Hello everyone,

I have a 2007 Freelander 2 3.2l petrol and I would like to ask a question!!! For some time now I have the battery light on my dash lighting up but after a while it goes off. Today it was constantly on and I found out that my battery for some reason is not being charged. In the engine compartment I found out that there is a leak from the cable that comes from the coolant tank and connects to the front part of the engine. It leaks directly on my alternator. Can I somehow tighten the cable and fix the leak?? Also can it cause my alternator to short circuit and malfunction??? If yes does anybody know how to fix this??? I am attaching some pictures of the leak below!

Alex

Hi al.papado. I have same problem right now. How did you get yours fixed?

It was a recall action for that 3-4 years ago. I had the small tube replaced. If the leak is bad will cause alternator to malfunction.

Better to check with an official dealer.

Hello emetoolite

The car was serviced in the official dealership in Greece for the last 6 years and I do not remember having this tube changed.
I went to a small garage that changed only the electronic part of the alternator and also replaced the tube with an OEM tube from Land Rover. Total cost was 200 Euros here in Bratislava, Slovakia. Only the tube from Land Rover was 10 euros. Hope they do not rip you off and have the whole alternator changed because there is no point at all, because only the electronic part can be damaged from fluids. Hope that helped!!!

Alex

You should have been able to smell the coolant before it got that bad. As mentioned in other forum threads, a common issue but a cheap fix.

al.papado wrote:

Hello emetoolite

The car was serviced in the official dealership in Greece for the last 6 years and I do not remember having this tube changed.
I went to a small garage that changed only the electronic part of the alternator and also replaced the tube with an OEM tube from Land Rover. Total cost was 200 Euros here in Bratislava, Slovakia. Only the tube from Land Rover was 10 euros. Hope they do not rip you off and have the whole alternator changed because there is no point at all, because only the electronic part can be damaged from fluids. Hope that helped!!!

Alex

Hello All,
Just an update. I eventually cleaned up the mucous blackish substance on the carbon brushes of the AVR, as well as on the contact area in the armature/rotor using sand (abrasive) paper. The AVR channels into which the carbon brushes retract had so much liquid, possibly coolant. By repeatedly pushing and releasing the carbon brushes, the liquid comes out and is cleaned with a dry clean cloth. Also the internal of the Alternator (Rotor and Stator) was filled with liquid. I switched on the fan in the house and placed both AVR and alternator to dry for about 6hrs. I then used my wife's hair blower to complete the drying process.

Also I made a channel (like roof gutter that helps to collect and channel rain water from the roof of a house) out of a cut out 0.65mm Aluminum roofing sheet (I hope to attach pix later). I then installed this just below the coolant overflow hose connection point on the engine in such a way that it will collect any dripping coolant and prevent it from getting to the Alternator. The Aluminum channel runs backwards towards to engine block and downwards. It is secured by the same clip that holds the wire bundle right below the top part of the intake manifold.

I then re-installed the alternator and the intake manifold, air filter etc. Connected the overflow hose to the engine, and poured back the initially collected coolant (lost about half a liter, made it up with water).

It was such a good feeling to see the vehicle back to normal again. Alternator charging as expected and battery light on dash board panel cleared. My wife was so happy we could get this done without spending a penny.

As for the overflow hose that caused this whole thing, I managed to secure it a little better than before. At least cant see it leaking physically at the moment. Ordered a replacement anyway. Also ordered a replacement AVR just in case I happen to find myself in this position in the nearest future.

One thing that was not captured in the workshop manual procedure for this job is that the pipe stud into which the coolant overflow hose connects to the engine need to be removed with an Allen key wrench to take out the intake manifold. Also, because of the dowel pins, you need to bar the lower part of the alternator away from the engine block to take it out.

Thanks all for your help. We got our grove back.