freelander

After a few minor problems my wife's 02 freelander started juddering again,
in the past when it has done this it has been due to a failed Sparkplug. She
also mentioned that the heater had stopped working. She juddered to a holt
yesterday. When Landrover Recovery came out they said the water level was
down and proceeded to refill with 5 litre of water. He then told her to book
in and DRIVE the 6 Miles to a LandRover dealer. After about 2 miles Thick
black smoke came out and the engine just stopped!

Any ideas what's happened is it the head gasket? Has driving it ruined the
engine and cat. It's only got 3 months warranty left.

Is it a common problem on Freelanders the head gasket and if so is it a
problem in the future? Do I need to get rid it!

So Tom Sawyer was, like

> After a few minor problems my wife's 02 freelander started juddering
> again, in the past when it has done this it has been due to a failed
> Sparkplug. She also mentioned that the heater had stopped working.
> She juddered to a holt yesterday. When Landrover Recovery came out
> they said the water level was down and proceeded to refill with 5
> litre of water. He then told her to book in and DRIVE the 6 Miles to
> a LandRover dealer. After about 2 miles Thick black smoke came out
> and the engine just stopped!
> Any ideas what's happened is it the head gasket? Has driving it
> ruined the engine and cat. It's only got 3 months warranty left.
>
> Is it a common problem on Freelanders the head gasket and if so is it
> a problem in the future? Do I need to get rid it!

Don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounds serious. The heater
is the clue - it's lost most of its coolant (head gasket failure could be
the cause). It looks like the engine may have partially seized when it
stopped for the first time. My guess would be that it's leaking so badly
that the next 2 miles emptied it again and the engine has seized for good.
I hope it isn't as bad as that, but you may need all of that warranty! On
the brighter side, if it is fixed properly under warranty (possibly with a
new engine), it should be OK.

Good luck.

--

Rich

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