2003 Freelander over heating

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racematt1970

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Has anyone had this problem my 2003 Freelander keeps over heating, I've had the head gaskets, water pump, and thermostat replace but still over heats, there is no water in the oil, and the coolant is clean, Land Rover has no clue what is wrong a suggested I just replace the engine. any thoughs thanks
 

joey

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Sadly it probably is a bad engine... the Freelander V6 is one of the worse engines LR has ever put in a vehicle.
 

trouguex

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Most likely whats happening is the engine is leaking coolant into the combustion chamber during cooldown thus creating an air pocket in the cooling system. Once you get an air pocket in a freelander engine it will constantly boil the coolant when trying to circulate. You said you had head gaskets replaced. Did they replace the cylinder sleeves or just do head gaskets?
 

lowwill

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Did they follow the burping method of bleeding the cooling system from the block
 

LandySA

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Hi all. You know what i'm about to say is probably the best method, but I do not take any responsibility for your decision. Everywhere I read about LR's complaining about overheating. Well here goes:
IF ALL ELSE FAILS;
Remove the thermostat, drill 2 or 3 1mm holes on the face plate of the thermostat. Firstly it may seem tedious job to remove the culprit, But you can start of with one hole, see what she does, still overheating? drill another etc. What happens now is that you still have a thermostat in, the water pump still circulates when thermostat becomes open, but even still when thermostat still closed the water still circulates just a lot less and will remove any if any, air inside the system, as well as the fluid will still slowly circulate slowly until it opens up again.
I realize you would think why bother having a thermostat in, in the first place? Well drilling these holes still brings the temperature up to the standard level, but also removes the air or even keeps the motor running at its operating temperature. But it will not overheat! Removing the entire thermostat will cause other factors like fuel consumption and many more. Its just that small job or inventing a different plumbing system. These motors where made to over heat. But I don't accept a too hot engine myself. As long as the predefined temperature setting of the computer is accepted and I don't blow head gaskets, my recommendation would be to do this. Hint " I have a Freelander that is running like this and will not lie, I have never had a issue with this. One more thought, I live in South Africa, the weather here is hot." Try this if you want. It sure works for me.
 

LandySA

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Hi all. You know what i'm about to say is probably the best method, but I do not take any responsibility for your decision. Everywhere I read about LR's complaining about overheating. Well here goes:
IF ALL ELSE FAILS;
Remove the thermostat, drill 2 or 3 1mm holes on the face plate of the thermostat. Firstly it may seem tedious job to remove the culprit, But you can start of with one hole, see what she does, still overheating? drill another etc. What happens now is that you still have a thermostat in, the water pump still circulates when thermostat becomes open, but even still when thermostat still closed the water still circulates just a lot less and will remove any if any, air inside the system, as well as the fluid will still slowly circulate slowly until it opens up again.
I realize you would think why bother having a thermostat in, in the first place? Well drilling these holes still brings the temperature up to the standard level, but also removes the air or even keeps the motor running at its operating temperature. But it will not overheat! Removing the entire thermostat will cause other factors like fuel consumption and many more. Its just that small job or inventing a different plumbing system. These motors where made to over heat. But I don't accept a too hot engine myself. As long as the predefined temperature setting of the computer is accepted and I don't blow head gaskets, my recommendation would be to do this. Hint " I have a Freelander that is running like this and will not lie, I have never had a issue with this. One more thought, I live in South Africa, the weather here is hot." Try this if you want. It sure works for me.
 

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