Well, the beastie has been collected. We're very pleased with it and have no doubt that it will be ideal for the main task for which it has been bought. Our car is just about to reach its second birthday and the second annual service was done as part of the purchase deal......... or was it ?

I don't have a copy of the service schedule but I presume the oil should have been changed as part of the service. When I checked the oil at the dealership in the presence of the salesman, it was black with just a hint of a brown tinge. Is fresh oil really this colour ? I've only had petrol powered cars in the past and fresh oil for them was always definitely brown.

Of less importance, on the drive home we found that the left hand washer jet seems to be blocked. A couple of the fastenings which fasten the insulation under bonnet underneath the offending jet are missing and there is a small crease in the insulation. It looks like someone has been under there maybe trying to fix the jet - without success though.

I'm sure that the dealer will fix the jet gratis but the oil issue makes me doubt if any servicing was done at all. 2010 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE.

Hi,

on a diesel vehicle oil gets black immediately after new one has been filled and engine started.Its colour has nothing to do with its quality or freshness as it has on a petrol vehicle.

Its possable the oil has not been changed. Bare in mind that on a diesel the oil can be changed then after a short drive arround the block it will look black again.

Oil in a diesel engine will turn black as soon as it is started, if it had a brown tinge I would think its fresh, after a few miles it will be black with black tinges
The tell tale signs will be the sump plug or oil filter, ahve they been off recently.

Washer jet has two jets, it is more likely disconnected or the pipe bent rather than both LH jest blocked, I recently replaced both of mine as the baboons at Knowsley safaai park ate them, the under bonnet cover is easy to remove, gently tease the studs out and the cover will come off dont try and pull the cover it will rip. The pipes are then easy to get to, there is a soft rubber angled piece conecting the jet assembly to the more rigid pipe, very easy to twist.

Thanks for the replies gents. Sounds like the oil probably has been changed.

It's only the LH (of the four) washer jet that isn't firing. I'll have a go at a fix. Should be reasonably straightforward I guess. 2010 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE.

A seamstress pin will usually do the trick, although you can end up just compacting th crud in the jet, cheap to replace about £8 for a heated one.

When I fitted my new ones I changed the jet pattern so that both jets spray one right, one left, last winter only one jet worked when frozen so one side was clear and one was not, this year a single jet will cover both sides.

taztastic wrote:

A seamstresses pin will usually do the trick, although you can end up just compacting th crud in the jet, cheap to replace about £8 for a heated one.

F70100 wrote:

When I checked the oil at the dealership in the presence of the salesman, it was black with just a hint of a brown tinge. Is fresh oil really this colour ?

For a brand new car (0 miles) the oil colour is indeed light brown like in the bottle.
Then, it will slowly turn dark brown during the first 2-3000 miles because of the soot that accumulates in the oil pan. Then it will remain so up until the change.
After changing, as not all oil could be drained, the new oil will turn dark brown as soon as you start the engine and the new oil will mix with the remains of the old one.
Not to mention that the/any new oil has detergent properties/additives, that acts in the first hundred of miles and wash away any internal soot accumulation inside the engine.
Then the cycle repeats...

Same here. First oil change at 5000 miles. Once at home (5 miles) Oil became black.
Normal on diesel engines as said before.

[quote="Pete The Biker"]

F70100 wrote:

. that the oil goes black straight away, and in the end they sent me a copy of the internal invoice to 'prove' that the work had been done.

Pete

Modern oil is pretty resililient and I don't think missing a change would be too damaging. If you have a dealer stamp to say it's been done, warranty will not be affected.