I have been to look at a 52 plate TD4. There was a small amount of oil and water (cream) mixed around the outside of the oil filler cap on the engine cover. The screen washer jet sits directly above this so I thought perhaps that this had dripped and caused the mess. I cleaned it all out and cleaned the filler cap out (just in case of any water contamination). Then drove for about 5 miles and the oill & water was back. There is no sign of oil in the header tank and the oil inside the engine is fine. The engine has done 58K. The owner did overfill it with oild a month ago.

Would this be a head gasket job, or is there somewhere else I should be looking forst?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
(Should have kept my lightweight!)

has it only bin used on short journeys? that con sometimes cause it.

As far as I know, the owner only uses it once or twice a week if that and yes, it would be short journeys.

My concern was a) where was the water coming from and b) could him overfilling it with a an extra 2 litres of oil damaged the head gasket?

As I said, the oil in the engine was fine as was the water in the header tank. After 5 miles it came back, not mixed like mayo but a mixture of what looked like water and oil. However, just to make it more confusing, the oil looked quite clean, not as black as in the engine?

Strange one?

cud just be condensation, coz the injun dont get warm enuf to evaporate the water orf. A good long run shud fix it.

Just for information, if anyone checks this thread, I did buy the Freelander.

1) Drained oil
2) Flushed engine
3) Replaced oil filter and new oil

and most importantly

4) Changed the crank case breather filter (complete unit with housing £16) - This was absolutely choked up. Land Rover recommend this is changed at every service.

No more problems at all!

Best car I have had!

Thanks for all replies.