I’m just about to put my Freelander 2 back together after a nut was sucked into one of the pistons and bent 4 valves. The valves have been replaced as has all the stem seals. I’m not going to replace the piston as a trusted mechanic has recommended just filing it as the damage is minimal (he is also bolting it all back together as I want to get the timing right). I’m after advice on if I should keep the car or sell it after it’s all done. I really like the car, it had done 145000kms of trouble free motoring (except for the usual diff problems which I had rebuilt) prior to this, I am just concerned that despite the block not being warped or any other damage that we can see, that somehow there is that will cause future problems.

How did “a nut get sucked in”?!

If damage has occurred to the crown of the piston, there may be damage to the connecting rod bearing - which could be reason enough to move the car on.

An idiot (me) did some preventative maintenance and decided to remove the flaps in the inlet manifold. On refitting it all i found that one of the nuts that secures the egr pipe to the inlet manifold was missing. Thinking I’d put it down somewhere in my garage I just put a new one on. Sadly the original nut must have dropped off into the inlet manifold either during the removal or reinstalling and eventually, a few weeks later, got sucked in to the cylinder. Fortunately it occurred on start up in my garage and I quickly shut it down when the engine sounded like a chaff cutter. All really embarrassing really!

Ouch! Unlucky

Keep it. If you’ve had it a while, it’s done quite a few km, it’s been good in the past, you know its history. Add this all up and it’s a keeper. Freelander 2 Metropolis. 2014

I'd say keep it too. Assuming the engine repair is done correctly, your car is probably better than it was before. You'll be unlikely to get back what you've put in if you sell it, so unless you want a new car and can afford it, keep what you've got.

I've been through that quandary many times (not with a engine to be fair) and every time decided to keep the FL2. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…

Keep it I would say, especially if you do your own maintenance work and know your car.

I don’t do my own - and had to replace the entire engine in mine in March this year after a valve dislodged and went into the number 2 piston and caused so much damage that repair wasn’t a viable option. I had the other main ancillaries changed at the same time - turbo, air con compressor, starter motor, etc... cheaper and easier with the engine still on its delivery pallet!!

Ironically the engine broke while on our way back from a meeting at our JLR dealer to trade in and upgrade. Valuation-wise, my car is a total write-off because of all that, and just for completeness, I have also just had to replace all four brake discs, pads and both rear callipers... a total bill of £600.00 (carried out by my garage)... but that is down to wear and tear and I knew it was coming.

The car now has done 21,000 miles on its new exchange engine,138,000 miles overall. Aside from a weirdly intermittent temp display which, in July’s hottest day heat was showing -3 and yesterday showed a range between -16 and +11, everything else still works fine...

As it’s now had much of its mechanical organs transplanted I reckon my biggest likely foreseeable bill now (touching wood as I type) would equate to less than a deposit on newer car, per the upgrade quote we had back in March - so I am keeping mine for at least up and until 200,000 miles, as I am confident enough in what I am left with, and not too enamoured of alternatives either... gawd knows what I would look at next, so maybe my FL2 will head for 300K miles...  Lexus RX450H - 500 mile a week commuter- I just couldn’t trust in a newer RRS or DS for that….
2009 Freelander 2 HSE... 155K miles, we’ve done 135k of those, has done brilliantly on the commute and staying firmly put as car two in the household
2002 Jaguar XK8 Coupe... fun, fast, ours for 12 years and owes us nothing - so staying with us too…

Have we made a decision? Freelander 2 Metropolis. 2014

Many thanks to everyone for the advice. I think I’ll hold onto it. It’s been a great car to date and i am very much looking forward to firing it up again and taking it for a run. Further more, it’s in great condition and to replace it with something comparable would cost an absolute fortune in today’s dollars.

My TD Defender drove for a couple of years before the cracked pistons made themselves obvious. Unknown to me the previous owner had replaced valves etc (after a cambelt failure I should imagine) but missed the cracked pistons.



This was the good one, the other you could see through but I lost the pic Jules

I had a cam belt go on a Ford Oroin some years ago. Cam shaft was broke into several pieces. Replaced the cylinder head with a Ford service exchange. Kept the car for another 40,000 miles. Big end bearings where a bit noisy but it ran ok.

Luke G wrote:

An idiot (me) did some preventative maintenance and decided to remove the flaps in the inlet manifold. On refitting it all i found that one of the nuts that secures the egr pipe to the inlet manifold was missing. Thinking I’d put it down somewhere in my garage I just put a new one on. Sadly the original nut must have dropped off into the inlet manifold either during the removal or reinstalling and eventually, a few weeks later, got sucked in to the cylinder. Fortunately it occurred on start up in my garage and I quickly shut it down when the engine sounded like a chaff cutter. All really embarrassing really!

Hi. I've just bought a FL2 with a misfire, which has suffered the same EGR nut in the intake issue. The vehicle was really cheap, so I took a chance on the repair being a detached deactivation flap. The damage was extensive, so I've got to replace the piston and 4 valves. I'm looking forward to get the engine up and running again.

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