3rd'd
My Freelander has done one twice so i'm changing the engine!! If only an engine change on that was as easy as a 180 :(

cheers guys ill try it, i topped it up with water today and had it running for ages and just sits at normal temp even with heater off and on the fans kick in and water level drops in the bottle then when they shut of it goes up but goes up and lets air/water out and steam but still doesnt get hot, there is no water in the oil or any smoke ect out exhaust, it only boiled up and started to go up just over half after i took it round the block but i turned it straight of its never gone past the next line up from half, i took the cap of when it was running and the water started to drop so i topped it up and then it started to gob it back out , i just hope its not the head gasket failed

so new bottle and cap?

worth a try be cheaper then hg

ive had to top my coolant up twice since owning it 3 weeks has mayo in the cap and in the engine bit,there must be a leak somewhere,but it seems to be running fine

thats what i had bit i found the breather pipes that go into the section where the cap is was broken aswell as the but ive fixed them to see if that was the problem and the mayo didnt return yet will check it later and the dipstick has always been clean of oil , could be your cap if it is a common problem ment to be changed every 5 years? so like ive said for the sake of 6 quid for a new one is worth a try i only topped the water up once but its been sinse then that its done it after a long run this started but can sit running for ages and never overheats but only does it after driving so might be cap not holding pressure as it looks a bit dirty in top where spring is

It will to boil over without the cap on as the water is expanding. The only thing that prevents it is the pressure cap! If your cap can't hold the pressure then the water will come out. If the hg has gone then the water will normaly boil over from cold before it's expanded. Sounds so much like a duff cap to me ;)

well i push the key up in to were the valve is in the cap and felt stiff but then free off a little i run it up and water goes up over max then the fan comes on slow and it goes down a little but holds perfect temp gave it a run and held its temp so hopefully it will be ok with new cap,
i looked under the engine cover yesterday when it started to do it and it had steam cuming out so i checked and the return/breather pipes were all broke and t piece snapped, i replaced that tempary till get genuine but will proberly be stronger how it is, sinse then the cap hasnt been muggy as one of the breather goes in next to it so i take it that was the cause and maybe be some of the problem i had.

is it normal for the water level to rise when the temp is up as when its cold it does go back down so not loosing any no muggy oil no condensation or water /smoke out exhaust so im starting to believe its not hg ;)

If water is mixing with the oil then there is a leak but it doesn't have to be the hg! If the engine has been allowed to over heat it can damage the seal at the bottom liner!! A big job having done it once myself I know. It's cheaper to swap out the engine if you are paying someone to do the work!!

It is normal for the level in the expansion tank to go up as the temp increases.

ok cheers ill keep u updated going to give it a run tonight and see if it is ok but still replace cap when it comes

any update on this ash