newbie,please help.Loss of water

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freelander jay

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I have owned my 2000 w plater freelander for about 18 months.It had a head gasket done a month before I bought it so thought there was a potential future problem overcome not at my expense.Then we noticed the water level in the resevoir dropping rapidly.This was taking as much as a full kettle to replace.We noticed a leak on the road so got the recovery driver to take us back to the garage.They diagnosed it as the water pump.They replaced this and thing seemed marginally better but the it was still taking half a kettle per day!After getting fed up of doing this we returned it to the garage who then changed the inlet manifold gasket and the problem seemed to go away.That was only a few months ago so everything that could be replaced had been done and now the problem is back.There is a leak coming from somewhere .When you top up the resevoir ( a full kettle yesterday)there is a steady stream of water running below the engine then it goes to a trickle.Then when you start the engine the the trickle gets worse.The thing i noticed yesterday was the the manifold got scorching hot in 20 seconds from cold and there was steam coming from it as it was so hot.Is this normal?It doesnt appear so.We just want to get rid now but who is gonna buy a car with these problems.I have read the forum and can see its a common fault with landrovers but as we have had all stuff replaced we just want to move on.I cant see any hoses loose.Could the inlet manifold gasket have failed after nly a couple of thousand miles.I can feel some damp down there but not the main leak that is dripping fast.I am really concerned about the manifold gettting so hot so quick.Is my engine ready to blow up?
Hope someone can give me some pointers.The car is mint but I wont even be able to sell at auction if it has an obvious leak or a smoking mainifold.
 
Hi Jay,

You don't mention what engine it is, but if it's the 1.8 then, unfortunately, it sounds highly likely to be the head gasket.

Unfortunately, even with the "head saver" gasket fitted, the engine is very prone to gasket failure. The engine is just inherently flawed by poor design and construction. The bore liners creep and the original type head dowels are very poorly thought out. There's also a thermostat modification which needs doing. If this isn't done, the chances or a replacement gasket failing again are fairly high.

Before buying a FL, I looked at 1.8, but became aware of the issues and researched it further, finding that virtually every 1.8 has had a failure at some point - and that many people had had 2 or 3 failures, or even 2 or 3 engines replaced.
 
just been back out to it to start this morning and its not dripping.Revved it at 3000 rpm for 2 minutes to build the pressure and no leak.Bizzare.I also topped up the oil a week ago.I wonder if a bit may have dripped onto the manifold hance the smoke.Still concerned about it getting scorching hot from cold in 20 seconds though.I think I need to go px it at a garage today.Its a 1.8 petrol which I never mentioned in previous post
 
the exhaust manifold does get hot quickly, will glow when high revs, air flow keeps it cool.

What gasket was fitted on the service history, there is a way to check for the MLS type, small grey tab above the engine serial numbers, directly below the outlet elbow.
 
Yeh ,we went to look at a a td4 .Even though it was a couple of grand more,the guy at the garage said that this one was the better drive.Now I know why ! I have just been back to the car to notice the drip has started again,not major but it has just taken another kettle of water and the car hasnt moved since we put another kettle full in yesterday.Where the hell has that gone cos there wasnt that much that dripped out.If I try and px against a td4 I will be lucky if the garage give a a grand with the engine problems where I paid £3000 less than 18 months ago.I suppose I would be hapy with £1500.Do you think I could achieve that at auction?It has 67k miles and is mint with all the extras.17" alloys,side steps,light guards ,mint metallic burgandy paint etc.
 
The dealer at the garage has a legal responsibilty to sell you the car informing you of any problems or putting them right. Are you saying you think he directed you to a 'pig' to get it off his forecourt?
 
Here's the tab
 

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If you bought it from a dealer, it may well be worth taking it back and politely explaining that you consider it was inherently flawed when you bought it, then asking them to do you a better than average trade in deal on it.

The Sale of Goods Act still applies to used cars sold by traders. Getting arsey probably won't get you anywhere unless you are prepared to take it to court (I've done this with a similar problem and took 2 years to get 95% of the purchase price back), but gently persuading them that doing you a deal is the simpler option may prove to be worthwhile.
 
yu mite wanna read this anorl.

"The effect of the Regulations is to create an automatic presumption, in favour of the consumer, that any defect in a product manifesting itself within six months is 'inherent'. This means that the defect was present at the time of sale. The burden of proof is on the trader to prove otherwise. The Regulations also provide a time limit of six years (five years in Scotland), during which period any claims for compensation may be submitted to a court."

My "gut" feeling is that the previous owner had HGF, had it "fixed" - found it didnt fix the problem so got shot quickly... you have been sold a pup.
 
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Well I do feel as though we were pushed towards buying a "pig".They had an 04 plate in which was a td4 and was £2000 grand more but we were getting in on finace so wasnt bothered.The 1.8 petrol was mint and the guy really pushed it saying it was a beter drive.We told them we wanted it to pull our horse box.Well we bought it and used it once to pull the horse box but it had no muscle at all.We ended up using brothers td shogun.The garage failed to mention the head gasket had just been replaced the month before but I think they had taken it in from another dealer as their own garage on site didnt fit it.To be fair to them their customer service is excellent.Without a warranty they fit the water pump at cost of part only and then did the manifold gasket for a nominal fee so it would be hard to go back and start carrying on 18 months after we bought it.It sounds cheeky but If I have the car handwashed and the engine bay done just prior to going to a garage they might think its just water dripping from the engine and not a leak.Well if they can be bandits cant we!
 
I had excactly the same issues with my last hippo X reg 1.8:mad: it nearly put me off them for life infact i nearly wept when hubby said we were to buy another,im sorry you have had been sold a crapper,maybe trade it in for a TD4 and cut your losses,we had to it hurt alot to make a huge loss but to keep repairing it would of cost more than we lost,so we got a TD4 and we are now having a fine ole time:)
 
Ok things have changed in the last hour.I was intending to trade it after having the car washed and engine bay cleaned,so there would be traces of water hiding the leak I have.I saw a hand car wash sign down a back street so took it there.After washing they couldnt start it (didnt have engine running when cleaning engine) so the guy came out (mechanic) took of the dizzy cap and that was a right state,pretty much burnt out with hardly any metal to transfer the spark.He didnt know how it had run in the first place.He also had a freelander so I asked him if his head had gone.It had and he replaced it himself having worked on landrovers for 4 years preivios.I explained all the problems and he said the head gasket was indeed failing again.I hadnt thought of another repair because an estimate in the past put me off,somewhere near £800 so when the guy said he would do my dizzy, head gasket,manifold gasket,top hose upgrade and fit a new timing belt for under £400 inc parts and labour i decided to leave it with him.I was prepared to take as little as £1500 trade in so I think to have it repaired (the car body is mint) then it will make more finacial sense.I can always sell it private knowing the work has been done and I dont have an irate punter knocking on my door.Thanks for all your comments.I will have a td4 one day
 
Be handy to have some paperwork to prove the fact too ;)

Mind you, if you have found a competent mechanic who understands the problems of Hippo's, your problems may be few now :D
 
Absolutely agree about having the paper work.It is a proper job through a garage so will have all reciepts.This isnt a cash in hand job to a roadside mechanic and I feel even more confident he'll do the business as he used to work on them for a living.
 
get some "k plus" from a good motor factor, this should seal your leak for six months giving you ample time to part ex, it is probably head gasket that is leaking, but if the engine was severely overheated in the past, it will need more than an mls gasket to cure it!
 
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