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Freelander Maintenance and Repair

281 messages,  Last post on Nov 21, 2009 at 10:22 AM

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What is this discussion about? Land Rover Freelander, Car Safety, Auto Repair, Car Warranties, SUV


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#169 of 281
Re: How many of you have a problem with the Freelander? [atalexa] by smithspeech
Oct 20, 2008 (4:12 pm)
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Replying to: atalexa (May 07, 2007 12:06 pm)

October, 2008
I have a 2004 Freelander HSE with more than 73,000 miles. I bought it brand new. My vehicle was leaking coolant (at 60,000 miles) and I brought it back to the service department where I purchased the car. They couldn't find anything wrong with it. I had to keep the orange coolant in my car at all times. Finally I went to a local mechanic and he took a long look into the vehicle and found that the water pump had a crack in an unusual place. It had to be replaced so I had to spend approximately $1500.00 for the pump, thermostat (which got damaged from the leaking coolant) and labor. My vehicle was no longer under warranty. Perhaps you should have your water pump checked. Perhaps there was a flaw in the original water pumps in some of these models. If this stuff leaks out too much it can destroy the engine.
I have had weird electrical problems from day one. The car would short out starting with the directionals. The dealer tried to fix them but they recurred over and over until I got stuck in Myrtle beach, SC (I live in NY). A local stereo installer couldn't find anything but a tiny piece of plastic that broke off in the ignition switch box. Voila! I have not had that problem since. How weird is that?
Last year the car stalled and ran at about 1 mile per hour. I couldn't get it going faster. I was near the same local mechanic so I left my car on his lot. He said that the ground wire came loose. Now, a year and a half later the same thing happened and it was not the ground wire. It is still unknown. This is rather troubling as it happens without warning while you are moving.
I hoped to have this SUV for 200,000 miles but now I'm considering getting rid of it.
If there is a Class Action Suit against Land Rover, USA I would like to be a participant. I would like Land Rover to compensate me for the problems and repurchase my vehicle.
#170 of 281
Re: How many of you have a problem with the Freelander? [smithspeech] by sripley
Oct 21, 2008 (8:33 am)
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Replying to: smithspeech (Oct 20, 2008 4:12 pm)

atalexa - I believe most of the coolant leak failures are resulting from Head Gasket Failures, occuring at anywhere from 30,000 miles on up (mine happened at around 50,000 miles). Thats interesting the water pump failed, that one of the things that happened on my 2003 Freelander HSE was the head gasket failure eventually led to engine oil throughout the vehicles coolant system.
 
The landrover service technician who checked and diagnosed my vehicle said to check the oil cap and you will notice the gel'd up green gook which is the emulsified coolant w/ engine oil. He said there is no fixing of the problem, that only a replacement engine (which are not available) can be done to correct the problem. Replacing the head gasket only will result in another inevitable failure, as the design flaw is what is causing these failures.
 
Its unbelievable the number of vehicles resulting in these failures, one would think that would be evidence enough to the NHTSA that these vehicles are lemons.
 
I hope something comes out of all of our shared aggravation. We deserve our money back!
#172 of 281
Rear passenger window motor by cyd68
Nov 04, 2008 (10:32 am)
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Does anyone know if they have recalled the rear passenger window motor??? I was driving the car with my 3yr old in the backseat when the window dropped down into the door, it was snowing & I was on the highway and could not pull over in a timely manner to move her over, I was just thankful it didn't shatter all over her. LR quoted me $500 just for the motor, not including labor. My car is not under factory warranty anymore, Ive put way too much money into this POS and I refuse to give LR anymore money.
#173 of 281
Re: Rear passenger window motor [cyd68] by sripley
Nov 04, 2008 (12:10 pm)
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Replying to: cyd68 (Nov 04, 2008 10:32 am)

No recall on the Rear Window Regulator, I had the same thing happen where the wire/plastic mechanism broke inside the door frame, causing the window to not stay up. Only the brake light switch has ever been recalled on this vehicle.
 
Just for reference, I had Land Rover fix this repair at a cost of $480 which included labor and the new regulator (I had this before the Head Gasket Failure caused the inevitable destruction of the vehicle months later).
 
My advice, do not spend $1 on repairs for this vehicle and trade it in as soon as you can for another vehicle, if you can. These minor repairs, which I had Gas Filter Assembly replaced, Window Regulator replaced, Air Filter assembly replaced, Replaced brake Rotors twice, etc, all are a complete waste in the end when the Head Gasket inevitably fails and coolant is mixed in with the engine block.
 
Get rid of the vehicle if you can, as soon as you can!
#175 of 281
Re: How many of you have a problem with the Freelander? [nateb] by ydtr
Nov 07, 2008 (6:10 pm)
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Replying to: nateb (Jun 05, 2008 3:07 pm)

I have replaced the coolant with three full bottles in the past month. I took the car to the dealer on Monday to have the window regulator replaced (2nd time, first time it was on the driver rear, now it's the passenger rear. I told them about the problem with the coolant and they seem to think that I am going to take the car home and drive it since they put some dye in the coolant. They are now requesting vehicle maintenance reports. I purchased the car in July used. It is still under the original manufacturer warranty. They have called me all week telling me the car was ready. Today they called to tell me that they only cover the rental car for 4 days so I needed to pick my car up or pay for the rental my self. I took the rental back and left that POS at the dealer. I am contacting an attorney as well as all the news stations and the better business bureau. Enough is enough with them. I did some research on the problems I was having with my car before taking it in so I knew what the problem was, now they are acting like that don't have a clue as to what is wrong with the car. It is my understanding that the only way to fix the problem its to replace the engine. There needs to be a class action suit against them. I will be pursuing that also.
#176 of 281
Re: problem with the Freelander? [ydtr] by sripley
Nov 08, 2008 (10:06 am)
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Replying to: ydtr (Nov 07, 2008 6:10 pm)

Yes, Land Rover Mechanics are fully aware of the problems with this vehicle, in fact one told me the problem (at least 1 honest mechanic that works for Land Rover) and told me to trade it in or sell it as quickly as possible. Please be sure to file a claim/report with the NHTSA, in the other Freelander Forum (has 1404 posts) has the link for that.
 
You may want to find out what the seller was aware of prior to selling the vehicle to you, not sure if there is any liability to that person.
 
The coolant leak is actually a failure of the Head Gasket, and you should check the oil screwoff cap and should see emulsified engine oil mixed with coolant like a paste stuck to the cap. If you are filling the coolant 3 times in a month, your next problem will be the engine service light intermittantly coming on & off as the pistons misfire due to the emulsified oil-coolant clogging the pistons. Your engine will have alot of piston-knocking and then you will need to get more and more frequent oil changes just to keep the thing from stalling/not starting at all. Lastly, the head gasket will eventually completely fail resulting in over-heating and then oil filling up your coolant overflow cannister. That is when the car is completely dead.
 
There is some talk of a Howard Getman in NJ pursuing a class action lawsuit, however this attorney told me a few months ago that he could not do anything for me but sue if I decided to replace the engine (at a cost of $7000-$10,000 if any engines were even available).
 
My suggestion would be to see if you can throw it back/sue the seller, that the seller likely knew the coolant leakage resulting head gasket failure. Otherwise, see if you can trade it in for any value at all, if you financed it, tell your financing company the vehicles problem. Nothing about this is easy, probably the most aggravation I've ever had with a vehicle.
#178 of 281
First Posting by desertchildaz
Nov 10, 2008 (1:38 pm)
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Hi everyone. This is my first post. (I feel like we all need therapy for what we're going through.)
 
I bought a 2003 Freelander, 32K miles, one year ago. When I drove it off the lot, the "service engine soon" light was on. I called the dealer (Tempe Mitsubishi, which has since closed its doors) immediately and he said their service department had just done the standard pre-sale maintenance and that they probably just forgot to reset the light and that it could be done at the next oil change. The light actually went off the next day so I didn't think anything of it. It's been engaged and disengaged numerous times since. Finally, when my car overheated at about 50K miles and it was clear that my anti-freeze/coolant was disappearing, I brought it to Land Rover to investigate in August 2008. While it was there, I had them replace the recalled brake switch, fix the inoperable rear door latch, repair the inoperable sunroof and resolve the "service engine only" light and the "T/C DHS" intermittent light. Of course, with the exception of the recalled brake switch (which was also the cause of the T/C DHS light), nothing was covered by my extended warranty. And I was advised that I needed to replace the coolant resevoir and cap. In addition to that, I had to replace the intake manifold and the vacuum inserts at at cost of $2,000. I was told this was not urgent and that it would only affect performance such as pick up etc.
 
October rolls around and my registration is expired. I try to renew and find that I need an emissions test in the state of Arizona because my car is now 5 years old. I go to emissions and am rejected because the DLC cable behind the dash (to the Onboard Computer) is not secure enough to proceed with the test. I go to Land Rover and have the bracket tightened. They tighten it without question or charge and I return to the line at emissions. I'm in line when my temperature gauge spikes again for a brief period of time. I get off line and return to Land Rover. They advise me that the heating coil need to be replaced (in addition to the intake manifold and the vacuum inserts) and that the service engine soon light will remain on until those items are fixed. My predicament: In the State of Arizona, they will not pass you through emissions with the "Service Engine Soon" light on. It's an automatic fail. So, now I can't pass emissions and I can't register my car if I can't pass emissions.
 
Following this realization, I go online and discover all of this is happening to all of you. Now I just want to unload this piece of dung even though it will probably cost me $10,000 to do so.
 
Here's my question: Will a dealer accept this car as a trade-in if it isn't registered?
 
Also, if I file a complaint with NHTSB, I have to enter my VIN number. If I enter my VIN on this complaint, will it appear on the CarFax for my car? I have no intention of selling it party-to-party, just unload it as a trade-in and get SOMETHING for it. I'm just not sure if it will appear on the CarFax and affect my trade-in value.

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