Head Gasket or not ?

Hi,

Not content with having a 99 TD5 that appears to be gathering slight but iritating faults, now the Freelander has joined in !! Good job I won that battle with the other half and kept the tatty but ultra reliable HR-V for just such occassions......... Still, enough of the domestics...

The Hippo is of the 2.0D 97 variety. Current issues are a stuck f/n/s window, and a flooded cubby hole under the boot floor with no hole in it ! However, the two most concerning issues are as follows and I would be obliged of any advice....

She complained that the heater wasn't working and she was fed up with putting water in it. When asked how long this had been going on, "Ages" was the rather unhelpful reply.

I expected to find the oil a creamy colour and and therefore a new head gasket to be needed, however, the oildremains as black as ever which I wasn't expecting.... Is there any possiblility that it's not a head gasket and something else ? No obvious leaks when cold, but haven't had time to use it and warm it up yet.

Secondly, it's got a whinning noise that initially sounding like the brakes were grinding, but having checked them all, there're not ! Any suggestions ?

Cheers all.

Martin

Coolant loss is either, the heat matrix has spring a leak (symptoms include water running down the back and side windows and wet carpet under the centre of the dash board), water pump (which is part of the power steering pump as I understand it), or an engine core plug is rusted out and need replacing. The clue is to look for the crystallised antifreeze. Head gaskets are usually solid on these lumps, unless it overheats.

Good luck.

As for the whinning noise, you will have to be more specific about when it occurs and whereabouts in the car it is coming from. With what you have reported it could be a brake binding, wheel bearings, rear diff, propshaft bearings, IRD and so on. A bit more information regarding this will help us steer towards the likely cause.

Cheers Guys,

I'll have a closer look at it, and take it for a spin to get a better fix on the noise.

Many thanks as usual.

Martin