Re: Freelander engine replacement ...

We have had the 1.8 engine blow twice with the cyclinder head gasket
problem. Given the number of times this problem is occuring and the
cost of a Freelander (not cheap) I would have said such a problem was
down to a manufacturing fault and should be covered by Land Rover for
more than the warranty period of three years. You can understand if you
bought a Lada for =A35000 and the gasket going after three years that
it's a fair cop. But FreeLanders are sold at a premium price because
they are considered premium cars thus I have heard that such
manufacturing faults can be covered upto six years.
Dave White wrote:
> In <[email protected]> Dalesgate wrote:
> > I have just been told by Land Rover that my '99 Freelander with 29k

> > miles needs a replacement engine. This comes weeks after the
cylinder
> > head was replaced at a cost of almost =A32000 (luckily was covered
by a
> > private Car Care Plan warranty).
> >
> > Has anyone had their K-Series engine replaced (outside of warranty)

> > and if so, did LR contribute or pay costs?
>
> The 1.8 engine is renowned for this problem, I'm surprised you
weren't
> warned when they replaced the head that a full engine replacement was
on
> the cards if that "fix" failed. I assume it started with loss of
coolant/
> oil in the coolant ?
>
> 29k is low mileage for this to happen, most of them last 'til 60-80k.
>
> Land Rover have been flexible in the past with the warranty as it's a

> known problem. 2 years out of warranty is possibly stretching it a
bit
> far but the low mileage may work in your favour. It is worth your
> dealership requesting a warranty replacement. My understanding is
that
> Land Rover will then review the case on it's own merits.
>
> Mine (1998 model) was replaced under warranty when it was a few
months
> after the warranty period and had done 80k. There was a slight delay
(a
> few days) while Land Rover assessed the case. My dealer fought the
> battle for me, I don't think Land Rover will be as forthcoming if you

> approach them yourself. They did the complete engine change (labour
and
> parts) under warranty, all I paid for was the parts for a new clutch
> that they suggested changing rather than transferring the old clutch
to
> the new engine.
>=20
> cheers
>=20
> Dave W.
> http://www.yorkshireoffroadclub.net/

In <[email protected]> Mike wrote:
> We have had the 1.8 engine blow twice with the cyclinder head gasket
> problem. Given the number of times this problem is occuring and the
> cost of a Freelander (not cheap) I would have said such a problem was
> down to a manufacturing fault and should be covered by Land Rover for
> more than the warranty period of three years. You can understand if
> you bought a Lada for =A35000 and the gasket going after three years
> that it's a fair cop. But FreeLanders are sold at a premium price
> because they are considered premium cars thus I have heard that such
> manufacturing faults can be covered upto six years.

It's not a manufacturing fault, it's a design fault AFAIK.

The Freelander is far from a "premium car", it's aimed at the "lower
end" of Land Rover's potential customer base. Not that their top of the
range cars don't have problems of their own !

You'd have a hard time justifying a position that design faults should
be covered by warranty beyond the 3 year period. Most, if not all,
vehicles have design faults that result in component failure eventually.
The use of steel in a vehicle could be seen as a design fault in
countries that insist in spreading half the earths salt supply on the
roads each year. Vehicle manufacturers still insist on using steel pipes,
chassis, bodywork, suspension without suitable treatment and it is known
that those components will corrode and fail over time.

The 1.8 Freelander engine was a lemon, within 18 months of the first
Freelander hitting the streets it was well known that the engine had
problems and Land Rover made a number of changes to the design in an
attempt to improve it's reliability. The changes improved things but
didn't cure the underlying problem. The engine is badly underpowered for
the weight of the vehicle and I suspect that is at the heart of the
problems.

It comes as one of a long list of Land Rover engines that have proved to
have "issues". The 3.9(4.0), 4.2 and 4.6 V8 petrol engines have real
problems with many of them only lasting 60000-80000 miles. The TD5 uses
plastic dowels to locate the cylinder head and these are now failing to
hold the head in position making TD5 head gasket replacements a daily
chore for many Land Rover garages. They are also starting to experience
problems with the oil cooler leaching oil into the coolant system.

In my case I was one of the lucky ones - I bought one of the first
Freelander 1.8s and managed to get 80,000 miles out of it before the
engine gave up and was replaced under warranty. I sold the vehicle 6
months later before any further problems could develop. My advice to
anyone with one of these engines is simple... unless you are prepared to
foot the bill for replacing the engine then get rid of it before it
starts showing symptoms. If it has already started then replace the head
and associated gaskets, clean out the waterways and sell it (preferably
to a franchised dealer). Anyone considering buying a 1.8 Freelander...
don't, after all, it may have just had all it's gaskets changed to cover
up a problem

It's only fair to say though that having covered the best part of 100000
miles in my Freelander in 4 years, it still rates as one of the most
enjoyable cars to drive (albeit a bit slow) that I've had and never left
me stranded at the side of the motorway.

cheers

Dave W.
http://www.yorkshireoffroadclub.net/

I thought Land Rover was one of Ford's Premium automotive brands and
thus by implication all Land Rovers are premium cars.
I think whether it's a design fault doesn't really matter. Design and
manufacture are one of the same in my books. I buy a car that is
manufactured (built) and sold by Land Rover. If the engine is so duff
and Land Rover know this why do they keep selling cars with it. Don't
they know they open themselves to legal action. I know this happens
because the poor woman who bought our three year old Freelander
experienced the third engine blow. Unfortunatley for Land Rover her
father was a barrister, who promptly got her a new Freelander free of
charge.

Think the 1.8 engine has improved a lot during the years it has been used
now.Originally it got some developers price when it went into production,
You can read a lot of this K-series Rover engine on the Internet.Used in the
MGF ,Lotus Elise and some Rover models.
There are some statistics about the blown head gaskets,and you can see that
it's hardly occuring on post 2002 engines.But I agree that using this engine
in the Freelander was a bad move.
Further I think ,apart from the IRD problems on older cars that the
Freelander is not a bad car at all.
It drives superb on the road,and off road it can go to places where I don't
want to be at all.


Woodstock
"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I thought Land Rover was one of Ford's Premium automotive brands and
> thus by implication all Land Rovers are premium cars.
> I think whether it's a design fault doesn't really matter. Design and
> manufacture are one of the same in my books. I buy a car that is
> manufactured (built) and sold by Land Rover. If the engine is so duff
> and Land Rover know this why do they keep selling cars with it. Don't
> they know they open themselves to legal action. I know this happens
> because the poor woman who bought our three year old Freelander
> experienced the third engine blow. Unfortunatley for Land Rover her
> father was a barrister, who promptly got her a new Freelander free of
> charge.
>

On 22 Dec 2004 10:34:04 -0800, "Mike" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I thought Land Rover was one of Ford's Premium automotive brands and
>thus by implication all Land Rovers are premium cars.
>I think whether it's a design fault doesn't really matter. Design and
>manufacture are one of the same in my books. I buy a car that is
>manufactured (built) and sold by Land Rover. If the engine is so duff
>and Land Rover know this why do they keep selling cars with it. Don't
>they know they open themselves to legal action. I know this happens
>because the poor woman who bought our three year old Freelander
>experienced the third engine blow. Unfortunatley for Land Rover her
>father was a barrister, who promptly got her a new Freelander free of
>charge.

They design and build the car, and then warranty that it will work for
three years. If it doesn't, they fix it.

If you decide that you think a car should be defect free for five
years then you should buy a car with a five year warranty. If you
don't, then that is your risk.


--

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'77 101FC Ambulance aka "Burrt"
'03 Volvo V70

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