Newbie needs help please

Hi to all, ventured in to the world of Land Rovers a couple of months ago by purchasing a 2004 Freelander 1.8 and up until yesterday was very please with her. Now for my problem, the engine malfunction light came on for a while and was flashing for about 10 mins and there was a definite power loss (which I guess is the limp home mode kicking in?), today no light coming on but just judders a lot when accelerating and sounds/feels like a misfire - any clues as to a fix?....

You bought a frelander....:doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:

Is the water temp going sky-high??

Could be a lot of different reasons.

What's your temperature guage saying?

Have you checked coolant / oil levels? And if they're ok, whats the condition of them?

Have you parked near anywhere damp or near wet grass at all? Or even washed the car beforehand?

There's also been a lot of dirty fuel being sold in the UK at the moment (a couple of my friends and family have had problems).

Thanks guy's for the quick replies, temp guage showing normal (ie. at 12 o'clock) and all the fluid levels are okay. Not washed her for a couple of weeks and other than the weekly topping up of the coolant (which I was warned about) not much chance of water getting on the engine, plus as she is only used a couple of times a week I have not had to put fuel in for a while.

Topping up the coolant every week is not good news ,suspect a head gasket problem which is a common fault with the 1.8 petrol engines.

juiceyv8 said:

You bought a frelander....:doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:

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:5biagree:

Have you got any coolant leaks from anywhere and how much coolant are you topping up with each time, and the frequency of top ups?

When you say you're temp gauge is at twelve o' clock, is it on the max? (on my 2000 freeby the temp gauge goes from six to twelve but good temp is just at three (halfway).

Hi Freebiker, I top up the coolant with probably less than a tea cup of water maybe every two weeks just to keep it on the max line (I was warned not to let it drop). The temp needle sits firmly on the mid point of the gauge and never goes any higher....

You shouldn't really have to top your coolant up at all, it indicates a leak somewhere. It very well could be head gasket failure.

The easiest way to diagnose is to check the quality of oil and coolant. For example is there any signs of the oil becoming contaminated? Sometimes it can mix with the coolant which causes a chocolate milkshake looking oil.

Or there any mayonnaise looking substance in your expansion tank?

Just checked and the oil is looking lovely and black and certainly no signs of being contaminated...

could be a problem with the plugs and or the coil packs its a common fault and will cause the engine management light to come on mine was doing the same missing lark till I changed the coils have a look on e bay a dealer prices are OUCH

Also is there a creamy substance under the oil filler cap?
Had this problem with my rover 200, same k series engine, head gasket. I had oil in the water and water in the oil, a real mess. To make thing worse the head gasket went again within 3 months. Like freebiker said you should't have to top up the coolant that often.

Thanks guy's really appreciate the pointers, will try changing the obvious stuff like plugs, HT leads and the coil and let you know how things go.....

Keep an eye on the fuids and oils over the next couple of days. I had performance problems for a day or two before i noticed goo in the engine and header tank, yours might take longer to take effect depending on how much water is getting in. You might have a hairline break in the gasket which will eventually get worse over time.

Get a garage to do a pressure test to confirm anyway, it may be something more internal in the engine, or a diagnostic as you had a fault light so it should be stored (standard reader should recognise engine codes for a freelander).

just because you have to put a tea cup of water in every two weeks doesn't mean the head gasket is gone, there are lots of other causes. Check your expansion bottle, and buy a new cap for it to start with.

ianda12 said:

just because you have to put a tea cup of water in every two weeks doesn't mean the head gasket is gone, there are lots of other causes. Check your expansion bottle, and buy a new cap for it to start with.

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Your right BUT...

The fact that not all four cylinders are firing properly might be down to coolant getting into a cylinder. It's more probable it's a leak caused by the headgasket, one big problem connected rather than two smaller problems, maybe the plugs and leads.

Thanks guy's for all the advice and having read a number of other threads as well I think it's more of a gasket problem so off down my local garage at the weekend.....

There is a moral to the story... Dont buy a Freelander!!

Abigail said:

There is a moral to the story... Dont buy a Freelander!!

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My mates discovery spends more time in the garage than on the road. My Freelander has only been in once, think that could be saying something