Thread: engine conversion for freelander

no conversion is going to be worth the heartache IMHO

btw does the later motor drop in ?

if it was me i would cut my losses and sell it while you can and move on

but it aint me so you get to decide.... sorry to hear you have heartache on your hands tho...

Ditto Inc's comments,

I don't think it'd be worth the drama.

If you put a jap turbo in, you've got to get it complianced etc.

I'd get rid of it or take the steering wheel to the wreckers












and get a car to fit it!!

Good Luck with everything though

I dont see what a cheap jap import motor with low km's wouldnt go in, but as Inc said there would be alot of fiddling to get all the electrics working.

I wouldnt waste my time with another 1.8L motor, they are crap to begin with, you might find a cheap one at a wreckers to drop in so you can sell it. Matt

The electronics in the car make in impracticable to put another car engine in as there various computers talk to each other so there would be big issues with a different engine ECU talking to the other computer bits in the car.

I am the sort of person who would have a go at rebuilding the engine but if that is not you I would get a second hand engine TR Spares in Adelaide sell for about $3500 - get it in and sell the car. These engines have a major design problem - overheating, blowing head gaskets and then dropping cylinder liners - your experience is fairly typical - also happens in the MGF and Lotus Elise which has the same engine.

Sorry for the bad news - the cheaper option is fix yourself but even that wouldn't be cheap.

Garry

Hi, sux about the car, i had a 1.8 freelander and my timing belt snapped so had to rebuild the head, exactley one week later the cambelt tension pulley collapsed(yes it was new) so had to rebuild the head again.
$2,100 first time,$1,500 second, at no time did the liners move they actually have a lip on them that prevents them from moving while the engine is together.So you may just be up for a head gaskit or head rebuild(I was given doom and gloom to).
Just stop driving the poor thing if you know the head gaskit is gone cause if your engine isn't stuffed now it will be.

Probably not feasible but The Freelander was jointly developed by Honda as the CRV and Land Rover as the Freelander.
There is a chance, and only a chance that the engine mounting points etc may be similar between a CRV and Freelander.

There is somewhere on the web a discussion of why Freelanders blow headgaskets. It is because the thermostat is in the bottom hose and a bypass type, to speed warm up so the heater works quickly and emissions are reduced.
This was carried from the MGF engine layout. Because a Freelander is so heavy etc , the engine can overheat before the thermostat opens, and the head gasket failure is most likely in short trip cars.
If you do not mind a bit of fiddling, it should be possible to modify the engine for a conventional thermostat in the upper hose.

I have done this while converting a "Thor" V8 manifold to my 3.9. It entailed machining a hole, lip and shelf , to fit a conventional thermostat on the front of the manifold. It will be different on a 1.8 , but should be possible by mixing and matching bits.
Regards Philip A

Originally posted by PhilipA
PThere is somewhere on the web a discussion of why Freelanders blow headgaskets. It is because the thermostat is in the bottom hose and a bypass type, to speed warm up so the heater works quickly and emissions are reduced.
This was carried from the MGF engine layout. Because a Freelander is so heavy etc , the engine can overheat before the thermostat opens, and the head gasket failure is most likely in short trip cars.
If you do not mind a bit of fiddling, it should be possible to modify the engine for a conventional thermostat in the upper hose.

I have done this while converting a "Thor" V8 manifold to my 3.9. It entailed machining a hole, lip and shelf , to fit a conventional thermostat on the front of the manifold. It will be different on a 1.8 , but should be possible by mixing and matching bits.
Regards Philip A

I am not sure it is this easy as Landrover never actually fixed this problem and if it was as simple as you say I am sure they would have done this. Engines returned under warranty were rebuild and put back on the shelves until someone else needed a new engine. Then about 30,000km later this engine would blow and Landrover hoped the owner wouldn't claim.

I have neard the issue about the thermostat before and am sure it can only help but I understand that is an underlying design issue with the engine and head that causes the head gasket to blow. If the engine is then stopped without major heat damage - then the head gasket/head is all is that is needed but if the engine gets real hot so that block expands the cylinder liners drop and a new engine is required.

I understand that Landrover did a recall early in the 1.8s life to replace the head gaskets but I am I don't think this was an actual fix - maybe a first go as they never did fix the problem.

Gazz

There was a bulletin issued in 2001 for a new hose/thermostat assy & a blanking plate for the original thermostat (Engine0026).

LR called this a fix for the insufficient coolant flow during warm up causing head gasket failure. Sounds like what PhilipA mentions.