Hi everyone,

recently have been in Austria, few days at skiing resort where my FL2 was parked outside, with temperature overnight down to minus 12.
Next morning I couldn't start, suspecting at first battery problem (battery only 16 months old), than possible diesel frozen (hard to believe as day before I did put OMV Alpine Diesel in), to be told that possibly diesel filter got blocked by paraphine...(that was from the local mechanic w/shop - obviously he tried to make me change filter at his w/shop) - but once helped starting with jumping cables (and mechanic's truck battery), it was running OK, even while I was driving there was no signs of possible blockage due to the filter...
I did call LR service in Croatia; expert told me that possibly cilinder's heaters were down... which was true and confirmed by mechanic at home - I replaced all 4 as apparently no one was working.
I never before experienced that, as my car is always parked in garage at home, and was never exposed to such a low temperatures.
To be better, on my last day when I was walking to another hotel garage, where I managed to park the car for the last 2 nights with no problem starting next mornings, I met the Austrian guy with same FL2 and exactly the same problem.
BTW, friend of mine told me that previous year at skiing resort, within 2 days he saw 4 LR cars (dif. types) at the trucks being towed to the work shops...

My question is: IS IT POSSIBLE THAT SUCH A BEAUTIFUL CARS ARE REALLY HAVING ˝LOW TEMPERATURE PROBLEMS˝, CAUSE IF THIS IS THE CASE, I'LL BE VERY DISAPOINTED. LR's SHOULD BE COPING WITH ANY ENVIRONMENTAL AND ATMOSPHERIC DIFFICULTIES, OR NOT?

Please share your experiences, just to clarify if I should in the fture stay with LR which I found most beautiful cars, specialy last RR SPORT...

Thanks, and God save LR!

Failure of Glow Plugs seems to be quite common.
I had the same problem last year when skiing in Italy, outside temp was down to -16ºC and it finally fired up just before the battery ran down - quite an impressive cloud of white smoke came from the exhaust.
New Glow Plugs were fitted last November after I noticed that it was reluctant to start on cold mornings.
Since then if it is a frosty morning it starts immediately.
I would have fitted them myself but their location under the manifold makes it a difficult job - as my wife would say "Must have been designed by a man"! Tattoos - Why would you choose to look like the wall of a public toilet?

Maybe the thing to take away from this is have your heater plugs checked before heading off to ski. Anyone know if its a 2 minute job as my Freelander will sit for best part of a month next Winter without being fired up.

40 plus years or so ago some of my caving friends set off to Australia the long way by driving first to India in Land Rovers and selling them before moving on to reach their final goal. Stories of being in such cold conditions on the way that the only way to get the engine started was to use a plumbers blow torch on the sump to warm the oil just enough to fire it up.

How did that Monty Python Sketch go

 FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

It's unlikely to be a problem with Land Rovers specifically across the range, as the different models all use different engines and most are sourced externally. (Until now with Ingenium anyway.) FL2 uses a Ford-spec Peugeot engine, Defender a Ford, etc. Maybe we just notice broken down LRs more than other makes.

That said, glow plug failures do seem pretty common on the FL2.

Yorky Bob
I'm afraid it's not a 2 minute job, the inlet manifold has to be removed.
There is a post on this site where someone detailed a method of doing it with the manifold in place but after I had studied it I asked my local Indy to do the job.
I supplied the plugs and they charged £60.00 labour. Tattoos - Why would you choose to look like the wall of a public toilet?

Is the testing easy though ? FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

here you go...

https://www.freel2.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11383/glows.pdf Tattoos - Why would you choose to look like the wall of a public toilet?

When two of my glow plugs failed it required a couple of cycles of the ignition before starting at tail end of winter start of spring, temps in Scotland. even when it did start it would smoke a good bit for a minute or so.

They are a bit of a c t to get to and watch because glow plugs often snap off when trying to remove. Full fat coke poured over them and left over night eats away a bit of the corrosion and it you can get it started somehow get the engine warm before removing.

You will certainly notice the difference if even one glow plug is down. Used to get very noticeable rough running on the TD5 when cold - five cylinders but only four glow plugs! The FL2 ones work particularly hard as they continue to heat even after the engine starts, in order to help warm-up. Ex AA Series III LWB Safari - Gone
300TDi Disco (bought new - terrible car) sent back after 18 months
Freelander 1 Estate - leased, given back at end of lease
200TDi Disco (bought from a mate with 100,000 on the clock) - Gone
Disco 2 TD5 - sold and exported to France
FR2 TD4 GS - Gone
FR2 SD4 HSE - Now changed for a DS
New model ex-demo Evoque S 180 in white
Unable to order a new DS, so gave up. Now have a Volvo S90 Recharge.

I have a 2008 HSE with about 60k on the clock and its a bigger to start in the cold. I live in Switzerland and we had it down to -17 and there was no way she will fire, it has to under -5 and then she'll go. My local garage confirmed that its a bad trait of the car and theres nout they can do! Strange really cos theyre quick enough to fleece me otherwise! The batter was changed ladt winter and I added the extra earth lead but still no go when really cold. I found a heater pad on line which sticks on the bottem of the sump and filled in a few weeks ago, it plugs into the mains and if left on through the night she fires up easily. I havent checked the plugs but will do asap. Anyway the heating pad works well and was cheap and simple to install. Discovery Sport, LR2 BY 2008 60k, XKR XJ12, Daytona 595, XL500, big Dog & bigger baseballbat

Also living in Switzerland and just over 2 years back at about 130k KM our Freel was really struggling to start when colder than about -3degC, needing multiple cranks and with a lot of white smoke. Had the glow plugs done and improvement in starting was immediate and is still excellent now at 200k KM.

Hi,

My newly acquired FL2 struggled to start at -5C. I replaced the glow plugs yesterday. 3 of 4 was dead. Its a time consuming job, but doable as long as you work tidy and take your time. It seems that this is a common issue on the earlier models.