Freelander 1 Honey, I think I’ve killed my Freelander

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rob_bell

Well-Known Member
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London
The ignition light came on and I lost power steering as I pulled up and reverse parked in the hospice car park.

It's been one of those weeks: my mother has terminal cancer and I’d just “sprung” my father from hospital where he’d been admitted following a fall.

I’d pressed the Freelander into intensive use over the last month: it’s been doing at least 200-500 miles a week - miles it has taken into its stride. It had been making an odd noise on full lock when manoeuvring and there has been a couple of times when I thought it was a little down on power... but otherwise just faultless and frankly I haven’t had much time to investigate what had been only mildly annoying issues...

Then the ignition light and loss of power steering. The engine sounded fine as I switched it off.

I popped the bonnet and the lack of charging became obvious: the crank pulley was on the squint. The retaining crank pulley screw had worked itself loose.

I called a friend who very kindly came out with his tool box. We had the road wheel off and the screw re-tightened in a jiffy. But all was not well.

I started the engine it sounded like a cross between a diesel and a bag of bolts being churned over in a metal bucket.

We worried that the cam belt may have jumped a tooth. But then we noticed something very odd: the power steering and alternator belts were becoming loose then tight as we manually turned the engine... the crank pulley seemed to be turning eccentrically.

There’s a certain black humour to note that the car died in a hospice car park, but I fear something very bad has afflicted the bottom end of this K-series. Maybe the crank or the crank carrier have cracked/ failed...?

Sensible thing would be to scrap it or break for spares, but I feel like I don’t wish to be defeated here. And I have a “spare” 1.8 bottom end from an MGF in my garage to get the plucky little Freelander back on (and off!) the road.

I’ll get the car recovered back to London for further investigation and possibly an engine replacement. If anyone has any other thoughts as to what may have happened, so let me know!
 
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Blimey Mate, Sorry to hear about the family woes, I wish all the best. Fingers crossed.

Now ref the l'ill donkey, Do your best mate ...that is all that can be asked.

Cheers
 
Thanks Neil - appreciated. It’s not great at the moment, but that’s what life throws at us from time to time, eh?

Regarding the l’ill donkey, it’s a sizeable job to pull the engine, but I have an engine crane stored over at the in-laws, and they have a big, flat drive that’d be ideal for the transplant operation. I just need to check on the condition of the bottom end engine I’ve had on an engine stand for the last 10 years...

The only question is when I’ll have the time to do the work? It’ll certainly put any other Land Rover project plan on ice for the foreseeable future :(
 
Thanks Neil - appreciated. It’s not great at the moment, but that’s what life throws at us from time to time, eh?

Regarding the l’ill donkey, it’s a sizeable job to pull the engine, but I have an engine crane stored over at the in-laws, and they have a big, flat drive that’d be ideal for the transplant operation. I just need to check on the condition of the bottom end engine I’ve had on an engine stand for the last 10 years...

The only question is when I’ll have the time to do the work? It’ll certainly put any other Land Rover project plan on ice for the foreseeable future :(

You know it could go the other way...but the D1 / D2 ans put the l'ill donkey to rest..................:(

Cheers
 
That’s a thought too. I’ll get the donkey back to base and work out warm hat exactly has gone wrong. If I’m lucky it might not be as bad as I think, but it really doesn’t sound or look good...

Oh, then there’s that turbo engine I have in the lock up - but there again, there are other plans for that ;)
 
That’s possible. This was a quick fix in a dark car park. Doesn’t explain the death rattle though? Unless the valves are hammering the pistons? It didn’t feel like it when turning the engine by hand and there was good compression too.

Certainly plenty of investigation to be done.
 
Strangely, if the auxiliary belts have been misplaced, they very often have an impact on timing belt, if this has slipped, it won’t be the first k series affected in this way
 
Sorry to hear about your family woes. Coping at times like that can be hard, best wishes from a Grumpy old Landie buddy won't help much, but you've got them anyway :)

As for Freelander, if the pulley is off center then I'd imagine it'll cause all sorts of vibrations at engine speeds which may be creating the noises - hope you can reseat it and it sorts the problems.
 
Sorry to hear about your mum. I know exactly how these things become all consuming. I went through the same Hospice visits to see my terminally I'll my dad last year. For me it was a 600 miles round trip that I was doing on every other weekend last autumn and winter.

As Freelance said. I expect the cam pulley has slipped off its key and the bottom pulley has done the same. It won't be a bottom end problem, but might have done some valve damage.

Realign the pulleys correctly, sort a possible timing error and see how she runs. ;)
 
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Thanks everyone - really appreciate the kind words. One of those things isn’t it? Everything happens at once.

I remember struggling with that crank bolt but it was torqued correctly. I really don’t understand how it came loose? Might be a case of getting the AA to recover it gone so I can investigate the issue more thoroughly.

We did turn the engine a few revolutions and the timing marks on the cam pulleys aligned, but couldn’t verify the crank position in the dark.

If the valves were hitting pistons, it would have been at idle speed only and for around 60-90 seconds. Should I be taking the head off and replacing the valves (again)?
 
If the engine actually ran and you could turn it by hand and not feel valves hitting cylinders - live my world of blind ignorance, leave head well alone and in daylight just get that pulley on straight :)

However, if it does fire and pushes a valve through a piston, I retract that statement :oops:
 
When you have time. Strip the covers off and take a proper look. If the timing has jumped, then correct it. Then turn the engine by hand and see how it feels. If it feels ok and doesn't feel like it's hitting, then try starting it. If it runs then cool. If it runs odd or spits back into the manifold, then you'v some bent valves that need sorting. I wouldn't go ripping the head off until you know there's a reason to do so. ;)
 
Cheers, thanks - will likely get the donkey relayed back home tomorrow, but it may be a while before I have the time to properly look at it: I’ll keep you all informed!
 
The AA patrol came - he reckons the problem could be with the rubber damper insert in the crank pulley. This would explain how it vibrated free the retaining screw in the first place.

The engine turned and started with the first turn of the engine, but this time sounded completely normal!

So strange. But phew! Thank goodness!

Now waiting for the flatbed (that I had requested in the first place).

It looks as though I’ll be ordering a new crankshaft pulley, bolt and maybe a new cam belt: there were some rubber shavings under the cover that I didn’t like the look of... but over all I’m feeling rather relieved. Now hoping that the l’ill donkey will be fighting fit again very soon :D
 
Sorry to hear about your family concerns rob. Life does test us some times.

On the FL front though, as I was reading this thread I was wondering if it was possibly just the crank pulley. Mine went a while ago and at first I was convinced I had a valve problem. It sounded terrible. A bit of investigation on here and some inspecting of the car resulted in the crank pulley being the diagnosis. Hopefully you'll find it was indeed just the pulley and that there is no further damage.
 
is it a td4 then with the rubber centre on the crank shaft pulley if it is then your timing will not be out as it is chain driven and cancer is a terrible thing I have had it twice and I hope the father gets better
 
The ignition light came on and I lost power steering as I pulled up and reverse parked in the hospice car park.

It's been one of those weeks: my mother has terminal cancer and I’d just “sprung” my father from hospital where he’d been admitted following a fall.

I’d pressed the Freelander into intensive use over the last month: it’s been doing at least 200-500 miles a week - miles it has taken into its stride. It had been making an odd noise on full lock when manoeuvring and there has been a couple of times when I thought it was a little down on power... but otherwise just faultless and frankly I haven’t had much time to investigate what had been only mildly annoying issues...

Then the ignition light and loss of power steering. The engine sounded fine as I switched it off.

I popped the bonnet and the lack of charging became obvious: the crank pulley was on the squint. The retaining crank pulley screw had worked itself loose.

I called a friend who very kindly came out with his tool box. We had the road wheel off and the screw re-tightened in a jiffy. But all was not well.

I started the engine it sounded like a cross between a diesel and a bag of bolts being churned over in a metal bucket.

We worried that the cam belt may have jumped a tooth. But then we noticed something very odd: the power steering and alternator belts were becoming loose then tight as we manually turned the engine... the crank pulley seemed to be turning eccentrically.

There’s a certain black humour to note that the car died in a hospice car park, but I fear something very bad has afflicted the bottom end of this K-series. Maybe the crank or the crank carrier have cracked/ failed...?

Sensible thing would be to scrap it or break for spares, but I feel like I don’t wish to be defeated here. And I have a “spare” 1.8 bottom end from an MGF in my garage to get the plucky little Freelander back on (and off!) the road.

I’ll get the car recovered back to London for further investigation and possibly an engine replacement. If anyone has any other thoughts as to what may have happened, so let me know!
Wish you well. Whatever you decide just take care of yourself - your family will need you
 
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