buying a freelander td4 with 70K on clock

ponythegringo said:

yeah i know about the different tyre sizes , thanks mate .
Bought a 2000 freelander with a banjaxed vcu . The bloke had put 3 diferrent sizes in four wheels. I took the prop shaft off and fixed it up to the point of driving it down the road about 5 mile and it has developed a problem where the slave cylinder cant push the clutch lever and neither can i with a crowbar. so anyway i think clutch is banjaxeed and probably drive input bearings if not the ird itself. Gonna have to take the gearbox off to check all that . hey hum.

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Its not the clutch that's gone - just the lever has siezed where it goes through the bell housing - common problem with the PG1 gearbox on K and L Series Freelanders. I got 1 last year with this problem - it wouldn't budge with a hammer, I ended up with some angle iron attached to the lever to get a 'whacking point' above the engine which I then hit with the biggest axe I could lay my hands on! Shifted eventually. Couple of drops of oil where it goes into the bell housing at service time looks to be the forum recommendation to stop it siezing up.

The gearbox on the TD4 is a Getrag unit and the clutch slave is inside the bell housing so there isn't this problem - but if the slave goes... its a gearbox out job.

That is really good news , thanks. I'll have a go at that this weekend.

If you are buying a F1 with any mileage - I'd budget for a replacement VCU. People on here have thought the VCU appeared OK when driving and reversing on lock, but the VCU was in actual fact toast - so on just a test drive its highly likely you won't pick up on anything. 70K miles is the recommended replacement interval by LR but as stated lots last a lot longer, while other fail much sooner. It the prop/vcu support bearings aren't giving any jip - they should be good - if you do replace them - don't do it with cheap ones - or you will be doing the same job very soon after.

Going by this forum, lots of nigglie problems can creep into the TD4's fuelling system from the lift pump (which may be why @Skinny Mike suggested taking it up to 70). They can occur at any time on any car regardless of maintenance history. Most are not expensive fixes but diagnosing the problems can be difficult.

If you start getting injector problems, which can happen on low milage cars, they get very expensive to replace.

LandyMan said:

its a BMW engine & will probably last forever

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What a ridiculous statement!

The TD4 is a decent enough engine, but they are not the best engine in the world.

If you want a Freelander that is going to last the nearest to "for ever" - then get an L Series diesel one. It may have belts that need changing every 100K kms but they'll be cheaper than an injector for a "over hyped" German lump - and the L Series is a darned sight less likely to leave you stranded cos some sensor or a fuel lift pump has decided to pack up.

L-series toolkit = 1 hammer.
L-series Pro toolkit = 1 hammer + 1 screwdriver
Doesn't matter what size hammer or screwdriver because you'll probably never need it

GrumpyGel said:

What a ridiculous statement!

The TD4 is a decent enough engine, but they are not the best engine in the world.

If you want a Freelander that is going to last the nearest to "for ever" - then get an L Series diesel one. It may have belts that need changing every 100K kms but they'll be cheaper than an injector for a "over hyped" German lump - and the L Series is a darned sight less likely to leave you stranded cos some sensor or a fuel lift pump has decided to pack up.

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The L-Series are indestructible but outdated (all i'm going to say is Maestro van lol).

I think the TD4 is a much better built engine, not sluggish like the l-series, its faster, better MPG, better top end etc

What's is the parts situation like with the L-Series @GrumpyGel as they haven't been fitted since 2001?
Td4 parts are plentiful but some of the bits (like the MAF) cost a few quid and some bits (like the stat) aren't the easiest to get to. I think it is safe to say that the Td4 fills the engine bay quite well, but not as daft as the V6.
Not trying to kidnap this thread and make it an 'L-Series Love' thread....

that's ok it's all education for me

I don't think there's to many people would say the TD4 is better built than the L Series - I don't think too many L Series engines suffered broken crank shafts or delaminated pulleys etc.. (which are stupidly expensive to fix - if not terminal for the engine) The TD4 does give more refined power and will get away from the lights quicker, but MPG differences are negligible between the 2 engines and overall performance is fine.

The engine is derived from the Maestro engine, and when the Maestros rusted away a lot of the engines went into Series trucks. Perkins did a great job with the (Maestro's) Prima which (Land) Rover then developed into the L Series and then subsequently the TD5 - shame BMW ownership cancelled the Rover TD4 and TD6. You just need to make sure the fan belt tensioner is OK on the L Series.

As I say, the TD4 isn't a bad engine - but it has its faults - just because its made by "BMW" means sweet FA.

Parts availability for L Series is fine. There's always problems getting parts for Freelanders over here, but at least with the L Series engine I can get bits from Rover shops. Everything else is ex UK and readily available at decent prices (before shipping!).

I think choices between L Series & TD4 have nothing to do with the engine itself. If you want a car with more 'luxury items' that only went into later cars then you are forced into TD4. If you want an auto, then you are forced into TD4. If you want the facelift, then you are forced into TD4. If you are happy with an older, more basic manual car, then the L Series ones are the way to go because they will cost less overall to run (or at least less likely to require fixes that cost $$$) and be more reliable.

In all honesty I can't really see where all the of expense for the TD4 comes from - mines 15 years old (2001) and the bits I'm changing are original bits (in tank pump failed) so I changed both pumps - changed the MAF (didn't fail) so I could install the Ronbox 2, no cambelt to change (bonus), most other parts I've changed are common to all mark 1's (door/ window stuff) and general service stuff. I've still got the fuel rail sensor loom to do but I will re-wire that myself for under a tenner - so If things are going to fail after 15 years I don't mind changing them.

my last TD4 lasted 170,000 before any trouble with the vcu and did me proud glad I have had another one

If it's going to go wrong, it'll go wrong. Doesn't matter if it's a TD4 an L series etc etc. So long as you don't mind getting your hands dirty and don't mind doing a bit of searching for a good priced part, it generally won't cost that much. And swearing at your freelander for 10 minutes is free and will make you feel heaps better. Mike

Just because the engine is made by BMW, doesn't guarantee reliability. My wife's BMW E46 convertible isn't exactly reliable. Just today I was using it for work when the spanner light came on and it began driving like a bag of bolts. Gearbox banging into gear and all manor of other unpleasantness. So I stick on my diagnostic thingy and it showed a MAF fault. Stripped it out, cleaned is then refit. Run a diagnostic again MAF readings look ok and engine works as it should. One minute later, engine starts hunting again and MAF reading shows 140 CFM at idle!! So MAF has capped out at, wait for it, 62K miles!! So the BMW label doesn't guarantee reliability.

"And swearing at your freelander for 10 minutes is free and will make you feel heaps better. Mike" Ha ,must remember this.

Still can't budge that lever it has a little play of a half inch or so but still stuck and won't depress any more, I had to replace the clutch mslave unit and the slave bracket so it must have been stiff before as the bracket was all distorted where the slave cylinder sat.
will have another go tomorrow when i find my lump hammer in the shed.

Put lots of plus gas or similar on the levers spindle. This and some leverage should free it off. I have had to remove a box before now to move one, but that's only happened once in many years of working on the PG1 box.

ok ,sound . Plusgas ordered off amazoo

Hi All , Bought the td4, she's a beauty. gs spec and 68 k on the dial , reverses very smoothly , almost no play in rear propshaft and no engine codes . Chuffed

Congrats, give it a good service and then keep the maintenance going and it'll keep going. Well done again.

she was serviced last week so maybe it's fine but i will thoroughly check all that tomorrow in the light. Thanks guys for all your advice and info , helped me a lot today to make the right decision .

Hi all , just did a vcu test today using a 1.2m bar and a 7.5 kilo weight as i felt the car a tiny bit stiff in full reverse lock . It took about 30 seconds to do a 45 degree turn . I was on the forums looking for a list of results to compare mine to so i can decide on a new vcu or not but couldn't find much. Any thoughts as to what state my vcu might be in .
Also had a hill descent light stay on for a minute the other day followed ( after it went off on it's own ) by a battery light coming on when i put foot on brake pedal. Codes on my icarsoft after this showed C1116 supply voltage too low ( vehicle running)--- C1221 brake pedal switch electrical failure ---- and C1151 CAN gearbox data failure . Will clear the codes today and see if they come back .
I'm guessing it's the bake pedal switch or hill descent switch wires/connections accounting for the first 2 errors . Not sure what the C1151 is all about just yet, any ideas?
Cheers.