[diliprayar]

Hello BHPians,

I am posting this on behalf of a very close friend of mine, he needs urgent help on his 2010 pre-worshipped Landrover FreeLander 2. The vehicle has clocked close to 1 Lac Km till date and had served its purpose to the best of its capabilities.

Currently the vehicle is at Inline 4 Motors, Hyderabad due to power steering fluid and crankshaft sensor issue. After a brief examination the full repair estimate quoted by the service centre is a whopping 5 Lacs (appx.) which raised a question over the reliability of this service centre and the vehicle as well. He is looking for expert advice and needs some suggestions.

A Brief description of the problem:

In recent times, the vehicle had been visiting service centre very frequently due to some sudden stalling (while running), arbitrary warning messages on board: reads Reduced Engine Performance, starting problem etc. During a recent drive from Hyderabad to Guntur, the vehicle had some sudden loss of power, and stalled. Luckily we're able to pull over to a safe place from the middle of the national highway around 6:30 PM, had to flat-bed it back to service station.

The Service centre people say they had cleaned all components and refilled the necessary fluids and everything should be fine. Once the vehicle is being used, any of these ugly problems come up from middle of nowhere causing a nightmare.

On insisting for a proper examination, they charged a premium for investigating and had come up with a shocking problem and two solutions. A temporary fix and a permanent fix, of which the estimated cost for the latter was shocking 5 Lacs appx.

They say the problem is with power steering fluid of the vehicle. A pipe section which circulates this power fluid seems to contain some tiny metal particles, thereby causing a blockage to the pipe section. This blockage further causes a pressure and this built up pressure causes some leakage. Concerning the power fluid, the leakage is happening at a very slow pace, so they were refilling it for every two months by 50 ml. Till here, issue seems to be small.

However, this leaking fluid is dropping onto a crankshaft sensor which controls the fuel indicators etc. Due to this the vehicle suffers lack of power, sudden stalling, malfunctioning of dashboard messages etc.

Inline Motors had provided a couple of solutions for him, out of which the partial one involves replacing of Power steering pump, pipes, Censor - Crank shaft position (CPS). Estimated to ~2 lacs. The permanent solution involves steering rack, steering assembly and EGR cooler etc. and many others to be replaced. Attached the partial and Full repair costs.

Now, his concerns are:

• Is there any other way to get this pipe section cleaned?

• How good is it to trust these guys and to invest so much money on a 1 Lac Km old engine? Worried about the reliability of vehicle as well!!

• The Current IDV Value stands at around 25 Lacs, is it better to sell it off and buy something else?

Having a little knowledge on the engine bay components, we weren't able to judge the necessity of the replacements suggested by them. We wish there could be some help. I will try to get some more information from SA and will update the thread with a more detailed description on the problem.

[Axe77]

This is such a disheartening situation to be in. Yet another premium marquee that suffers from reliability in areas we would take for granted in other brands. That, coupled with very expensive repair solutions.

[rajeev k]

There are agencies in several cities capable of reconditioning power steering pumps.

The point of concern is that, for such an expensive vehicle, whether it is advisable or not.

[aaggoswami]

1) What are wiper blades doing in the list ? Is this a service or service + breakdown repairs combined ?

2) Labour charge for wipers also calculated in labour section. Atleast the cost of wiper blade and respective labour cost can be eliminated from the list.

3) How did the EGR get damaged ? Its a part of permanent fix, but when wipers were mentioned in permanent fix, I think its better to ask for explanation on EGR. Crankshaft position sensor damage played a role in this ?
Do ask for durability of temporary fix, i.e. how long will it last.

I suggest get the temporary fix, sell off the car if possible. A non reliable car is last thing one wants and if it shuts down in middle of nowhere, the whole point of having any car is diminished.

[akshay4587]

Once a European vehicle is out of warranty, it makes sense to find a competent garage to work on it; more so if its a pre-worshipped one.
Have a look at this website, there must be a similar workshop in Hyderabad as well.


http://www.emwindia.in/

[autocrat]

Its important to know the source of the debris in the pipe, and eliminate the cause. I feel metal is being shaved off the Power Steering pump and getting accumulated in the pipe. If this is the case, opening the pump will show scored components. Once metal has started circulating in the system, ALL mechanical components in the fluid path needs to be opened, inspected, and if they are okay, must be thoroughly cleaned and reassembled. Damaged parts must be replaced.

If metal shavings / chips are not removed from the system completely, there is a good chance of it damaging new components.

If your friend intends to keep the vehicle for long term, its better to get a thorough job done. Its important to inspect all components before deciding what can be repaired / replaced and the estimate may come down once this is done. The vehicle may be off the road for some time.

[GTO]

Dilip,

Akshay4587's advice is spot on. Once a European vehicle is out of warranty, you need to find a competent independent mechanic. Repair quotes from authorised dealerships usually don't make sense, especially when you consider the depreciated value of the car.

It'll take a couple of days for the independent to order the parts, but is well worth it. Expect savings of between 50 - 90%. Sometimes, you can get away with a proper repair job too (instead of outright part replacement).

[Fullrevs]

Wow this is the second Land Rover listing in our technical repairs section in a day. According to me, 25 lakhs for a Freelander 2 that has done 1,00,000km is pretty good. I recommend selling the car and going for something new.

[.anshuman]

Going by the thread title, I thought he was quoted 5 lakhs for Steering fix.

The steering rack of a Fortuner costs close to 90k rupees(as of 2+ years back). If Freelander's rack costs twice that i am not shocked.

Ageing Euro cars are expensive to maintain in India. Now that the car has crossed the lakh km mark, it will require a lot more replacements and its not going to be a cheap affair.

[humyum]

There is nothing in the steering system that can't be reconditioned by a competent lathe guy. You don't need to spend that much moolah on that.

Secondly, 8 thousand rupees for wiper blades and 600 rupees as labor for cost of replacement. What is the wiper blade made of ? Has Obama personally signed and autographed it to be installed in your car ? 600 rupees labor for a 2 minute chindhi chalu installation, looks like Cyrus Mistry himself comes and installs it in the car for LR users. Nonsense.

Throttle body and the motor too can be reconditioned if attempted.

Go to an after market specialist. Many of these components can be reconditioned and re used.

[diliprayar]

Guys,

Thanks a ton for your valuable inputs. As many of you suggested, the vehicle was moved away from the service center and we had decided to identify a local mechanic who can handle this machine

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

1) What are wiper blades doing in the list ? Is this a service or service + breakdown repairs combined ?
....

aaggoswami,

Yes, the quote includes the cost for a 1 lac km regular service + break down together. We hadn't paid much attention to the wipers, since they definitely require replacement.

On the EGR front, they claim that the faulty crankshaft sensor might have caused this damage. Having a little knowledge on engine components, my friend refrained from questioning them further. They hadn't mentioned any window in terms of time or kilometers about durability, but as per their version, temporary fix would not last any longer and should definitely be addressed.

Originally Posted by GTO

Dilip,

Akshay4587's advice is spot on. Once a European vehicle is out of warranty, you need to find a competent independent mechanic....

GTO, Akshay4587

Yeah, spot on. The prices quoted by authorized dealer are quite illogical. After reading the price quote, first thing to hit our mind was to move away from the service center.

Originally Posted by humyum

What is the wiper blade made of ? Has Obama personally signed and autographed it to be installed in your car ? 600 rupees labor for a 2 minute chindhi chalu installation, looks like Cyrus Mistry himself comes and installs it in the car for LR users. Nonsense.
...

that's true. The prices are quite dreadful. I wonder what JLR does with such authorized dealerships; can't they audit these daylight robberies and warn them for their blatant acts??