just bought this freelander

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.

krisjones91

New Member
Posts
23
hi everyone. i said a small hello in the intro area and said a few little things about my freeelander.
but heres my main things.
i have bought a v reg 1.8 5 door freelander in aluminium (goldish) with reems of work done on it in the last few years. it had thousands spent on it with the head gasket, belts the list goes on. so thought i was on to a winner.
when i bought it, it had a skipping and thumping noise when i turned. never owning a freelandy i just thought mabey the orange hill descent was causing this ( plans were to solder in the broken wires in the next few days).
well 4 days into owning it i was driving home from work doing about 65mph on the motorway when i could smell what smelt like gas smell then BOOM, there was a bang from underneath and i got a red warning light to stop, i nursed it off on to the slip road where a b&q was. so coasted it into there. looked underneath and above the prop was covered in some sort of fluid. started it back up and the warning light had gone. started moving the car and it felt fine. infact moving more free than ever. so nursed it the few miles home. took it to the garage the next day to remove the prop to see the damage, thinking its blown the ird casing. but it had blown the bearing/knuckle between the vcu and ird. so foobared the prop. we looked at the ird and it seemed dry. since i bought the car it had clicked on turning and accelerating. but had got worse since the prop was removed. google'ing for the last two days made me thing that i had not got away with it all and indeed the ird was still foobared but from the driveshaft area. all day i have been thinking can i really afford a new ird and driveshaft and work done from the garage. the answer was no. it would cost me well over 500 quid on something i still was unsure i could trust. so called my mate and asked him to look at the engine while i pulled back and fore turnin the wheels ect. what we saw was since the prop was removed the engine is rocking quite a lot and the creaking cracking noise is coming from the drivers side engine mount. he said it sounded like a old spring bed. so at the mo im gingerly optermistic that it is just a mount. that the ird is okay, fingers crossed. so my questions are if anyone is still reading this essay lol. when i bought the car the temp gauge doesnt work. its had its head done so can anyone tell me what to look for wires wise. hoping its a unplugged connection? also is it hard to get to the ird refill plug, i want to see if the ird has oil in it? last thing is when i come to a stop the freelander sometimes holds at 1500 revs or when im driving it will feel like its slightly accelerating itself untill i let the throttle off then when it reaches 2000 revs it feels like its holding back. im thinking sticky maf?? thanks for reading people.
 
Sounds like the VCU went bang.

As for the clicking I have no idea.

You may, and I would expect, to have IRD and diff problems as a result of this.

You will have to investigate further.
 
Have you checked the tyres on the car? Are all 4 the same make/model and reasonaably same wear? Is there a tyre that is low of air? Rather immaterial now - cos the car's f**ked. You won't be running this again 4WD without spending a lot of money on it - tyres, IRD, VCU and possibly rear diff.

You're best hope is that the IRD can still be used 2WD. The crown/pinion gears in the IRD may be broken and might cause grief if left as is - even if they're not driving anything. You'll probably want to remove the rear pinion and put a blanking plate on.

As for engine mounts - yep they go, you'll need them replaced - I'd say its probably the lower mount that's gone first (the one by the IRD attaching to the subframe). Once that goes, there's a lot more rocking movement in the top ones and they''ll perish.

Duno about the engine idle problems.

Suggestion would be to tidy it up as 2WD, sell it on, buy a diesel cos petrols will always give jip (preferably a pre-2000 L Series as TD4s have problems all of their own) - make sure its tyres are OK and there's not too much binding when turning on full lock. You'll be alright then.
 
been running this now for about a week in 2wd. its running great. my only issues are the mount rattle, i think i will start with the rear mount first as it is rocking some and i think i need to get some cleaner on the maf to stop the over revving. fingers crossed its gonna last a bit. lol
 
Freelanders are fun. Nice to drive (when they do), and they have some inherited problems that need to be addressed after the purchase. One is well advised to check EVERYTHING. Replacing worn parts (even if they still work) can save a lot of headache (and in some cases loss of the engine/transmission).

Let me try to sumarize: Tires (evenly worn, good pressure) CHECK
Prop bearings, VCU ......CHECK
Differential mounts,.....replace...CHECK
Transmission service.....ASAP
Timing belts.......(history?) CHECK
MAF......clean.....CHECK
Fuel filter.......replace....CHECK
Battery...........CHECK
ALL fluids replace ASAP (brake, diff, engine, IRD)

And then (just maybe!) one will have fun with it (until something else goes!). If you can DIY (and like it!).....no problem. If you hope for "worry free ownership", or you have to pay the dealer (or even Indy!) you better look elsewhere.

That said,.....my wife LOVES her Hippo, and I like wrenching (as a hobby of sort).

Good luck.
 
yeah since i bought it im driving with the radio off so i can hear the noise from the engine and gearbox. this car has had a few thousand spent on it in the last few yrs on new head and clutch and cambelt and window regs. iv removed the prop/vcu. im gonna replace all the engine mounts as i know the rear gearbox one is fooked. then get all the oils done just to be on the safe side. can i clean the maf with carb cleaner? im not to bad at fixing cars. so im hoping i can do most of the stuff myself. i like the looks of my landboat.
 
yeah since i bought it im driving with the radio off so i can hear the noise from the engine and gearbox. this car has had a few thousand spent on it in the last few yrs on new head and clutch and cambelt and window regs. iv removed the prop/vcu. im gonna replace all the engine mounts as i know the rear gearbox one is fooked. then get all the oils done just to be on the safe side. can i clean the maf with carb cleaner? im not to bad at fixing cars. so im hoping i can do most of the stuff myself. i like the looks of my landboat.

There is a special spray for the MAF. I would use only what's recommended. Never tried carb cleaner. Why experiment?
 
Back
Top