Freelander 1 TD4 or 1.8 and short runs

Most of our mileage is short runs into town from our village, bus service has been stopped, that's a round trip of 5 miles. a trip we do twice a day as we have to take the children to school. But we also do a 40Mile round trip once a week plus occasional longer runs. Which would be best.

And before you say walk we live in the country the route would take us along a busy B road with no pedestrian footpaths so walking is not an option.

Brian

TD4. The K series 1.8 suffers from thermo-cycling head gasket problems. Basically the K likes to be maintained at a set temperature for long periods of time. Constant heating and cooling cycles cause rapid head gasket deterioration.
Economy wise, there's little in it, with short runs.

I'm with Nodge on this one. 1.8 would warm up quicker, Td4 would need a FBH running in winter for as long as it takes to make your journeys, engine would still not be up to running temp when you got back. Td4 is noisy compared to a 1.8. If I was given a choice between a 1.8 and Td4, the Td4 was £3,000, the 1.8 was £30, I would grab the Td4.

Does the TD4 FL2 have a DPF filter?

Do not want to go down that route again if it has

Brian

Tannebri said:

Does the TD4 FL2 have a DPF filter?

Do not want to go down that route again if it has

Brian

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A TD4 FL1 has a cat, but no DPF. A FL2 will have a DPF if it's after a 2010. DPFs aren't suited for lots of shorts journeys, as clogging can result.

If you are looking at the FL2 - there wasn't a 1.8 petrol as the supply of that engine dried up when Rover folded in 2005. There was a 3.2 petrol but they're not very common.

Nodge68 said:

TD4. The K series 1.8 suffers from thermo-cycling head gasket problems. Basically the K likes to be maintained at a set temperature for long periods of time. Constant heating and cooling cycles cause rapid head gasket deterioration.
Economy wise, there's little in it, with short runs.

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Nodge, if I was doing about 5 or 6 miles to work would a 1.8 be a really bad choice?

wolflore said:

Nodge, if I was doing about 5 or 6 miles to work would a 1.8 be a really bad choice?

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My choice would be go for the 1.8 and be prepared to change the head gasket every couple of years cause I like the way they drive, but I'm stoooopid so don't listen to me.
SWMBO would go for the TD4 cause she likes the torque of the diseasil
GG would go for a 2.0Di cause he's a dinosaur and loves rattly slow old diseasils that are bomb proof.
You pays yer money.......

Alibro said:

My choice would be go for the 1.8 and be prepared to change the head gasket every couple of years cause I like the way they drive, but I'm stoooopid so don't listen to me.
SWMBO would go for the TD4 cause she likes the torque of the diseasil
GG would go for a 2.0Di cause he's a dinosaur and loves rattly slow old diseasils that are bomb proof.
You pays yer money.......

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You can't beat a bit of "character"

GG drives em 2wd too...but don't tell anyone shhh

Would a FBH be beneficial for a 1.8 to warm the engine up before you warm the engine up?

wolflore said:

GG drives em 2wd too...but don't tell anyone shhh

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No secret my Freelander is 2WD! I've provided the embarrassing video evidence to prove it

wolflore said:

Would a FBH be beneficial for a 1.8 to warm the engine up before you warm the engine up?

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Where are you going to place the diesel fuel tank?

In the boot GG. They don't need much to run.

And you can get petrol fuelled FBH as well

wolflore said:

Nodge, if I was doing about 5 or 6 miles to work would a 1.8 be a really bad choice?

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If I wasn't an auto lover, I'd have the 1.8 K series in preference to the TD4. It's a good engine, once the HG issues are cured.

wolflore said:

Would a FBH be beneficial for a 1.8 to warm the engine up before you warm the engine up?

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Yes it would help warm the engine faster, but at the cost of Mpg.

That's interesting Nodge, at the expense of mpg because you are using some of the fuel to heat the Engine? Most users seem to think they get an improvement but I'm guessing that's over longer distances?

I have the TD4 and my son has the 1.8 and given the choice I would sooner have had a nice sorted 1.8 ,I think his is lighter to drive and so much quitter

tlo said:

I have the TD4 and my son has the 1.8 and given the choice I would sooner have had a nice sorted 1.8 ,I think his is lighter to drive and so much quitter

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They quit alright!!!
Every time the HG goes.

Alibro said:

They quit alright!!!
Every time the HG goes.

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God my spelling get worse that will teach me to try and type and watch car sos at the same time