Freelander 1 Bottom Pulley Went Bang

Literally. When I was driving to town for a lovely meal, which I now haven't had.

I was trundling along nicely then there was a loud bang and I could see debris bouncing down the road behind me. Pulled over to check and there was the remains of a shredded belt hanging under the car. The plastic cover in the wheel arch had been forced out too and when I pulled it back enough to look at the side of the engine it was obvious. The metal part is still hanging on but most of the plastic part is gone.

So guess what I'm doing tomorrow. Freelanders eh?

You can blame BMW for that low quality of the engine and it's associated components.

BMW is supposed to be good though right? I've only ever owned one and that was years ago but it was really good. I never had any trouble with it. It was an old model though, not too much technology.

Undoing the centre bolt is a hoot. I took the plastic cover off and when the wheel is on full lock you can ask your friendly tyre centre with an impact wrench to loosen it. Then tighten by hand and drive home to change pulley. mark bolt head with tippex for the 3 stages of tightening (as per Rave) and take back to tighten !!

There is no keyway to locate (or wasn't on mine) hence it has to be very tight, mine slipped a bit on short drive home when after loosening, just a flash of the battery light - nothing to worry about. Good luck.

DefenderPilot said:

BMW is supposed to be good though right? I've only ever owned one and that was years ago but it was really good. I never had any trouble with it. It was an old model though, not too much technology.

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Supposed to be good, being the operative word. However having had at least one BMW in the family fleet for several years. I can say that the BMW is the most likely vehicle to give trouble.
Look at FL1 problems on here. Most are caused by the BMW components fitted.

It always makes me laugh when I see FL1 adverts using wording like "reliable BMW engine". Yeah right. That's the worst part of the whole vehicle imo. The L series was a thousand times more reliable.

andyfreelandy said:

Undoing the centre bolt is a hoot. I took the plastic cover off and when the wheel is on full lock you can ask your friendly tyre centre with an impact wrench to loosen it. Then tighten by hand and drive home to change pulley. mark bolt head with tippex for the 3 stages of tightening (as per Rave) and take back to tighten !!

There is no keyway to locate (or wasn't on mine) hence it has to be very tight, mine slipped a bit on short drive home when after loosening, just a flash of the battery light - nothing to worry about. Good luck.

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Encouraging words. Thanks. I think.

Nodge68 said:

Supposed to be good, being the operative word. However having had at least one BMW in the family fleet for several years. I can say that the BMW is the most likely vehicle to give trouble.
Look at FL1 problems on here. Most are caused by the BMW components fitted.

It always makes me laugh when I see FL1 adverts using wording like "reliable BMW engine". Yeah right. That's the worst part of the whole vehicle imo. The L series was a thousand times more reliable.

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I've edited my original post for accuracy:

"Literally. When I was driving to town for a lovely meal, which I now haven't had.

I was trundling along nicely then there was a loud bang and I could see debris bouncing down the road behind me. Pulled over to check and there was the remains of a shredded belt hanging under the car. The plastic cover in the wheel arch had been forced out too and when I pulled it back enough to look at the side of the engine it was obvious. The metal part is still hanging on but most of the plastic part is gone.

So guess what I'm doing tomorrow. BMW engines eh?

Initial findings now I've got it in the garage:

Here are a couple of the remains that were lodged in the undertray.



The pulley itself. You can see that the idler under the pulley is also damaged so that will need replacing too. There are also some creases on the metal water pipe. These don't leak thankfully but that will probably need replacing eventually as well.



And lastly, it's punctured the undertray. Not bothered about that at all.

It's been fun trying to get the pulley bolt undone. I've had to order a locking tool so that's it for now.

It's unusual for the outer pulley to shatter like that. Normally the outer section simply slips on its rubber bond. It looks reasonably new, so I suspect it's a poor quality replacement on there.

DefenderPilot said:

It's been fun trying to get the pulley bolt undone. I've had to order a locking tool so that's it for now.

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You can pop the starter off and jamb the ring gear with a chisel or something. This then stops the crank turning, so the nut can be undone.

Impact wrench much less work - or maybe I'm lazy !!!!!

Tool's already ordered and there's no rush. I can use the Defender until it's sorted. Might as well do it properly. It will make the job easier and I'll need to get the other one off the spares car as well. New belts on order too so I'll have to wait for them as well.

The car's in the garage now on axle stands so I'm not going to put it back together to take to a garage to then bring it back and take it apart again. I'm lazy too. Oh, and there's obviously no drive for the power steering, alternator or water pump.

andyfreelandy said:

Impact wrench much less work - or maybe I'm lazy !!!!!

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Or a buzz gun will get the job done.

I don't own either of those tools.

I have two compressors, a generator and both air tools and 'top quality' battery operated impact wrenches..

Now awaiting my pulley to 'fly off the handle' whilst on my way to a local quality eatery (i.e the chip shop!!)

andyfreelandy said:

Impact wrench much less work - or maybe I'm lazy !!!!!

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Not really it takes ages to set them up (unless you have a garage where you can basicaly leave it all 'hanging out' (the air tools that is!)

Working nights means I'm not getting a lot done, plus, I've been waiting for the pulley locking tool to arrive. And guess what? Now it's here and it doesn't fit. FFS. Over a week waiting for it come wasted. So today I've "popped the starter off" as Nodge suggested. It's a bit more complicated than that but it's done. Scatched my head for a little while trying to work out how to lock the flywheel. Jamming a flat screwdriver between the teeth didn't work; it kept slipping off. I ended up making a tool using a steel bracket and a long bolt. I filed the edges of the bracket down to fit between the teeth and put the long bolt in to stop it twisting. Worked a treat. It took all my weight bearing down on a five foot scaffold pole to get the pulley bolt loose. So I'm a little further forward.

The remains of the pulley and my "special tool".


Close-up of the "special tool".

Hmm. There should be some pictures in that post. I'll fix it tomorrow.

Nodge68 said:

It's unusual for the outer pulley to shatter like that. Normally the outer section simply slips on its rubber bond. It looks reasonably new, so I suspect it's a poor quality replacement on there.

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Spot on assessment.

The pulley locking tool I bought DOES fit on the pulley I've just taken off the spares car and it just looks better all round. Probably the original part from new.

I've got the bottom pulley back on and have managed 100NM and approx 120 degrees of tightening. I just can't get the last 30 degrees so when it's on the road again I'll take it to my local garage and get them to get a windy gun on it. Although it may also be just that the bolt is stretched and it's tight enough now and doesn't have any more give in it.

Ho hum. I've finished my cuppa so it's time to get the new belt on now and whatever else I can get done before I go to work.