Problems down under...

G'day from Sydney!

Got a 1999 XEi 3dr about a month ago, though the 4WD and softop would be ideal for some adventures whilst the wife and I are in Oz. Now some mysterious problem has reared it's ugly head.....

Intermittent problem (about 2 mornings a week for the last 2). After about 10 mins driving all of sudden there is a significant "shudder" from the engine (kind of feels like a seizure?). This happens in all gears and whether coasting or on the gas. Cut the engine after a few of these "episodes" and then it refuses to restart. Wait 15 minutes and it starts again like nothing has happened??? Happend on saturday morning, and then the car was perfect for the rest of the weekend (about 400km, including some soft sand driving).

I've read some horror stories today on various sites, and yes, it's a 1.8l K class engine with about 57,000miles on the clock.....

Have I been "had" by the local dealership?

I have a 98 1.8Exi and haven't had any of these symptoms. I would suspect ECU / fuel management.
Yes there are many Freelanders out there with serious problems, older and also newer models, far more than there should be, but you must remember that people generally only post on forums when there have promblems, it is not in our nature to do otherwise, i.e. would you have searched and posted here if you didn't have a problem. I'm am sure there are many Freelanders out there that have run without problems.
Competent servicing is a must.
If you haven't found this forum http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freelanderclub/ go there they are very helpfull.
Good luck.

Thanks Syrup,

I take your point, there wouldn't be much reason to come on here and say "everything is perfectly normal thanks"! Are there stats on what % of the K-class engines do give up?

Now that I'm used to the car (my last vehicle was a 150bhp Golf TDI - bit of a difference in torque!!) and have had it off-road I'm happy to persevere for a while and try and sort out the niggles.

I think a full Land Rover service may be in order, once I can find / beg / steal the cash to pay for it!

Cheers bud.

Bud,

Never been able to find any stats. I'm not saying you won't have problems but don't assume you will.
I had a 198bhp Nissan 200SX before my Freebie it takes some adjustment.
Syrup

Hi ya a few bits to check that get overlooked on service is the ditributor cap and the rotor arm also the king leads had a problem with corrosion and lead breaking up this was a recall on 1.8 also they had some main relays packing up this is located near battery looks like black box,but as your car runs ok sometimes it does sound like something is overheating for a while and then getting better,is your fuel pump making much noise under the rear seat,fold seat down in back and turn on ignition place head near carpet should hear a nice ryhmic sound this will only run for 30 secs until starts so dont panic if it goes off does run continuosly when engine running,you never can tell when the nead gasket goes some people are luckier than others hope this helps,tiga

Sending the car to a local "friendly indepedent" mechanic next week. Friend of a friend type deal that should be honest in his appraisal of the car. Thanks for all the advice, I have a small list for him to focus on straight away (coolant, hoses&clips, fuel lines and pumps, ECU, head gasket, waterways, clutch....should just about cover it so far!). The good news is you get a mandatory warranty with all used cars here in Oz. Any "mechanical defect" in the first 3 months / 5,000km gets fixed for nowt. Only problem is getting the dealership to admit to anything without paying for an independent opinion!

I'll let you know how I get on.

Ps. Syrup - just spotted a 2001 Audi A3-S3 for a very reasonable price locally. May have to go back to being a 2 car family. Freelander for off-road, 'action' days and the wife's commute, S3 for some serious BHP (225!) and road fun for me. I do miss that surge when you put your foot down...

Finally got to the bottom of the issue!

The car totally gave up after cutting out a couple of times at the weekend. Nice man from the NMRA (aussie AA) came and tried the usual (jump leads, sparks etc). Eventually he finds the problem...

There is a little carbon brush in the disributor cap, a tiny little thing on a spring, kind of like the flint in a lighter. This had totally disintegrated!

Back to the garage for another warranty claim - new distributor cap and rotor button, should sort the problems out no probs.

Unfortunately the wife now despises the car (it was her driving when it broke down 3 times at the weekend) so we're going to trade in and get something really boring like a Golf GL or Astra.

Oh well.

get rid of it ,sure people only post when they have problems,but when you purchase a veihicle with the name land rover you would expect better than a so called cheaper veihicle like a kia for eg: get rid of it now landrover will let you down

Try penicillin.....?

Thanks Martin! The penecillin cleared everything up lovely....

The Freelander has just been sold though. What a giant heap of steaming, lemony poo the 1.8 Xei is...

1999 Freelander Xei 1.8 4x4
purchased March 05, full LR log books
new brakes March 04 (fair enough)
new distributor cap & rotor button June 05
new head gasket, drive belts and a replacement tyre October 05

car sold (thank feck! ) - Oct 05

still to be done....thankfully not by me.....

engine mountings - worn, need replaced
clutch mountings - worn, need replaced
coolant system - leaking all over the place, needs replaced, causing CHG issues

Never again will Landrover see the colour of my dollars. Rubbish car, rubbish engine, rubbish fixtures and fittings.

I did get one great day of driving it on the beach and sand dunes tho.....

Good luck everybody! Bye!