my freelander is a magician. i keep having to refill coolant, but i cant find any trace of a leak. can someone please help me diagnose and fix this as opposed to taking it to a mechanic?

thanks

 

Could possibly be an air bubble in the system. My air bubble made the entire resevoir go to almost empty. Just my experience....

 

The dealership knows where it's going...into the crankcase. I had a 2004 freelander with the same problem. They gave me the run around for almost 30,000 km and I was close to being out of warranty before finally getting them to change the engine under warranty. The cost in Canadian dollars if it wasn't a warranty job: about $12,000.00. The problem is that the block has cylinder sleeves that allow coolant to pass through to the crankcase after a while. It's a design flaw of the engine itself.

I heard the air bubble story too, along with having the reservoir, heater core and just about every other component that could possibly leak coolant replaced.

My advice: push them to prove why the coolant isn't in the crankcase.

I got them to take it back a year early off of lease, and in turn leased a LR2. Once the papers were signed, the sales guy came clean with what a piece of crap the Freelander was.

Good Luck...you'll need it.

 

i honestly am frustrated beyond words. all ive heard recently is warnings about this car and i wish there was something i could do to undo this trap that the dealer threw into my path. i know that im prety much stuck with this **** and i have to make the best of it. what steps can i take to personally refine this car so that i dont get stuck having to go to the bastards at the dealership and throw them thousands of dollars to put in another flawed engine? are there some aftermarket parts i can install to avoid these problems?

please respond if you know anything that can be of help, cuz i REALLY need it.

thanks

 

What engine has your Freelander got?

 

The trouble is the cylinder sleeves are epoxied in place , Somehow they come loose and makes a path to the crankcase for your coolant to run , or to leak into the cylinder to be burned ...

 

As far as the engine goes; if you've got the 2.5 liter gas engine, there's not a whole lot you can do unless it is still under warranty. If that's the case, pray the engine kaks before the warranty is up.

Other items I had to contend with during my time with the Freelander:

- Brakes...a set of pads and rotors were good for about 15,000 km. The dealership implied I was "too spirited a driver". What a load of crap, I drive like my grandma.

- CD player...sometimes it would play CDs, sometimes it wouldn't. Never a proper fix from the dealership.

- Banging noise from under the vehicle during sharp cornering in parking lots etc., dealership said this was "normal".

- Front windshield delamination...the dealership did replace this, but not without a bit of loud persuasion.

A shame really, because when it ran right, I actually enjoyed driving the thing.

 

Have you lifted up any rubber mats in the footwells and felt the carpets, if they're wet it means the heater matrix has sprung a leak.
Land rover quoted me near on £1000 but I got a matrix off of ebay and fittted it myself, pretty easy following the land rover workshop manual, took me just under a day to do, it was a full dash out job, no specialist tools required.

 

Awsome to hear this great story. mine does the same thing - dissapearing coolant.

I have to keep a bottle in the back of the car and top it up every month or so - i am getting rid of this car as soon as possible. its just not worth it. i just keep thinking that any day now it is going to konk out and cost me a fortune. i have already had to replace a cam shaft sensor and that cost about $500. i recently bought a scooter and love it. so simple and cheap.

 

If there's smoke coming out of the tailpipe and the oil is a milky color, it could be a blown headgasket. If there's coolant on the ground, you've got a leak. If you have none of these problems, the air intake manifold gasketcould beleaking and allowing coolant to fill up in your engine. This started happening to my 2003 Freelander when it was still under warranty, and the dealer kept making other unnecessary repairs until it was out of warranty. My engine finally filled with so much coolant at 61,000 miles that it hydro-locked and it's now ruinedand Land Roverwants $6,000 for a new engine.Land Rover knows they have a faulty engine design, but they won't take responsibility for it. If your car is still under warranty, insist thatLand Roverrepair it immediately. If your car is no longer under warranty, I suggest getting rid of it.