engineers report

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stevetemp

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hope someone can advise me i`ve got a freelander 1.8 petrol on a 2000 plate cylinder head casket gone again this is the third time in the 14 months i have owned the car. bought it second hand have taken the car off the road and contacted the finance company and told them to sort the car out. they have told me that i need an independent engineers report to show that this has been a problem since we bought the carbut i dont know were to go for said report. tried AA etc but they do not do it. i live in redcar (North east) can anyone advise me about this

cheers steve
 
Send your finance company copies of the receipts for the work you have had done. Also tell them that if they want an engineers report, that you will be happy to take it to a garage of their choice but stress that all costs incurred will have to be met by themselves. If they want a report let them pay for it.

How an engineer will be able to tell what problems your car has had in the past is beyond me all he will be able to say is what problems are present at the time of the inspection. Sounds like you HP company are taking the ****.
 
There is nothing you can do Im afraid.

If it went 3 times in 14months then there was good reason.

1. Dropped cylinder liner, engine is scrap, although I hear engine blocks polished up make good money from glass coffee tables these days.

2. warped head max 0.05mm, can be repaired, needs skimmed, max of 0.2mm skim

You need the garage receipts of when they first repaired it, including proof that they checked the cylinders liners and head surface. eg an engineers report from 14months ago

Then again you might just have to take their word for it.

Even if you do, its difficult to prove the problem was already there before you bought the car, any service history or repair bills that came with it?
 
There is a reason that your head gasket went. If you buy a 1.8 petrol freelander your head gasket WILL FAIL due to a design fault from MG Rover. If you are the original owner you may have a case against MG Rover but if you have bought it second hand you may not (not really up to speed with consumer law, you'll have to check for yourself). If you search the web you will find info on it. Here is an extract regarding this problem:

Website:- Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Engine Design Fault

Following the BBC Watchdog programme that questioned this issue (I did not see this) Irwin Mitchell Solicitors tried to bring a class action of more than 300 cases against MG Rover. This did not reach the courts as MG Rover agreed to settle each case individually. Each claimant in this case was trying to recover monies paid for repairs or replacement engines.

I would adives against anyone buying the 1.8 petrol freelander unless they are prepared for HGF.

Not the news you want i suppose but I hope it helps.
 
Bit out of your area but they will travel at a price ... South Yorkshire Trading standards have a vehicle inspector and I found them great with full inspection and advice and letters of proof that cost about £80 compared to eveyone else £300+ was charging...Finance company still didnt want to know but finally conceded with refunds of all costs,repairs and a bit more for the a45e around i'd had.

Wouldnt happen to be Close Finance your dealing with?? If so need to go to parent company to get any sense.

Cant find tel. no at present but sure you can google.
 
george99 said:
There is a reason that your head gasket went. If you buy a 1.8 petrol freelander your head gasket WILL FAIL due to a design fault from MG Rover. If you are the original owner you may have a case against MG Rover but if you have bought it second hand you may not (not really up to speed with consumer law, you'll have to check for yourself). If you search the web you will find info on it. Here is an extract regarding this problem:

Website:- Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Engine Design Fault

Following the BBC Watchdog programme that questioned this issue (I did not see this) Irwin Mitchell Solicitors tried to bring a class action of more than 300 cases against MG Rover. This did not reach the courts as MG Rover agreed to settle each case individually. Each claimant in this case was trying to recover monies paid for repairs or replacement engines.

I would adives against anyone buying the 1.8 petrol freelander unless they are prepared for HGF.

Not the news you want i suppose but I hope it helps.
Click to expand...

The early Mk1 gaskets do fail but not thrice in 14months, lowest mileage of failure from new is around 18k miles, some go to 100,000 miles without failing.

That watchdog programme was quite a few years ago, I remember watching it, it was dealing with new cars under warranty. I dont think second hand cars applies. Considering its year 2000 there isnt much hope, European warranty will have expired in 3years, unless they took a warranty when they bought the car.

Plus MG-Rover is now bust, well under new ownership in China, not sure on th state of Powertrain who made the k-series engines.

You should cut your losses here.
 
stevetemp said:
hope someone can advise me i`ve got a freelander 1.8 petrol on a 2000 plate cylinder head casket gone again this is the third time in the 14 months

cheers steve
Click to expand...

Unless you have a warranty from where you purchased the vehicle then I dont think there is much you can do.

When it was repaired on the previous occasions can you tell me what type of gasket was fitted?? It might be worthwhile (if you haven't already done so) having the engine stripped, inspected and rebuilt using the latest oil rail and uprated gasket. Would cost about £300 - £400, and is less likely to fail.

I am aware that its a common problem - I drive a 1.8 that was purchased with a HGF. Mine seems to be running fine on the newer type gasket. If you vehicle is in good condition, then it might be worth doing as its cheaper than buying another vehicle with potentially more repair costs round the corner.

Hope you get it sorted.

Regards,

Steve
 
G13SJC said:
Unless you have a warranty from where you purchased the vehicle then I dont think there is much you can do.

When it was repaired on the previous occasions can you tell me what type of gasket was fitted?? It might be worthwhile (if you haven't already done so) having the engine stripped, inspected and rebuilt using the latest oil rail and uprated gasket. Would cost about £300 - £400, and is less likely to fail.

I am aware that its a common problem - I drive a 1.8 that was purchased with a HGF. Mine seems to be running fine on the newer type gasket. If you vehicle is in good condition, then it might be worth doing as its cheaper than buying another vehicle with potentially more repair costs round the corner.

Hope you get it sorted.

Regards,

Steve
Click to expand...

Did you read his post? The last thing he wants to do is to spend more money on this heap of garbage. Or on another Gaylander. He wants his finance company to accept that what he bought was not fit for purpose, and to refund him his money back. Then he can buy a decent motor where he's not sitting there waiting for the next thing on the list to go tits up. At the end of the day it a rover car and rover never made reliable cars. with a series, disco, defender or even a RR (to a certain extent). at least the parts are cheap. with a freelander parts cost a fortune, and unless your a reasonably good mechanic, you can forget about DIY repairs.
 
redhand said:
Did you read his post? The last thing he wants to do is to spend more money on this heap of garbage.
Click to expand...

Doesn't say that in his post....

I was just asking what gasket he has fitted.

No car is faultless - I was suggesting that he had one final go at it and have it done properly (assuming it been repaired with the elastomeric bead gasket which are more prone to failure).
 
thanks for all your comments i will have to find out from garage that repaired my hippo as regards to the type of casket. all work was done under warranty which i took out when i bought the car but they only covered the casket and not everything else that needs to be replaced when repaired so it cost me about £400 each time. all work was carried out through nationwide garages as required by warranty company. my finance company is Lloyds. i have tried to get them to pay for any report but they refuse unless there is a problem found then they will renburse the cost. i will try the 4x4 place at warrenby when i get home as working away at moment

cheers again steve
 
stevetemp said:
all work was carried out through nationwide garages as required by warranty company.

cheers again steve
Click to expand...

I would assume that they have used the standard gasket. It has a rubber beading which over time breaks down and allows water and oil to mix or loss of compression.

The new land rover MLS gasket has a stainless steel construction with a top piece that the cylinder head kinda bites into when tightened down. Also the plastic cylinder head dowels that were prone to degrading / cracking have now been superceeded by steel items. Its been out for over two years now and I personally have not seen one fail yet!!

Good luck Steve - worth trying with a report as they may give in and pay for a replacement.
 
This is the only poll that I am aware of that has some feedback about the Multi Layer gasket. Myself includied (D.R.)

Head Gasket Failure after Land Rover Gasket Fitted? - MG-Rover.org Forums

Judge for yourselves!

You have to take into consideration the LR technical bulletin 0036 as seen in Mad Hat Mans thread:

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/freelander-1-8-k-series-hgf-more-data-36863.html

if the liners arent checked from the outset, you could be wasting your time and money.


Part numbers

Standard Rover Gasket MkI -RLVQ000090
Payen Mk3 -RLVB000320
LR MLS gasket -LVB500190

The MLS gasket has the grey tab which is visible at the front of the engine above the engine numbers.
 
Grey Tab
 

Attachments

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    MLS tab.jpg
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