Took it off road

Hi Guys,

Took the Landy (LR2 auto) off road up in Kielder on Saturday. Great day but car is making a few strange noises since.

Definitely heard a few crunches and scrapes underneath, and at the very least scraped a few boulders hidden in scrub, also got stuck and needed a push going down a very uneven track with boulders etc... accelerated quite hard, but needed pushing on....and again lots of scrapes and grinding sounds from middle underneath!

When first turn it on, it clunks once, but starts OK, but sounds a bit poorly with maybe acceleration....like struggling to change gear?!

The car has driven a few hundred miles since without any issues, but a few new noises...also note the 'coolant level low' light came on after the hard acceleration

It was an organised 4x4 day and I was told Freelander 2 might struggle in some areas...but was also told nobody had ever done damage that they are aware of....

Anyone had similar experience?

Really appreciate any advice, would love to go again, but dont want to kill my car

First thing to do is check your coolant! How hands on are you? Whilst you under the bonnet do a general check of oil etc

Might be worth parking on a kerb and crawling underneath and trying to find where you hit your car. I am not overly familiar with the underneath of fl2 but I know the fuel tank lays quite low

Should really have fitted some guards before crawling over the rocks at Kielder...the cars that went before probably had some protection, hence no damage

Drive carefully by picking the route you can get through. If it's too much or yer not confident then pick another route. Start with the easier stuff then progress from there.

Thanks Guys. I'm not very hands on, but maybe I should be if I want to go off road!!

I trusted the organisers when they said Freelander 2's are OK doing that route.

Ah Well.....the coolant is now re-filled, will keep an eye on oil and such...havent noticed any wet patches after parking?!

Thanks again

Keep regularly checking the coolant level. It shouldn't disappear without good reason and if it has a leak it's best to catch it before it becomes a gush or before you forget about it and one day the engine overheats

Sometimes the coolant can leak in a fine spray which isn't very noticeable or perhaps leak onto the engine and it then evaporates.

Thanks Kizzeh,

I will keep an eye on the coolant now....when I got 'stuck' I moved the car into mud ruts and manual mode, 1st gear (auto car) but it wouldn't shift...took 4 guys to push me out...that's when the low coolant sign flashed up....worried i could have done something to the clutch?? The car had just been serviced, so surely the coolant and oil etc had been replenished, right?

What else is likely to get damaged from this kind of day out?

Think I might have to re-think my future planned off road days such a shame it was a great full day at a great price

LRgirl said:

The car had just been serviced, so surely the coolant and oil etc had been replenished, right?

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You would hope so. If you were stuck in ruts and revving it could be possible you engine overheated slightly and pushed some coolant out as it boiled up. Think on an over full kettle boiling.

LRgirl said:

What else is likely to get damaged from this kind of day out?

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Anything underneath

Exhausts can be bent, sills can be bent, engine sumps can be split giving you an oil leak, electrics can be caught, wheels rims can be damaged and tyres don't much like sharp rocks.

Rocks do the most damage and that's why most vehicles going off road have the proper protection. If you bottom out on mud you get your car muddy, if you bottom out on rocks it can get expensive.

LRgirl said:

Think I might have to re-think my future planned off road days such a shame it was a great full day at a great price

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Don't be out off by off roading. It can be a lot of fun! Just remember that it puts more strain on your vehicle and you may need to get your hands dirty from time to time. If you need any help we can advise from the other side of a screen

Oh and automatics don't have clutches

Kizzeh said:

Oh and automatics don't have clutches

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they have several that can be burnt out by excessive revs and limited forward motion

That's being very finickity. You are of course correct but I was assuming LRgirl was more referring to what would happen if a similar situation was to happen in a manual.

I have experianced more abused clutches on a manual than an auto on a vehicle that is under 7 years old.

The easiest way to check a burnt out clutch on an auto would be to check the autobox oil was clean and not smelling burnt

I kind of thought no clutch too, but the organiser did know I was in an automatic and he said stop accelerating you don't want to burn your clutch out, or words to that effect.

I assumed the car has something that equates to a clutch and gears, but the car does the sorting for me??

I seriously never realised I might have to protect the underneath of my car...so thanks for the tips.

How'd I go about arranging this?