Freelander Head Gasket issues?

[flyingjase]

Hi

I'm thinking of buying a 4-5 year old Petrol Freelander and have been told that I shouldn't buy a petrol version with more than 40k miles as you're living on borrowed time as far as the head gasket is concerned.

Is this true? Is there anything to watch for with a Freelander of this age?

Thanks for any advice

Jason

[flyingjase]

Thanks for the tips guys - pays to be know what you're looking for!

[flyingjase]

GKP said:

I think the days of head gaskets failing every other day are pretty much over. Land Rover were very good about the issue and did a few mods (mainly the thermostat area) and replaced engines on case by case basis. Even if the head gasket does fail it's not the end of the world. It's just a k series and can be fixed by any competent mechanic. You shouldn't have to spend more than a few hundred quid for the repair. Preventative maintenance and considerate warming up techniques are the key. Fluid levels should be checked weekly and any leaks addressed promptly. Radiators and electric fans may benefit from a refurb on some of the earlier cars. Bear in mind that the engine is used in a ot of performance related cars and is addictively tuneable. Any Elise owner will be able to give you details of headwork/manifolds/cat-pipes etc to bring the bhp figure up to a user friendly 150-160ish without it being a screamer. Don't think of a potential head gasket failure as a disaster, think of it as an opportunity!

That's what I couldn't work out. Why do the Elise drivers never whinge about this issue? So are you saying that as long as I check that the 'recall' has been done, I should be ok?

Also, most people say that once the head gasket has gone, then you need to replace the whole engine - is that true??