Yesterday I did a large mileage mainly on A roads in torrential rain - the kind of stuff you get in the tropics. occasionally the landie spluttered and lost power and naturally I assumed it was water getting in some electrics.
Fast forward to today and, using some sixth sense, decided I would have a look at the air filter. Oh s**t - it was sopping wet and even worse, it had a big hole in it and bits of shredded paper in the inlet plenum. THE CAR HAD EATEN ITS OWN AIR FILTER! - or at least, bits of it.
It seems to be running fine now (I've binned the old filter and got a new one) but what should I do next? would the turbo be ok eating shredded paper? is there a wire screen which might have caught the bits?
Help!

Quite a common fault on FL2's in heavy rain. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

Pretty dreadful air intake design then - never had a similar problem with any previous Freelander or for that matter with any vehicle that Ive owned.

Been lucky I guess Jules

With the air intake being in the nearside wing, its obviously going to be prone to water ingress from the gutters and roadside as that is where the surface gathers. IMO they should have put the intake on the offside where there is less chance of water getting thrown up into it.

Best get mine checked tonight as I have a tendency to enjoy going through big puddles

I recall a thread a while back where someone was asking about a rubber one-way valve that is supposed to be inserted in a hole in the bottom of the airbox, but is missing on some models and causing the wet filter issue.

http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic13347.htm...ve+missing

I think that this is it

RogB wrote:

With the air intake being in the nearside wing, its obviously going to be prone to water ingress from the gutters and roadside as that is where the surface gathers. IMO they should have put the intake on the offside where there is less chance of water getting thrown up into it:

This thread comes at a good time for me. I've just spent a week in the Yorkshire Dales (great place, can recommend it) and spent a few hours driving through torrential rain and many big puddles, and the F2 started to splutter and not pick up when accelerating.

I had visions of calling our Land Rover Assistance for a tow. We called into a cafe for a hot drink, and when we came out, the car must have dried out as it performed impeccably.

It was probably the worst rain and wet scenario I have ever driven in.
My problem is, I love driving through big puddles and now feel down hearted......  Updated- Waiting for a Scotland v England 6 Nations home win. 24th Feb 2018
Gone-1972 88 SWB Soft top
Gone-1981 24v FFR Lightweight
Gone-2009 Freelander 2 TD4 GS manual
Gone before it bankrupted me- 2008 Discovery 3 TDV6 Auto
2013 Freelander 2 SD4 GS Auto

You should treat big puddles like wading - hitting a body of water at 50mph really does force water at high speed into places it was never meant to go.
15mph is dead safe, 30mph is asking for a wall of water to slam into the underside of you car.

and 50mph is like a kid with wellies - you know you shouldn't but can't help the kid in yourself  Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

checked my filter over the weekend, bit mucky but otherwise bone dry and intact.

However the drain hole in the bottom of the air box was just a big hole, about the size of a 10p piece, with a thin plastic moulded cross piece.

Is this normal for a 2013 plate ?