Hi,
After spending much of the year looking for a defender, the wife ended up having the final say and we ended up buying a Freelander, just had one or two questions and any help or pointers greatly appreciated!
Its a 1999 2.0 three door XEDI, and we've got a 3 month warrenty on it, so would like to identify and fix as many things as possible in this time and not get fobbed off by the garage until the warrenty has expired!
- After driving for 20 to 30 minutes or so, there are times when I accelerate and it sounds like there's a bird singing under the bonnet! I've had a look at the forums and it would appear the most likely cause is cheap brake pads, is that right?
- When starting from cold (only in a morning never after its been sat on the works car park for 8 to 10 hrs) to start first time I need to leave the key in the number 2 position substantially longer than just allowing the heater plug light to go off, is this normal or a sign that there's problems with the heater plugs?
- Also when starting from cold there's a small amount of white smoke, I figure this is normal for a diesel, but just wanted to double check!
- Very occasionally, I'd say about 4 times in 3 weeks when turning right at a junction from a standing start there is sometimes a very dull thud that sounds like its coming from the rear left handside, could this be something to do with the CV or is it likely to be a brake sticking or similar?
- The blower doesn't appear to work on the number one setting, is it likely that the switch is the cause or just a fuse? I know this is probably the most used setting so was figuring it was probably wear and tear.
- When's the best time to check the oil? If I check it after driving and leaving for a couple of minutes (about 5 by the time I'd filled up, picked up some shopping and payed) the level is higher than if I check it when its been standing over night.
The manual says leave it for a couple of minutes and I understand that oil expands when warm and takes time to get back to the sump after the engines been running, but I thought it better to ask a seemingly stupid question than run the risk of damaging the engine by under/over filling with oil!!!
- I've already had a badge stolen from the side of the freelander, whats the best form of protection? Sniper, electrifying the body work, large dogs patrolling the drive way?!?!?
Ok the last one is in jest, I expected it to happen, just not on my own drive way and not so quickly!!!
Thanks in advance for any pointers, as you can probably tell I'm not the most mechanically mind chap on the planet and whilst I've searched the forums and the net it does tend to throw up conficting advice now and again!
After spending much of the year looking for a defender, the wife ended up having the final say and we ended up buying a Freelander, just had one or two questions and any help or pointers greatly appreciated!
Its a 1999 2.0 three door XEDI, and we've got a 3 month warrenty on it, so would like to identify and fix as many things as possible in this time and not get fobbed off by the garage until the warrenty has expired!
- After driving for 20 to 30 minutes or so, there are times when I accelerate and it sounds like there's a bird singing under the bonnet! I've had a look at the forums and it would appear the most likely cause is cheap brake pads, is that right?
- When starting from cold (only in a morning never after its been sat on the works car park for 8 to 10 hrs) to start first time I need to leave the key in the number 2 position substantially longer than just allowing the heater plug light to go off, is this normal or a sign that there's problems with the heater plugs?
- Also when starting from cold there's a small amount of white smoke, I figure this is normal for a diesel, but just wanted to double check!
- Very occasionally, I'd say about 4 times in 3 weeks when turning right at a junction from a standing start there is sometimes a very dull thud that sounds like its coming from the rear left handside, could this be something to do with the CV or is it likely to be a brake sticking or similar?
- The blower doesn't appear to work on the number one setting, is it likely that the switch is the cause or just a fuse? I know this is probably the most used setting so was figuring it was probably wear and tear.
- When's the best time to check the oil? If I check it after driving and leaving for a couple of minutes (about 5 by the time I'd filled up, picked up some shopping and payed) the level is higher than if I check it when its been standing over night.
The manual says leave it for a couple of minutes and I understand that oil expands when warm and takes time to get back to the sump after the engines been running, but I thought it better to ask a seemingly stupid question than run the risk of damaging the engine by under/over filling with oil!!!
- I've already had a badge stolen from the side of the freelander, whats the best form of protection? Sniper, electrifying the body work, large dogs patrolling the drive way?!?!?
Ok the last one is in jest, I expected it to happen, just not on my own drive way and not so quickly!!!
Thanks in advance for any pointers, as you can probably tell I'm not the most mechanically mind chap on the planet and whilst I've searched the forums and the net it does tend to throw up conficting advice now and again!
