Freelander engine red hot but not showing hot on temp gauge in car

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Mugged off

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Hi all, hoping someone can offer me some advice, or maybe a shoulder to cry on .
I bought a 2002 1.8 freelander less than a week ago. Wish I had read the reviews first.
Anyway the other day i was going up an hill and got a strange smell. Turned out it was coolant and when I looked the engine was red hot the fans were not working and the coolant expansion tank had all cracks around the neck.
Before I changed expansion tank car was juddering occasionally when accelerating. Now i've changed the tank it ran fine for first journey which was a 7 mile trip. Just done 2nd journey of 4 miles and it's now juddering worse than before and fans still not kicking in and engine still red hot, but temp gauge in car shows normal temp. Also radiator is cold to touch and pipes coming off of coolant are also red hot. Please somebody shed some light on this for me. I am not very mechanically minded but can do basic things. Also don't have a lot if money to spare so hoping this isn't the dreaded HGF I have read so much about after I purchased it d'oh.

Thanks in advance to all
 
Ok thankyou for that and thanks for that link it's very detailed so I should be good with that. I will give this a try tomorrow and hopefully it fixes it. With some almighty luck. Is it possible it could be HGF?
 
Mugged off said:
Ok thankyou for that and thanks for that link it's very detailed so I should be good with that. I will give this a try tomorrow and hopefully it fixes it. With some almighty luck. Is it possible it could be HGF?
Click to expand...

Afraid it could be yep, fingers crossed its not. Hopefully the bleeding may get the water flowing around but ultimately depends how much its been driven and how hot it got when you (and probably the previous owner) drove it. Good luck
 
It could be. Did the header tank smell of putty (or linsead oil) If so then the previous owner has filled it with K Seal to try and block the leak long enough to get the car sold.
 
Oh dear, I will try to stay positive for now then, I can't say it did smell of putty or linsead oil but then my sense ofsmell isn't the best, im having a feeling that the guy who sold it to me has had my pants down . Thanks Alibro and thanks to potus also. Would there be any other obvious signs if it was HGF
 
Mugged off said:
Oh dear, I will try to stay positive for now then, I can't say it did smell of putty or linsead oil but then my sense ofsmell isn't the best, im having a feeling that the guy who sold it to me has had my pants down . Thanks Alibro and thanks to potus also. Would there be any other obvious signs if it was HGF
Click to expand...
Coolant level drops and mucho mayonnaise under the oil filler cap and on the dip stick. A little white stuff on the dip stick is not that unusual as condensation can cause it if the car was used for lots of short journeys.
If it's really bad the oil will be a creamy colour but this will only tell you if the HG has failed allowing the oil to mix with the coolant. They can also fail so that the exhaust blows into the coolant but I think that causes obvious bubbles in the header tank.
If you have any good local mechanics in the area they will have seen lots of blown K series head gaskets on Rovers and Freelanders and will know what to do. It isn't necessarily the end of the world.
 
Would suggest you bleed the engine best you can to get all air out of the system, keep the expansion tank topped up to the correct level whilst doing so. Once the air is out the system water level should set at a level and be stable.
The juddering could be bad news (water in the cylinders :() or maybe it just got too hot and spluttered, either way, but just bleed the engine first, you may be lucky and have caught it in time.
 
Alibro said:
Coolant level drops and mucho mayonnaise under the oil filler cap and on the dip stick. A little white stuff on the dip stick is not that unusual as condensation can cause it if the car was used for lots of short journeys.
If it's really bad the oil will be a creamy colour but this will only tell you if the HG has failed allowing the oil to mix with the coolant. They can also fail so that the exhaust blows into the coolant but I think that causes obvious bubbles in the header tank.
If you have any good local mechanics in the area they will have seen lots of blown K series head gaskets on Rovers and Freelanders and will know what to do. It isn't necessarily the end of the world.
Click to expand...
 
Ok thanks both, I will bleed the engine tomorrow and hope that this works, fingers crossed. Also there is no mayo under oil filler cap and dipstick looks normal too. Thanks for all the advice guys really appreciate it and will post an update tomorrow evening. Thanks again
 
Right guys, i've bled the system, and topped up and it's still the same. The top hose into the rad is getting really hot and the bottom one staying cold. Any ideas. Thanks in advance.
 
The fans don't come on much and I think it's normal enough for the hoses to be different temps so maybe nothing to worry about there.
Did you get much air out of the system?
Is the header tank bubbling?
Have you checked the oil for mayo?
Did you blow into the small hose to free up the jiggle valve (as it might be stuck)?
Is the coolant level dropping?
Are you getting clouds of steam out the exhaust?
 
Sorry should have said there is also no heat from radiator at all, there is no clouds from exhaust, no mayo in oil on dipstick or cap, coolant levels sitting where it should, I did blow the small hose. I wouldn't say there was much air come out. Have just had her on again and the judder is no longer there, but my concern is engine is hot but temp gauge shows normal? Pin sits in middle, but it gets there in less than a mile not driving above 2000 revs, then just stays there. The other syptoms are obviously cold radiator, too pipe hot and bottom pipe cold. :confused::eek::) Thanks very much for your help your advice is great and very much appreciated, i'm very glad I came across this site.
 
What makes you think the engine is hotter than it should be? They do run pretty hot.
I think the 02 K series should have the PRT thermostat, it's an odd looking thing down beside the bottom of the rad with three hoses going into it. I guess it could be dodgy but if your still worried you might best get it looked at by a professional.
 
Alibro said:
What makes you think the engine is hotter than it should be? They do run pretty hot.
I think the 02 K series should have the PRT thermostat, it's an odd looking thing down beside the bottom of the rad with three hoses going into it. I guess it could be dodgy but if your still worried you might best get it looked at by a professional.
Click to expand...
Ok but should the radiator be warm at least? There is no heat at all. I will check out the thermostat tomorrow and the enginge is very hot to touch same as the top hose it just feels VERY hot and also should it be at temp within 1 mile. Wanted to ask you guys before seeking a professional because my butget has alrady been overstretched on several unfortunate circumstances recently
 
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