Longbolt, thanks very much for the info. armed with it i was able to avoid a LR garage and head to a mechanic. he immediately suggested the temp sensor (he said if changing that didn't fix it it was a wiring issue that required further testing). the part cost 15 euro. he did it as part of a...

many thanks longbolt. i was pretty sure the coolant /oil/ temp are ok and issue is electrical. apologies to those who wanted a formal introduction. Had 1.8 petrol freelander since 2006 and it has cost a lot of money with a head gasket after 80k km. i had use another forum and posted pics...

2006 petrol freelander 1.8. two years back i was happily heading along a motorway and the engine temp gauge suddenly shot to the right, red light came on and fans went onto ballistic mode (not a gradual shift but a sudden switch to red area). I stopped, turned the engine off and 2 minutes later...