is alloy, the liners being harder, work their way into the block. Because the engine block and cylinder head are composed of different materials they expand at different rates with heat generated during running of the vehicle, causing the head gasket to fail. The bad news is; If the cylinder liners drop too low, the engine needs to be replaced (there is no economically viable repair procedure) - this is fact, confirmed by Land Rover in their Technical Advices.
There is almost no warning of the impending failure, and the problem is unlikely to be identified during routine maintenance checks. The fault has nothing to do with vehicle maintenance - more to do with poor design.
It seems the problem with the design is acknowledged in Land Rover's own Technical Bulletin 0036 issued 18 June 04 and Bulletin 0026 (distributed to it's dealerships worldwide). The bulletin highlights an engine overheating problem caused by a leak from any part of the engine/cooling system. Although this bulletin is designed to assist mechanics to repair the fault, in the vast majority of cases serious engine overheating has already occurred resulting in oil contamination of the cooling system and total engine failure.
There are many checks that need to be done to establish if the engine is repairable, however the Land Rover technical bulletin states "if the cylinder liners have dropped below the block face, the engine must be replaced". This is the crux of the problem. If you owned a k-series petrol Freelander, anecdotal data widely available on the internet suggests that the statistical odds are against you getting past 80000 km without a total engine failure and replacement. Once you have spent about $A7000.00 on a new K-series engine, statistics say that it will fail again before 80000 km.
That's not just bad luck.... that's poor design.
The early Freelanders (pre 2001) were sold with a 2 year 50000 km warranty, which seems to be about the average lifespan for this engine. The head gasket/cylinder liner design fault has not been classified as a recall (probably because of the sheer volume of complaints and the huge cost of rectification). Land Rover is unlikely to honour any claims beyond the product warranty period.
If you paid for an engine replacement, would you expect the engine to have been modified to overcome the original design fault? Why have so many K-series Petrol Freelanders had multiple head gasket failures?
From any angle the ownership of a K-series Petrol Freelander should be carefully considered.If yu fancy some more light reading - how about this? Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Engine Design Fault
is this the infamous door problem 
