x Reg Freelander 1.8 Urgent Advice Please

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give it a break...my 51 plate freelander has been as good as gold, we had it at 11000 miles and is now creaping up to 60,000 with no probs...treat it with the respect it deserves and like said in an earlier post regular services and dont thrash it when cold ...enjoy it ...
 
the whole don't thrash it when cold thing doesn't work! i have replaced the heads on at least 6 kseries engines that have never been thrashed let alone when they were cold, it is down to poor quality metal used in the head, not using hight corrected liners (very early Kseries engine were built properly) and **** head gaskets the landy/pagid gaskets are good and are used on normal cars as an upgrade. But if the head isn't checked for pourosity around the fire rings and the cylinders don't sit at the correct hight the gasket will fail again!
 
having spoken to quite a few experts most seem to have differing explanations of why they have these headgasket failures, plastic head pins, hotspots, poor design, head bolt stretch, badly designed water coolant expansion tank, lack of oil cooler, the list goes on and on...but to be honest the freelanders are that cheap now after all this hoo ha, still seems to me to be a pretty good buy on the face of things.
when you look at how many of these things were sold, theres surely a healthy supply of spares out there..i have a colleague who has a 1.8 thats touching 90,000 with original head gasket...yes there have been a lot of probs with the headgasket failures, but to be honest the money you can get them for now still leaves plenty of scope for a recon lump if the **** hits the fan, buy it right and keep a bit in reserve for a rainy day seems the best idea if you gonna have a 1.8...and when you get it enjoy it, they are a fun motor.
 
not how i drive it anyway...lol...they get some bad press and sometimes deservedly so...but to be honest people need to accept freelanders for what they are..a small hatchback...people seem to think because its got a landrover badge it will do what a defender or a discovery will do...wrong, it is just not up to that job..i have a disco and a defender as well so feel pretty well qualified to make that statement..dont even think about using them a s a tow car...they are over loaded already..but as a school run and general knock around i think they are an ok little car.
theres loads of bullys on these sites who like to pick on the small ones and are quick to beat them up and show there prowess with there big ones..
youve only got to look down the posts for all the landrovers and they all have some problem or another, thats what landrovers do, they break and we fix em...thats why we love em...hell my 24 year old csw is a bit like triggers broom, theres not much of the original car left...and yes its broke down before, but hey, its great and i love it.
like i said before enjoy it for what it is...
 
G-man said:
the whole don't thrash it when cold thing doesn't work! i have replaced the heads on at least 6 kseries engines that have never been thrashed let alone when they were cold, it is down to poor quality metal used in the head, not using hight corrected liners (very early Kseries engine were built properly) and **** head gaskets the landy/pagid gaskets are good and are used on normal cars as an upgrade. But if the head isn't checked for pourosity around the fire rings and the cylinders don't sit at the correct hight the gasket will fail again!
Click to expand...

The metal in the k-series is LM25 aluminium, same stuff they use in F1 cars. The only difference in the early and late engine blocks is the plastic dowels.
They started out with metal dowels, only the heads were getting scratched to bits during assembly, so they switched to the plastic ones. It was soon discovered that the plastic ones did cause a bit of 'head shuffle' under load, often seen as witness marks on the dowels themselves.

There are still many back street garages that arent even aware of the new MLS gasket, never mind checking liner heights. According to Clutchdust, the MLS gasket will remove some of the discrepencies in the warped head scenario.

Regarding the rev from cold issue, its widely accepted amongst k-series enthusiasts (Lotus boys, MG/Rover) that the the stat on the inlet side causes most thermal stress when it initially opens during warm up. The MGF cup cars prepared by Techspeed motorsport never had the stat installed and yet never suffered from hgf until hugher mileage.

crusher said:
having spoken to quite a few experts most seem to have differing explanations of why they have these headgasket failures, plastic head pins, hotspots, poor design, head bolt stretch, badly designed water coolant expansion tank, lack of oil cooler,
Click to expand...

Does your hippo not have the IRD oil cooler?

bez_man said:
You dont find it underpowered?
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Your not revving it enough, k-series has better performance at the higher revs. More power than the Td4 or L-series.

Fit a de-cat pipe and performance air filter, you will see all flat spots in the lower rev range disappear. 52mm Alu throttle body will give a few more horses, or go the whole hog and fit direct to head throttle bodies (£££)

crusher said:
dont even think about using them a s a tow car...they are over loaded already...
Click to expand...

The 1.8 does lack on the torque side, but makes up with its power output.

The diesels are superb towing machines.
 
Northern Irelander said:
The metal in the k-series is LM25 aluminium, same stuff they use in F1 cars. The only difference in the early and late engine blocks is the plastic dowels.


Regarding the rev from cold issue, its widely accepted amongst k-series enthusiasts (Lotus boys, MG/Rover) that the the stat on the inlet side causes most thermal stress when it initially opens during warm up. The MGF cup cars prepared by Techspeed motorsport never had the stat installed and yet never suffered from hgf until hugher mileage.
Click to expand...
the metal may be LM25 but it still goes porus due to poor casting, the very early blocks were assembled with diferent hight liners so they all protruded the correct distance from the blockface.

race engines are warmed up in the pit before going out on track to prevent coldrunning problems
 
G-man said:
race engines are warmed up in the pit before going out on track to prevent coldrunning problems
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Is this not the same thing as warming the engine gently until the stat opens;)

To my knowledge all the liner heights with the 1.8 k-series are 0.075mm from the block, Dont have the figures for the 1.4 k
 
i have had a chat with a guy who is an absolute enthusiast on these engines and insists absolutely they are an outstanding engine and he has had these things throwing out huge amounts of power. a lot of the stuff you guys mention he does talk about especially the water flow thing with the thermostat, and when i spoke to him about the head gasket thing, he just said you get them ...we put a new one on!!
as for towing with the 1.8 it is a no no..
they just cant cope..allright with a wee trailer, but much bigger and they know about it. i beleive there has been clutch problems with the hippo, any of you guys in the know the ins and outs about that?
whats the cause there?
 
aint it a case of "yu pays yo money - yu take ya choice" I just wudnt risk it - i think the odds are stacked against you.

mind yu NI - on a separate note the Rover 75 uses a 1.8Turbo which is based loosely on the "K" so its possible to fit that as a staright swap fur the 1.8. :D
 
it would be interesting to hear what other engines have been transplanted into these successfully with out too many probs..any thoughts guys??
 
crusher said:
as for towing with the 1.8 it is a no no..
they just cant cope..allright with a wee trailer, but much bigger and they know about it. i beleive there has been clutch problems with the hippo, any of you guys in the know the ins and outs about that?
whats the cause there?
Click to expand...

The towing limit for the 1.8 is 2ton, realistically this should be dropped by a few hundred kilos.

Normal issues surrounding the clutch, its a sealed hydraulic system, non-modular, slave cylinder goes then you have to replace the master too. Dont see why this couldnt be modified though with braded hoses or something to allow seal and re-fit.

I fitted a heavy duty clutch plate some time ago:

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/freelander-clutch-options-40020.html?highlight=clutch+options

biting point is just awesome. Take off is even more 'torque-eee-er' (fabricated word), just let it idle at 750rpm and release the clutch in 1st, it takes off without any revs needed, more akin to the diesels.

New clutch has heavy duty springs in the hub and 12mm more in the diameter (same as Td4 plate)

Having said that, tow limit for the Td5 is 4ton (with air brakes), I regularly tow 3ton with a defender and double axle trailer setup. Cant help feeling it struggles from time to time.

The Mad Hat Man said:
aint it a case of "yu pays yo money - yu take ya choice" I just wudnt risk it - i think the odds are stacked against you.

mind yu NI - on a separate note the Rover 75 uses a 1.8Turbo which is based loosely on the "K" so its possible to fit that as a staright swap fur the 1.8. :D
Click to expand...

Yes 1.8 T is superb, absolute marvel. Shame to rip it from a Rover 75, they are usually well fitted out models with full leather etc. Pipe and slippers brigade would have something to say about it ;)

crusher said:
it would be interesting to hear what other engines have been transplanted into these successfully with out too many probs..any thoughts guys??
Click to expand...

L-series diesel
Rover T220
1.8T

Anything is possible, 1.8 k-series are fitted in old school minis (absolute rocket ships) and even Triumph Spitfires, lots of queries about MG midget conversions on MG-Rover.org
 
biggeordie said:
Hello There,

Im New!!

Picked up our X Reg Freelander with only 26K on the clock last night.

3 door, with leather and all the usual stuff.

Dealer (not land rover) said to bring it back on mnday as ABS light was on all the time. Drove it home, my wife went to work, (4 miles) rang me on the way back from work saying that the ABS, the Traction Control and Hill Decent lights were all on.

I have read a few posts on here explaining what this fault is, usually an ABS sensor, not to worried as garage have said they will sort it.

Should I be worried???

The car has only done 26K, is absolutely immaculate, and I mean like brand new, no bonnet chips, no nothing, has a more than full service history and it drives like brand new.

Since coming to this forum I have read nothing but negative stuff regarding the 1.8 engine.

Are the problems more likely to happen on a high mileage vehicle and should my almost just run in 26k be OK?

I know its the "how long is a piece of string question" but my vehicle is genuinely like brand new, are the well documented problems with the 1.8 engine in every vehicle?

Surely every 1.8 freelander cant have all these problems as there would be law suits galore etc.

Thanks for reading my post and I genuinely hope not to have to visit here to often (as in only when problems arise)!!!

ps on a serious note, my wife is a child minder and we bought it for her to ferry loads of kids around in and as such some serious, genuine advice would be really appreciated, as we have a 7 day money back guarantee with the garage we bought it from, as long as we dont do over 500 miles in 7 days, we can take it back no questions asked!

Thanks all

Michael
Click to expand...

That engine is the infamous K series engine so you will eventually encounter all the problems that come with them, as for your fault, the common thing is either brake pedal position switch or the HDC switch wires broken. There are masses of faults with the freelander though so be warned they are not great cars.

good luck

Riggaz
 
slob said:
what does that mean?
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Basically the biting point of the heavy duty clutch has more feel to it, you know exactly when power is being transferred to the wheels.

Less tendency to 'ride' the clutch when trying to optimise between revs and biting point.

The standard clutch is a bit light and cotton wooly.

There are smaller 5" heavy duty clutches available, which are supposed to be lightweight and more controlled delivery of power transfer. These are fitted in the racing versions of the k-series, Lotus and Trophy 160
 
can't you tell that by engine noise and the fact the vehicle is trying to move..

i had to find the biting point for clutches on all sorts of cars from new bmw,mercs, second hand ****rons,fords and the like to very old lagondas for the purpose of installing a semi-auto clutch. and i nevver had a proplem finding it nor could imagine a case where it would be called awesome.

if the clutch is working properly the transition from no drive to full drive should be smooth and with mimimum distance between the point you can select a gear and the point where it starts to transfer power from engine to wheels. of course some clutches have heavier springs in them to cope with the power output, but that dosn't mean it has to be sharply taken up.

i still don't see how a clutch biting point can be awesome. a biting point is just that , A POINT, in the travel of the clutch 'pedal'
what you are decribing is tha actual operation of the clutch which is an whole different thing
 
slob said:
can't you tell that by engine noise and the fact the vehicle is trying to move..

i had to find the biting point for clutches on all sorts of cars from new bmw,mercs, second hand ****rons,fords and the like to very old lagondas for the purpose of installing a semi-auto clutch. and i nevver had a proplem finding it nor could imagine a case where it would be called awesome.

if the clutch is working properly the transition from no drive to full drive should be smooth and with mimimum distance between the point you can select a gear and the point where it starts to transfer power from engine to wheels. of course some clutches have heavier springs in them to cope with the power output, but that dosn't mean it has to be sharply taken up.

i still don't see how a clutch biting point can be awesome. a biting point is just that , A POINT, in the travel of the clutch 'pedal'
what you are decribing is tha actual operation of the clutch which is an whole different thing
Click to expand...

Well you dont have to agree with me slob, but I have told it like it is. Believe me when you are sitting in endless traffic travelling to and from work everyday it makes all the difference.
 
Northern Irelander said:
Well you dont have to agree with me slob, but I have told it like it is. Believe me when you are sitting in endless traffic travelling to and from work everyday it makes all the difference.
Click to expand...

I think what Slob means is that the biting point is the biting point whether high or low, providing the clutch isn't worn out it will bite. Where you might be talking about how it has improved the operation and feel of the clutch.

Regards

Riggaz
 
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