Sounds like another place to help owners with their motors at a good price then. :)

After the last time I did that, never again! :o

Your post said you didn't intend to tow it laden, but you wanted to know the limits of a Freebie. Those you now have and you can make a decision. To recap: Yes it would be capable of being used to practice loading up a horse. Yes it would be able to tow the box unladen. Advice would be...

If you don't have the EPC then try Rimmer's website, they use a lot of the same diagrams and list the part numbers.

Perfect time to invest in it, go right round and do all fluids, flush out all the hoses, replace the filters, check everything, and you'll be more confident of it giving you another 12 months of peace and quiet.

You've answered your own question in a way. The KV6 can have a raging thirst if you've got a bit of a heavy foot, and compared the the 1.8 the oil burner is much better bet. Don't get tied up about mileage, it's a bit of a misnomer really. How well the motor has been looked after and what...

The issue you have is the budget you want to spend means with the 1.8 versions you'll be at risk of ending up with someone else's problem car. Great engine when introduced, should never have been stretched to the bigger sizes and shoved into the likes of the freebie. The KV6 can be bullet...

Look nice, and what a cute little towing box you got behind it too. ;)

Towing capacity is I think about 1900Kg, so the box and horse would be around 300 below that. Unladen the box is about a 1000Kg? Should be fine to tow without the horse inside the box, but personally I would use a diesel one for the job, or something a bit bigger like a Disco if you want...

Check the cam and crank sensors if it's struggling to start when warm or cutting out when at operating temperature. Tends to be the crank one more usually. The new versions are better quality than the original German ****e.

As said above, refilling coolant by vacumn is the norm with MGR stuff, in fact on the MGF it's essential as they are otherwise an utter pain for airlocks, so no need to be suspicious of it being done on yours. The good thing from your side though is that it wasn't the head gasket failing. Just...

You'll probably get advised to burn it in a bit. ;) Mine hasn't done a third of yours but it's holding together fine. Although I think the VCU is due for a change.

Forums like this detail problems so that others can fix them. Stuff like this in detail helps folks to pinpoint problems and not get told porkies by some arsehat spanner monkey who doesn't know the first thing about these mills. It doesn't mean your motor is shagged. Go and look at a VW forum...

For some reason I thought yours was a KV6. Wot a dumbass, eh? Hope it goes fine and you get it back pronto. :)

Check the mechanism is all nicely greased up and operating properly, shoe springs all in good order and connected up, spigot not gummed up, cable is not snagged or knackered, usual stuff. Finding the noise will be a case of going round bits in turn really if it's not happening when braking.

You just bought a Freebie for £500 - did you expect a brand new, fault-free motor or something? If you spent that much on a Disco would you start moaning it was rusty? If you spend pennies and don't do the checks or get a warranty then don't start whingeing about it. This place has a lot of...

The old Bentley Turbo R used to be at something like 1500RPM at 70MPH. Still drank like Oliver Reed at a free bar though.

HMP by any chance? ;)

I would have though the problem was the stalk too, did this on a few mk4 Ford Escorts waaaaaaaay back.

If everything works, and you can't see a connection nearby then don't worry, probably just a bit of wiring for an optional extra or piece of equipment on another version. Harnesses typically have extra bits in them to avoid the hassle of a dedicated loom for each spec, makes it less hassle to...