Hi All,

I am hoping some of you would be able to advise on a problem with my 2008 Freelander 2 S TD4.
On Wednesday morning I ran the kids to school and all was fine with the car at that point.
However on my way to the office, approximately 20 minutes after morning start up, I pulled away from a stop street and the car started making a funny noise, and ideling was very lumpy.
I pulled to the side of the road and climbed out to check. The noise appeared to be coming from around the turbo I assumed maybe one of the pipes around the turbo had split as it sounded like air was rushing out of somewhere.

I decided to limp the car to my independent dealer as he was round the corner, but as the revs increased it sounded as if something came loose and was hitting the fans. I switched the car off and checked the fans and there was nothing impeding their operation.

I went and got my mechanic, when we tried to start the car the engine was locked and refused to turn over.

I then suspected the cam belt (Timing Belt) had gone but yesterday when my mechanic looked at this the belt and tensioners/pulleys were all fine, and the belt had not even jumped a tooth so all good.

But we cannot turn the motor!!

As far as I am aware the TD4 motor is known for breaking a crankshaft.....
The car has had a easy life and is serviced regularly and has an oil change every 6 months or 5000Km's. (Fully Synthetic Oil Only)

Do you have any idea before we pull the sump off? Thanks

SMG

Could be the starter and the flywheel clogs locked together?????? Ex 2010 Freelander2 GS-e Diesel manual Silver owner

Thanks, I did not immediately think of this. Thanks

SMG

The mechanic, claims it is not the starter motor.
My dad is concerned it may be water in a piston, and this would have bent a con rod. Thanks

SMG

where does your dad think the water has come from ? where you in deep water ? Jules

Take off the right front wheel to reach the plastic wing liner , removing a section allows you to reach the crank pulley bolt. Using a socket can you rotate the engine backwards? If yes then Theresa somthing between the piston and the head.
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The usual culprit is the inlet manifold swirl flaps , these are well known to break off. If one was holding a valve open this would give you the lumpy tickover and whooshing air noise as air is forced back past the unclosed valve.
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Taking the sump off won't help as there is a twin shaft balancer unit which blocks your view plus it's too big to remove without taking off the sandwich plate.....and that's an engine out job.
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It's more likely that you will be taking the head off.
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Kind regards from Fred.
. 2010GS Auto ex Celeb, Santorini Black, 2011 facelift , spoiler, spats, mudflaps, LED footwell lamps, Witter detach,
Other cars:-
1958 & 1959 Austin J40 Pedal Cars under restoration (I make many J40 parts)
If you have an Austin J40 or Pathfinder Pedal Car looking for a new home pls PM me.
2009 Meriva

Thanks Fred, appreciate the feedback.
the issue is we cannot turn the motor backwards or forwards, there is definately something impeding the motor. Thanks

SMG

Last edited by Madgadd on 6th Jun 2015 9:03 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Hi Jules he suspects a blown head gasket.
But looking at Freds message I think this is more likely. Thanks

SMG

Question, is the coolant header tank full or empty?
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If you are into 'engine out'; beware Topix workshop manual as it has you dismantling a colossal amount of unecessary parts.
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I did an engine change ever so easy out the top however mine is auto, yours is manual. I left all the gearbox , PAS, aircon, radiators installed.
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Kind regards Fred.
. 2010GS Auto ex Celeb, Santorini Black, 2011 facelift , spoiler, spats, mudflaps, LED footwell lamps, Witter detach,
Other cars:-
1958 & 1959 Austin J40 Pedal Cars under restoration (I make many J40 parts)
If you have an Austin J40 or Pathfinder Pedal Car looking for a new home pls PM me.
2009 Meriva

Hi Fred,
I have not been able to check the coolant level yet, can only do so Monday.

Thank you for all your tips and hints, much appreciated.

Regards Shelbi. Thanks

SMG

Hi Fred, Jules, Realspeed,

The mechanic started off by removing the sump to check the crankshaft and found all OK.
He then pulled the cam covers off and found that 2 of the exhaust valves had dropped into the cylinders. The Cam chain (the chain linking the exhaust cam and intake cam) is slack.
The exhaust cam can turn with the crank, but the intake cam will not budge.

The head must still come off so there may be additional damage that we have not seen yet, explaining why the intake cam wont turn by hand.

The valves may have prevented the motor from rotating, but I don't understand why the Cam chain would be slack, did the hydraulic tensioner fail? Thanks

SMG

You obviously have serious damage and consequential secondary damage. It may be prudent NOT to spend money taking the head off but to locate a replacement engine. I changed mine after finding crank bearings wrecked and took the decision not to waste efforts to attempt a repair. On an Auto the engine comes easily out the top without even taking the bonnet off!!
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Bearing in mind that the exhaust valves will have been squashed up to the head there must be piston damage.
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All the best!
Kind regards from Fred.
. 2010GS Auto ex Celeb, Santorini Black, 2011 facelift , spoiler, spats, mudflaps, LED footwell lamps, Witter detach,
Other cars:-
1958 & 1959 Austin J40 Pedal Cars under restoration (I make many J40 parts)
If you have an Austin J40 or Pathfinder Pedal Car looking for a new home pls PM me.
2009 Meriva

Hi Fred,
Thanks I will start looking for another motor tomorrow. Thanks

SMG

Hi All,

After 9 months we finally have our car back

In the 9 months we have rebuilt the motor and learnt a lot in the process.
We replaced the bearings, pistons, rings, valves (exhaust valves twice), cams, timing belt, timing ring, crank sensor and the cam pulley.

I took the car out yesterday to "run the motor in" and around 400 KM's the turbo boost disappeared, the Car reported "REDUCED ENGINE PERFORMANCE".
The motor was still running smoothly with no issues, there was no smoke, the temperature was perfect. so I drove the car home (200 Km's it was slow but steady progress).

This morning I removed the pipe to the turbo and checked the play on the spindle and cannot decide if there is any significant movement. I put everything together again and went for a drive and the turbo boost disappeared again within 5 minutes from my home.
I think I will replace the turbo on Tuesday and hope for the best.

The car battles to start in the mornings and once started there is a huge cloud of white / grey smoke, and when the turbo was working there was black smoke at lower RPM when changing gears. I am hoping this will all improve when the motor has been "run in". I am hoping / praying it is not the injectors.

My other worry is that I cannot get the aircon to work!
If I pull the relay and using my amp meter on pins 3 and 5 I can get the compressor to turn on so all good there. I will replace the relay on Tuesday and see what happens.

I am really hoping this is the last time the car fails so catastrophically, it has cost me a fortune to date. Thanks

SMG

Black white grey smoke doesnt sound right for a rebuilt engine at all and then saying "I think I will replace the turbo on Tuesday and hope for the best" is not ideal just fingers crossed diagnostics and guessing basically.
How many miles had the whole lot done before all this episode? might be time to get rid of it before it costs a lot more than it already has?