Freelander 1 BIG TRIPS.

2004 HSE TD4 120k

Hello.
Its been almost 2 months that I got my FL. I have been cleaning it and rebuilding the interior. (previous owner left the sun roof open for 3 weeks. One of the week was rain rain rain) And it looks new now.
I already replaced the drop links, because there are some clunks. Next it will be the lower arms and bushings. There are still some clunks
On the engine I did 4 oil changes so I can at least start with a so so clean engine. I blanked the egr and upgraded to the oil separator. Changed all the filters oil , fuel cabin. The engine has no smoke and revs like a dream.
I want also to clean all the cooling system and put new coolant.
I already changed the break fluid and power steering fluid.

In a close future...(I hope real close. With all this pandemic I don't know ) I want to take it to my country Portugal.

I would like to ear all the people that went to long trips with our dear FL. What to prepare, Episodes that you guys had, Advices, some things to take, everything you guys can tell me.
Many Thanks

anubis757 said:

2004 HSE TD4 120k

Hello.
Its been almost 2 months that I got my FL. I have been cleaning it and rebuilding the interior. (previous owner left the sun roof open for 3 weeks. One of the week was rain rain rain) And it looks new now.
I already replaced the drop links, because there are some clunks. Next it will be the lower arms and bushings. There are still some clunks
On the engine I did 4 oil changes so I can at least start with a so so clean engine. I blanked the egr and upgraded to the oil separator. Changed all the filters oil , fuel cabin. The engine has no smoke and revs like a dream.
I want also to clean all the cooling system and put new coolant.
I already changed the break fluid and power steering fluid.

In a close future...(I hope real close. With all this pandemic I don't know ) I want to take it to my country Portugal.

I would like to ear all the people that went to long trips with our dear FL. What to prepare, Episodes that you guys had, Advices, some things to take, everything you guys can tell me.
Many Thanks

Click to expand...

Car looks in great condition.

Nice looking car but if you haven't already then make sure to check the VCU by doing the one wheel up test.
(Google it)

anubis757 said:

2004 HSE TD4 120k

Hello.
Its been almost 2 months that I got my FL. I have been cleaning it and rebuilding the interior. (previous owner left the sun roof open for 3 weeks. One of the week was rain rain rain) And it looks new now.
I already replaced the drop links, because there are some clunks. Next it will be the lower arms and bushings. There are still some clunks
On the engine I did 4 oil changes so I can at least start with a so so clean engine. I blanked the egr and upgraded to the oil separator. Changed all the filters oil , fuel cabin. The engine has no smoke and revs like a dream.
I want also to clean all the cooling system and put new coolant.
I already changed the break fluid and power steering fluid.

In a close future...(I hope real close. With all this pandemic I don't know ) I want to take it to my country Portugal.

I would like to ear all the people that went to long trips with our dear FL. What to prepare, Episodes that you guys had, Advices, some things to take, everything you guys can tell me.
Many Thanks

Click to expand...

Hi, that looks a very nice example & it's nice to see, you've obviously put a lot of hours in cleaning/servicing it. As long as you've put good quality drop links on it, I recommend Lemforder ones, & there are no other obvious issues,I recommend the one wheel up test to check the VCU is ok, the fuel tank cradle is worth a look at as these corrode as is the coolent header tank/cap, as the tank cracks. Fuel pump, starter motors & thermostats can have issues at higher mileages (straight forward to fix) but looked after especially in the tyre department, (ALWAYS fit new tyres or keep the tyres with the most tread on, ON the rear & keep them to the same make/model on the same axle) you should be ok (please check on the forum for the tyre/vcu checks). I have an auto, same colour & year as yours & I've covered about 33,000 miles since I've owned it with only one issue, fuel pump failure, stick to the Pierburg ones but I'm not complaining as it had done 157,500 miles by then. So if you keep on top of the servicing these underated Land Rovers are good. Hope you have lots of trouble free motoring.

@anubis757 I echo Andy's comments, you are doing a nice job and have turned that into a cherished car, the work you've put in is obvious and reflects well on you and your vehicle Andy's advice is very I'd like to add to that by saying add replacing all the engines vacuum lines - preferably with silicone hose, doing an EGR blank/delete and manifold cleanout. sensible precautions,
While I'd have went with black vinyl on the doorcards, colours are subjective, and I'm not detracting from the fact you have done such a nice job of it.

While I've never taken my freelander abroad, I've done many 800km weekend adventures in it, I can confirm that with all the precautions/preventative maintenance we talk about in this section of the forum, a "Hippo" is a great mile muncher. My hippo missed it's 18th birthday because of COVID lockdown, but for it's 21st birthday, I'm planning my "MBE tour", visiting all of the "Mainland British Extremities". I live in Peterhead, which is connected to the eastern most point of mainland Scotland, so that will be the starting point, from there I'm going to go to John O' Groats, the most northern of the British Mainland, first night out on the tour is staying at John O' Groats. From there I'll take the circuitous way around and finish the "North Coast 500" en route to Ardnamurchan Point, which is the westernmost point of mainland Scotland, and stay over at the lighthouse's hostel / tourist cottage. After Ardnamurchan Point, I'll come inland and go to Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain. Sadly they won't let me take the landy on there, but I'll climb it, then have a few well-earned beers and ibuprofen on the third night out. From there it's a long slog to the next waypoint, which is Holme Fen National Nature Reserve. The reason Holme Fen is on this MBE tour is that the village of Holme is the lowest part of mainland Britain. Basically going to drive to hotel in the area, sleep for the night, visit the nature reserve, then set off for next waypoint... The next waypoint being Lowestoft's Ness point, which is the eastern most point of the British mainland. That only leaves a trek to Devon & Cornwall, take a visit to Landsend which is reputedly the southern most point of the british mainland, however on google maps it looks like that accolade belongs to Porthgwarra, so I'm going to visit both. Then a long meander up to home in Peterhead. 2,404 miles using the direct routes, nearer the time I'll put in some time studying maps and tourist things and find diversions / scenic routes, probably nudge that to ~3,000 miles.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/K...3a2f411ca60eb!2m2!1d-1.784066!2d57.508123!3e0

Hello Peterhead. RAF BUCHAN

Well this one is FWD doesn't have a drive shaft. The previous owner removed it.
WOW Jayridium that will be a wonderful ride. I wish you all the luck in the world and fun....BEERS...
I thinking on moving back to Portugal so my FL will go south of UK then cross France, Spain entering Portugal and ending in my home town SINTRA.
I really Love my FL is just …perfect. I will post photos how he was and how I fix him.
There are some things to be fixed. Like I said the clunks (I have replaced the drop links I don't think they were Lamforder, and the clunks still continue) and a persistent leak on the sun roof. I know where it is I just don't understand why. My sun roof is rust free, It looks new, the seals are in very good condition, the drain tubes are supper clean. but somewhere on the left side where the rails are , it accumulates water and then drips inside the headliner towards the rear left door. But I already apply silicone there. all the bolts and screws have rubber rings and silicone. Buy still drips.

I want to ears all the stories because its a way to know what are the components more prone to fail . So far mechanically I guess I'm in luck so far the engine it works like a clock. I will replace all the belts in the next week or two.

anubis757 said:

Well this one is FWD doesn't have a drive shaft. The previous owner removed it.
WOW Jayridium that will be a wonderful ride. I wish you all the luck in the world and fun....BEERS...
I thinking on moving back to Portugal so my FL will go south of UK then cross France, Spain entering Portugal and ending in my home town SINTRA.
I really Love my FL is just …perfect. I will post photos how he was and how I fix him.
There are some things to be fixed. Like I said the clunks (I have replaced the drop links I don't think they were Lamforder, and the clunks still continue) and a persistent leak on the sun roof. I know where it is I just don't understand why. My sun roof is rust free, It looks new, the seals are in very good condition, the drain tubes are supper clean. but somewhere on the left side where the rails are , it accumulates water and then drips inside the headliner towards the rear left door. But I already apply silicone there. all the bolts and screws have rubber rings and silicone. Buy still drips.

I want to ears all the stories because its a way to know what are the components more prone to fail . So far mechanically I guess I'm in luck so far the engine it works like a clock. I will replace all the belts in the next week or two.

Click to expand...

Hi, do you know why the drive shaft/VCU was removed ? as the clunks could be coming from the IRD, did you change the oil in the IRD if so was it fairly clean (reddish) & not grey with metallic particles in it & did the magnetic drain plug have any metal stuck to it ? If you haven't changed it yet it should be done asap but make sure you undo the filler plug FIRST (BEFORE draining the oil) as these are very soft metal & round off easily, always use a single hex socket on it. The other thing to check is the front drive shafts for excess play in the c.v. joints (have a search on here on how to check them as I'm not overly sure). Other than that it could be the ARB (anti roll bar) bushes the lower arm bushes or the arm itself as these can corrode badly or broken suspension spring or top suspension mounts or any combination of these inc. loose bolts securing brakes/suspension. I haven't had any sunroof leaks but again search on here as there's plenty of posts on it. As for the drive belts I did mine last week, try & use the Contitech belts because I changed mine when I first got it over three years ago & noticed the cheaper air con belt was very perished where as the Contitech auxiliary belt was fine. If yours has air con then the belt no. is 5PK884 & the aux. belt is 5PK2030.
Good luck & let us know how you get on as it will doubtless help others on here with similar issues.

Thank you Andy.
I didn't do any work on the IRD …yet.
I was looking on the net, and I could not see where the drain and fill points are. I know the oil is 75w90 (I guess they all are..my Volvo uses the same)
What about the back DIF also needs to be changed? I found this..is this the fill drain plug? (photo)
If you could post some photos or drawings where the things are. Many Thanks

The IRD filler plug has a tendency to seize in position, and there have been people caught out by draining the IRD oil then discovering they cannot open the filler to put new oil in, so don't make that mistake and undo the filler first. In the diagram you have in the post above, the arrowed bolt head is the filler/level plug, as this is important, I'll reiterate it, make sure you can get that out first before draining the oil.

In the picture below, which I've borrowed from another thread, the red circled item is the drain plug:


They are easily found, the filler is the one that looks like a plug to the right of the flange for the propshaft, the drain is easily identifiable as the only plug looking bolthead on the underside of the IRD, just behind the front subframe.

I found a good picture of an IRD on a website, so I was able to put arrows on it:

anubis757 said:

Thank you Andy.
I didn't do any work on the IRD …yet.
I was looking on the net, and I could not see where the drain and fill points are. I know the oil is 75w90 (I guess they all are..my Volvo uses the same)
What about the back DIF also needs to be changed? I found this..is this the fill drain plug? (photo)
If you could post some photos or drawings where the things are. Many Thanks

Click to expand...

Hi, see attached pictures for filler plug on the IRD. Also pictures of the belts I changed last week both have done 33,000 & are 3 1/2 years old.

Thank you very much ANDY and Jayridium.
What about the rear dif should the oil be changed also. I don't have mine now 4 by 4 but in future i will get the shaft....its better to do the oil change?

On the photos you can see where my sun roof leaks (the brown is silicone not rust)
Many Thanks

The diff filler plug on mine had seized onto the diff back plate, so this is another item where you undo the filler plug first. On my freelander it was seized solid, so I replaced the backplate and the filler plug. As far as I know, the only way to get the oil out of the diff is to remove the backplate, and I can tell you from experience that its a real pain to get onto some of the bolts as they are sandwiched against something, either subframe or exhaust silencer, can't mind which though. As such, I recommend only undoing, but not removing, enough bolts to spring the plate off the back of the diff.

anubis757 said:

Thank you very much ANDY and Jayridium.
What about the rear dif should the oil be changed also. I don't have mine now 4 by 4 but in future i will get the shaft....its better to do the oil change?

On the photos you can see where my sun roof leaks (the brown is silicone not rust)
Many Thanks

Click to expand...

Sorry I forgot about your rear diff. oil question, as Jayridium says there is no drain plug on the diff. only the filler plug for 'topping' up. I'm glad you asked though as I want to do the oil on mine so I will be looking into taking that back plate off.
The pictures of the belts I posted, only the (cracked) air con belt was the old one the other one was the new aux. belt before I fitted it although there were no cracks or obvious signs of wear on the one that came off. Sorry for any confusion.