Headgasket going or gone!

Hi Landy people !

I have had my 2003 land rover Freelander now for nearly 2 years ! it has full service history and is serviced when due and all the usual checks are done during the week and have been trouble free.All water and oil levels are normal apart from recently i notice the water level in the header tank now drops I check the water and oil every other day also noticed slug in the oil and header tank.Since i have owned the vehicle it has never overheated and still drives very well.The vehicle is due for its 60,000mile service shortly, i still have warranty on this vehicle though the AA , IS IT THE DREADED HEAD GASKET.I HAVE BEEN TOLD ITS THE HEAD GASKET !! ANY ADVICE HERE WOULD HELP:doh:

You need to get a cooling system pressure test done or a sniff test both will show a head gasket fault...

Arr...your first post welcome to the site, also helps if you state your location in your profile, just incase theres any members close to you, who maybe willing to help.....

If there's sludge in your oil and header tank then your head gasket has most likely gone. My advice would be not to drive it but get it into a garage straight away and have them fit the modified mls gaskets.

Drive it around and you risk it overheating, and once it's overheated the cost to fix could be a lot more and a lot more damage will be done.

If it's not overheated so far you may get away without having to havethe head skimmed which could easily knock around £100 off the repair price.

Welcome to the site by the way!

time to sell it i think

Also if it's confirmed, make sure your garage take the head off & check the liner heights to make sure they haven't slipped before ordering new parts otherwise your gasket will blow very quickly again. Also make sure it's the latest uprated gasket that fitted & not an "old stock" one from the earlier design.

Many thanks for all your comments and advice ! and the welcoming ! i will take the my FREELANDER while the warranty is STILL VALID ! By the way i live in the RAINHAM KENT.

hi had this problem after no use for a week one wont turn over smashed starter

one cylinder full of water

used steel seal going strong one year on

jimr said:

used steel seal going strong one year on

Click to expand...

What you built up the liner height to sit proud of the block???

Recommended height is 0.075mm

Ere N I - arent there 2 diff liner heights? My understanding us that it was about 3 or 5 thou and was increased to 7. If yu have an older motor, can you increase the liner heights? It is possible, is it not, that older motors may not meet the new spec?

there are some differences, not sure if it was introduced to the larger engines or 'errored' in, my k is 99, liners sit 0.04mm (all flush)

0.075 is in the LR bulletin which is deffo for the 1.8 engine

Raising the liners isn't possible but having just rebuilt the head, I can't see why someone hasn't made 'top hat' liners as you put it

A bonded shim could be a life saver, if it existed?

jimr said:

hi had this problem after no use for a week one wont turn over smashed starter

one cylinder full of water

used steel seal going strong one year on

Click to expand...

Heard good things about steel seal but was dubious. Would be good to hear if there are any more success stories or failures with it.

my 1.8 '99 landy is spitting water out the exhaust. not too excessive but noticable. no cream on oil cap but has the leaking radiator smell.
also, if it is goosed what gasket set shall i buy? i know i want the layered steel one but huge difference in price on flea-bay. wouldnt buy a dirt cheap one but £60 or £120?
thanks in advance!

edit, it doesnt overheat at all. needle sits right in the middle after 5 mins and stays there, even after sitting on tickover for 10 mins.