freelander head gasket failure

Hello to anyone who can help. This is I know probably a boring problem that has been well documented but I bought my other half a 2000 freelander for xmas with 79k on the clock and after a few miles the head gasket has gone. The garage tell me it will be about a £1,000 to fix, great. Looking at some of the horror stories am I wasting my money or is the standard of replacement now likely to last?

You dont like your wife then???

She thinks not! I read the bad reviews but thought I had bought a good one!

There is no such thing as a good un as far as the 1.8K petrol engine is concerned. If you brought it off a dealer get a refund.

bought it private, so there is no hope it will be a good car after this is fixed?

My sisters has lasted for another 4 years no problems since hers was done but some will keep going.....its the chance you take......Dont spread this around (dunt tell Ming) but I liked my freelander but got rid as soon as i could after me sisters went cabboom

well sirus thankyou for something cheering. I was beginning to think that every single freelander petrol is just fit for the scrapyard!

the HG replacement on mine lasted 3 weeks, then it went again and had to have a complete new engine (£4k). fortunately it was under warranty.

oh no thats what i am afraid of. does nobody have a happy ending?!!

Bill Humphries said:

well sirus thankyou for something cheering. I was beginning to think that every single freelander petrol is just fit for the scrapyard!

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Speak to Norvern Irish bloke if you wants cheering up..he loves his freelanders

i luvs my Hippoo too - after spending out £6.3K in a year - someone else owns it now - result!

The Mad Hat Man said:

i luvs my Hippoo too - after spending out £6.3K in a year - someone else owns it now - result!

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Ah!!!!! flops yer back. . . . . .good as yer a very usfull member , even if yer er tratter boy really

The modified steel gasket ( or similar) that has now been used for almost 2 years (see various threads) is supposed to cure the problem. My HG was replaced prior to this and is needing attention again. If you haven't done any serious damage to the engine you could get it done for £450 upwards, if you ring around.
I would go back to the seller myself. He probably knew the HG was about to go. Many leak slowly for ages and can be coaxed along by topping up the coolant level weekly until sold...... Was he big?

Sirus said:

Dont spread this around (dunt tell Ming) but I liked my freelander

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just in case anyone missed it the first time.....

cashybai said:

Open for business round the back of the Odeon every Thursday night....just in case anyone missed it the first time.....

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Colin it was a dreaded ebay purchase, how stupid am I! I just hope it will be fixed, I cant afford a new engine

Sorry, not much sympathy from me ebay is the devil! Did you get any service history, previous owners?
Report the seller to ebay, whether they knew about hgf or not, the seller should be contacted, if they are honourable they will go halvers on the bill.
The AA are doing a warranty thing on top of their breakdown deals. It covers hgf assuming the head and block are ok.

I replaced my head gasket at around 98,000 miles & she's run beautifully ever since. I think the £1,000 quote is a bit steep, but it could go either way once fixed.

Favourite extra costs include needing to skim the head & block as they're warped.

My view is this, get a good quality head gasket (e.g. http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/freelander-modified-head-gasket-p-537.htmlset) & new set of stretch bolts then either do it yourself - easy / moderate skill required or take the parts to a (willing) non - LR, LR specialist & ask them to do it for you.

Pause whilst climbing onto pulpit........

The Rover K-series IMHO is a beautifully designed British engine. Lotus to my knowledge still use it in the Elise & there's plenty or Rovers around here running on it, even some MGFs.
There was one design fault with the Freelander version however, which is the thermostat / radiator take off, just below the cylinder head. Basically the engine warms up, thermostat opens & in flows the cold water from the overlarge radiator, cooling the block at the entry point dramatically very close to head gasket. The gasket as a result has to deal with this and over time will fail. A well fitted quality gasket should be able to cope with this. I've done about 40,000 miles since replacing it. I'm not sure how often modern engines need head gaskets replacing, but I imagine 50,000 is reasonable.

The bottom line is you're a bit stuck if you need to rely on mechanics to do the work for you. Ask around to see if anyone can recommend someone trustworthy & I'm sure you'll get a quote 1/2 the original.

At the end of the day, the Freelander is a road car with off road ability. Because it's 4wd you will need to look at the propshaft / VCU in the future - that's about £1k minimum, otherwise I'd say the running costs are comparable with any MPV. As with all vehicles, when they run they're fun, but not when they don't.
If you trade it in, I'm sure the guvnor would be secretly rubbing his hands as it's easy to solve with a competent mechanic.

End of sermon,

Good luck!

Landraida - You are gonna get shot down, but I hear what you are trying to say about the k series.
A few comments, not all heads need skimming, stretch bolts can be re-used, unless you fit the new type oil rail then new bolts are a must.
The k series is exactly the same as the Rover, MG and Lotus set up. Thermostat on the inlet for quick warm up times. Unless a PRT or remote stat fitted.

had headgasket done over a year ago cost £300 squid at local 4x4 guys. still going strong 200 miles a week to work and back plus a bit of light green lane
work now and then I know that I will probably get slated but I like my petrol