New to a Freelander

My previous 4x4 was a Hilux Surf, a good solid vehicle but a bit big and fuel consumption was a bit crap, sold it back in March.

Bought this Freelander just before Christmas. Dark blue 2003 TD4 Auto ES, so far so good after 350 miles. It doesn't have much service history paperwork, I took the risk. MOT 11 months left. Had a good look at the car and it seems in very good condition, I can see a few new parts like a new exhaust front to back and new front suspension shocks. No warning lights, runs very smooth.

Engine looks very clean and tidy, no leaks from what I can see. Just a small drip of what looks like water towards the left hand side (nearside) front wheel, just on the edge of the of engine undercover. I cant see any pipes down there so i assume it drips of the windscreen.

I've already cleaned and disconnected the vacuum pipe of the EGR valve and been using two stroke oil. I put a bit too much in on the first diesel fill up and that resulted in blue smoke!, but all is fine now.

Getting on estimate of 30mpg at the moment keeping the revs under 2500.

Auto box seems interesting, you can feel it lock up in 4th and 5th and seems to vary the torque. In steptronic mode noticed it doesn't drop down into 1st on it's own, and wont go into 5th untill around 37mph.

burn it!

Don't burn it. The diesels are the best Freelanders 1's to buy. The auto is very good. Especially orf road as the manwells can sometimes over heat the clutches.

Not sure about the td4 but my v6 has the same auto (all be it wiv different gear ratio's) and it goes into 5th around 38 to 40mph if your at a steady speed. I think mine selects first when I come to a stop, but I'll check next time I drive it. When pulling away it changes to second quite quickly.

Oh, and as your new... there's a bolt on the rear of the auto. THIS IS NOT the auto level plug. Many undo it only to fing the reverse brake bands or somefink like that falls orf inside. Auto needs opened to put it back together.

There's some mods you can do to a Td4. Freds at the top of the Freelander forum.

Thanks for your input Hippo. Already done the homework about changing the tranismission oil. Those Jatco boxes dont seem to be very user friendly when it comes to changing oil.

barmatt, i'd expect all of the slack , I did a lot of research on the Freelander before I bought one, the positives definitively outweigh the negatives. I used to have a what some called a 'proper' 4x4, Hilux Surf, just too big and getting on a bit now.

I suppose every vehicle has good and bad points...

Hi, and :welcome2:

Hippo's right - he's one of our trusted gurus on here - lots of words of wisdom.

The water drip may well be from the AC - If you select max demist for the windows and full speed fan - you get AC without asking for it - helps to dry the air and speeds up clearing condensation.

Your Auto-box is bang on mate - in Command-shift mode if you come to a halt then you are in 2nd gear - it won't go into 1st itself - it's waiting for your command....... This is explained in the manual. Not got a manual? - log in here it's free to get manuals online:

TOPIx - TOPIx

As it's got a BMW M47R engine check out threads on this bit:
pcv, crankcase breather, 'BMW cyclone vortex oil separator', all names for the same thing - do some research if you haven't already done so. Get one - £23.35 - it's a good insurance against blowing the turbo seals.

You've got a great vehicle - enjoy it - don't burn it.

as the others have said it won't go into first unless you tell it ot but unless you want a super speedy take off you don't need it. mine dosn't let me change to 5th til about 42mph but it all depends on engine speed/torque etc as to whether the gearbox ecu lets you change

Ok, thanks for your help

The car came with a few small niggling faults. The interior light didn't work, only worked when door opened. I managed to fix this. Circuit board metal strips for the connectors were dry. I just rubbed them down with some fine sandpaper,sprayed a bit of WD40 and reconnected plug and now works.

Next job is to work out why the glove box light isnt working. There seems to be no electric to bulb holder so I'm going to have a look at the switch.

Sun roof doent go back, it just jams the motor into short circuit with a loud hum. Not really bothered by that.

Engine oil is a tad over filled, will drain a bit out. (really can't trust some garages to do a service )

And a rur rur sound on full lock, going to have to test VCU. VCU doesn't get hot, just a little warm though.