Hello to all.

I have a freelander2 petrol i6 from 2008. I am very happy with the car. But I notice one problem. When in traffic jams the temperature gauge needle gets low. Like the car is cold , the engine off. When I shut down the car and get the engine running the needle stays at half. But moving slowly in traffic it gets low again. Have somebody met this issue previously.

Interesting. I notice you have a check engine light on? I would get any codes read and have someone check over the coolant system and sensors. I doubt it's the thermostat stuck open but regardless, I'd get on that.

Try a search for this -https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic32504.html, there is some useful information, by P Gill who is extremely knowledgeable on the 3.2 , regarding thermostat failure at around 10 years. Not sure if this is the cause of your issue but worth a read.

The thermostat is working I have the heating very well.

The check engine one time is on after 1 day is off.
Codes are random:
Catalytic converter;
Or some lights not working;

Nothing serious or in regards with temperature sensors or cooling system.

*edit Bellow I am uploading links with video of the issue.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dPTl3lxqR...p=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dCnitfhKj...p=drivesdk

Last edited by freelanderbul on 25th Jan 2023 3:50 pm. Edited 1 time in total

If you are using a code reader does it give you coolant temperature? If so, what is it? The range and the average?

When hot it stays around 88-92 degrees C°. Temp from engine.

Hummm, that's the normal range

As for why the actual gauge is doing that, I don't know but the stock gauge/software is usually very unresponsive to a wide temp range. I'm going to guess it 's related to the check engine codes? Any chance you can clear them? Also, try a hard battery reset. You should be able to search for it on the forum, it's solved many 'crazy' symptoms.

Yes 88-92*C is normal.

The gauge on this car, like most modern cars is actually an "Idiot Gauge"

It reads low during warmup, and then reaches the normal position. It will stay there during a fairly wide range of temps, something like 88-113*C IIRC.

Once warmed up, with the engine on, the thermostat should *always* be able to keep the temp from dropping below 88*C so a low temp after warmup means either the t-stat has failed open or there's a gauge/sensor problem.

My t-stat failed open but it would stay normal around town and only cool off on the highway with a lot of air flow. It also took an unusually long time to warm up in the first place.

Not sure why it would cool down at idle, although if the AC is on that would run the fan(s) continuously so that might do it.

Get the t-stat checked asap, it's not good for your engine to run cold and if the broken parts get loose it can take out your water pump or block galleries in the engine.

Thank you for all your replies.
My main issues is. I have my car heated running for hour or two. And when I get in traffic without so much airflow. My gauge gets at cold with no reason. While the engine is running and the car is moving. I think that the thermostat is working since my heating is ok during now in winter season, no cold air through the vents.

My main concern is that is drop dead needle is going to affect the cooling of the engine in traffic jams.

About engine codes I have some codes for fuel pressure but I presume that this because the car is also running on lpg.

What I did previously is cleanning all check engine codes. Running the car driving 100-200 km. Yes check engine appears but the day afterwards disappears from itself. I get diagnostics. And the codes are everything but nothing in concern with the cooling system.

I also tried setting the gauge while in diagnostic to check the response of the dashboard. Like 10%- 20% 50% works like a charm. But I have the issue you can see on the link above.

I drive and on some point the needle freezes at cold. And I need to restart the car two or three times to get the needle at idle. I don't exclude the thermostat but I have heating in the car