Freelander V6 Head Gasket blown

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marksurry

marksurry

New Member
Posts
945
Location
Essex
Picked my Freelander up from the garage after a new starter solonoid was needed. Great, the engine starts now:)
On the 200 yard journey home I noticed she was chuffing like a steam train, yes, authentic steam too; coming from the exhaust.
My diagnostic: Blown head gasket :mad:
I brought the V6 powered Freelander because I "thought" it was more reliable than the 4 pot 1.8 litre. Oh how I was wrong.
 
Interesting fact: Land Rover want £1300 to change the 2 head gaskets. If it needs work on the head they'd prefer to put a new one in rather than machine the existing. That costs £1000. If it needs a new head they recommend a new engine instead (£2000). If I choose NOT to have a new engine they will not guarantee the head gasket work.
Am I being dumb or is there no logik to the Land Rover way of thinking? Surely it's more economical to repair rather than replace?
 
It's sitting on my drive at the moment waiting to be picked up. Garage are busy which doesn't help me at all :( I'm not going to drive it to them as I fear it could do more damage.
I'll keep you all posted on the progress.
 
marksurry said:
It's sitting on my drive at the moment waiting to be picked up. Garage are busy which doesn't help me at all :( I'm not going to drive it to them as I fear it could do more damage.
I'll keep you all posted on the progress.
Click to expand...

can you ask them what caused the head gasket blown up? I heard one company in uk they are makin a modified thermostat to overcome this problem. can you please calrify with LR over there? thanks :cool:
 
@ Dearot,
You're right, a modified thermostat was fitted. I beleive this was done under a recall from Land Rover.
I had a theory on prolonging the life of the head gaskets. The KV6 engine tends to run very hot which can cause head gaskets to fail. I noticed that the Freelander has a belly pan under the engine which would cause heat build up, air flowing through the radiator has limited space to escape the engine bay.
Question 1: If I remove the belly pan would the engine run cooler, therefore prolonging the life of the head gasket and engine maybe?
Question 2: Could an airscoop be fitted on the bonnet (inconspicuous size, not 2 foot square) to allow cool air to flow into the engine bay and heat to escape?

Update on garage: Freelander is being picked up Tuesday 14 Feb. Hopefully get it back by the weekend?
 
if you remove the engine tray from underneath, this alone will allow air to flow around the engine bay more freely. why are you taking it to a main dealer to have the head gasket done? is it still under warranty, if not why not just take it to a reputable local garage that will probably do the job for half the cost and machine the heads if needed rather than replace them.:)
 
Hi Yella,
It's going to a reputable local garage to have the work done. It's on warranty but reading the small print only covers the first £1000 of a claim, typical :(
Took me a while to find a garage that would do the job. He's had a Rover 75 in last week for head gaskets on the KV6 engine. A more common fault than I realised.
 
marksurry said:
@ Dearot,
You're right, a modified thermostat was fitted. I beleive this was done under a recall from Land Rover.
I had a theory on prolonging the life of the head gaskets. The KV6 engine tends to run very hot which can cause head gaskets to fail. I noticed that the Freelander has a belly pan under the engine which would cause heat build up, air flowing through the radiator has limited space to escape the engine bay.
Question 1: If I remove the belly pan would the engine run cooler, therefore prolonging the life of the head gasket and engine maybe?
Question 2: Could an airscoop be fitted on the bonnet (inconspicuous size, not 2 foot square) to allow cool air to flow into the engine bay and heat to escape?

Update on garage: Freelander is being picked up Tuesday 14 Feb.
Hopefully get it back by the weekend?
Click to expand...

I heard a guy in hongkong he installed an air blower.is your garage using the genuine head gasket? maybe you should try non genuine one, they might be better than LR :D
 
marksurry said:
@ Dearot,
You're right, a modified thermostat was fitted. I beleive this was done under a recall from Land Rover.
I had a theory on prolonging the life of the head gaskets. The KV6 engine tends to run very hot which can cause head gaskets to fail. I noticed that the Freelander has a belly pan under the engine which would cause heat build up, air flowing through the radiator has limited space to escape the engine bay.
Question 1: If I remove the belly pan would the engine run cooler, therefore prolonging the life of the head gasket and engine maybe?
Question 2: Could an airscoop be fitted on the bonnet (inconspicuous size, not 2 foot square) to allow cool air to flow into the engine bay and heat to escape?

Update on garage: Freelander is being picked up Tuesday 14 Feb. Hopefully get it back by the weekend?
Click to expand...

I heard someone installed an air blower to overcome this. is your garage goin to use a genuine head gasket? maybe you want to try non-genuine as they might be better than LR. :D
How much is it in uk to get it fix? i know the parts there are cheaper than here in oz :confused:
 
Update on V6 head gasket.
Garage have put some wacky solution in the cooling expansion tank to detect engine exhaust in the cooling system. Confirmed that exhaust gas is getting into the cooling system. Tomorrow the engine will be taken apart and heads tested.
 
marksurry said:
Update on V6 head gasket.
Garage have put some wacky solution in the cooling expansion tank to detect engine exhaust in the cooling system. Confirmed that exhaust gas is getting into the cooling system. Tomorrow the engine will be taken apart and heads tested.
Click to expand...

Hi Marksurry,

Have u ever think of changing the whole engine with non-rover engine that would fit in the FL? FL has a good handling but definitely not the HG!!
 
I did think of an engine transplant but I would imagine that would be quite expensive and a pain in he ar$e with adjusting engine mounts etc. Have you heard of this being done Dearot?
 
I read a guy in this forum thinking of getting a non-rover replcement engine but not sure whether he's done it or not.I also saw that freelander is used for racing, not sure either whether they are using rover engine or not.It would be if there is a realiable non-rover engine that can be fitted in FL and maybe we go offroading with the other big landys.
 
Treev150 said:
What you need is to send your engine here,

How does 210bhp sound?

Or even better 300bhp?

http://www.qednet.demon.co.uk/kv6/background.htm

These are the KV6 daddies!!!
Click to expand...

I knew bout this ppl from this forum. probably we are getting their remote thermostat n remote housing for my friends FL 98, just had the gasket blown up.
Those ppl been very helpful lending me their knowloedge so are the rest of you in this forum :D
 
Well people, my Freelander has finally returned from the garage after it's head gasket replacement. List of work was as follows:

* Car towed on low loader to garage (17 miles away)
* Both heads skimmed and preasure tested.
* New head bolts.
* New head gaskets.
* New cooling system header tank.
* 3 new cam belts.
* 2 new cam belt tensioners.
* Various "O" rings and other gaskets.
* Oil filter and oil.

Garage had the Freelander for just over 2 weeks and the final bill came to £1600. The warranty company paid £525 of this as they would only pay for work to one head gasket, how tight is that?
So there you have it. Compared to some stories and prices I've heard of, the cost for a V6 engine was very good.
 
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