Doggie

New Member
Hello everyone,

I am hoping someone can help me. I have searched the forums for an answer, but can't find anything.

My husband was driving our Freelander 1.8 xei and phoned me to ask if I had ever felt any hesitation when accelerating away from a round about. I have never noticed this. About an hour or two later he called to say the car had broken down! It was towed back to the house, but before that the recovery guy tried to start it. It turns over but wont fire. He sprayed easy start in and it took a while, but it did fire up, however when he pressed the accelerator it cut out. He thought Lambda sensor, but me and my husband thought fuel pump/filter.

Yesterday we unplugged the lambda sensor, but no change. Then we removed the fuel pump and cleaned the fuel filter. Put the pump back in and checked it was working which it was,but no change to the car not starting. We managed to eventually start it, but it sounded very sluggish and would cut out if you pushed the accelerator too hard. If you gradually push it the revs go up, but it sounds rough. There is no smoke and the temp is normal.

We then thought what about the spark plugs. On removal we found plugs 2 3 and 4 were covered in oil. We don't know what has caused this, but went out today and got 4 new plugs. We put them in and the car started 1st time, but still sounded wrong. It sounded like air was being sucked or it was misfiring. We assumed one of the ht leads was broken so left the car for 15 mins to try and get a new lead. Then we thought we had better test it first, so went back to the car, pulled out the plug and it was covered in oil again (the tip and thread). The car also wouldn't start, I am assuming this is because the oil was preventing the spark. Checked the other plugs again and all bar 1 was covered in oil.

Does anyone know what this could be? I'm sorry its a bit long winded, but I wanted to make sure you know everything.

The car is a 1.8 K series Freelander. It had a new engine 70,000 ago and has the modified head gasket, thermostat etc. No overheating issues, no smoke.

We think it could be oil valve stem seals?! Clogging up the spark plugs which are very wet, BUT there is no smoke!!??

Any help appreciated!! Also any idea of costs to replace valve seals?!
 
first things first. What's the oil level showing on the dipstick?
 
Hi Ratty,
Its halfway between the min and max. There was a slight weep from the sump plug, but my husband tighted it and it stopped weeping. He then topped up the oil approx 500ml. This was a month ago. The oil level has never run low.
Although as we have had to top up the oil, it makes us again suspect the valve stem seals as the oil from the sump was only a slight weep.
The oil is also clear of coolant and vice versa.
Many thanks
 
Well the car is down the garage! My husband explained the problems and the guy said it sounded really weird. We said we think it might be valve stem seals but the guy didn't turn round and say yeah I think it might be, so there is a little bit of hope!? Hopefully we will get an answer today. I'm hoping they will hook it up to the diagnostic machine and it will tell them exactly whats wrong with it and it will be cheapish to fix (yeah right). As soon as I know anything I will post it as this is obviously not a problem many people have encountered as no one seems to know what could be wrong with it.
Thanks to everyone who has looked at this.
 
Well that was a nice surprise! Got a call a few hours after it had gone in to say it was fixed and ready to pick up! Turns out it needed a new distributor cap and rotor arm. It drives lovely as it did before. Only cost £80. Result!!
 
Well that was a nice surprise! Got a call a few hours after it had gone in to say it was fixed and ready to pick up! Turns out it needed a new distributor cap and rotor arm. It drives lovely as it did before. Only cost £80. Result!!

Fingers crossed that's all it is. I have come across K series vehicles where the coil keeps burning out the rotor arm and dizzy cap. Were they just worn or where they really badly burnt/scored?
 

Similar threads