Freelander 1 Decisions, decisions

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wolflore

Member
Posts
95
Location
Frome, Somerset
Morning folks, or is it afternoon?

I really like the look of the 3 door F1 and have pretty much decided on a 1.8 (yeah, I know). There's a GS local to me for sale for about £250 with 140k on the clock, 3 door, in black. And there's an ES (looks ES anyway) not too far away but it's 5 door but only has 60k on the clock...and it's gold. Now the 3 door has a snapped timing belt so will need the head off anyway...so that is factored in to the cost. Neither have a prop...though that is another factor. The 5 door has sailed through all MOTs since 2007 with only one fail for wipers and a bulb out. The 3 door has failed each year for who knows how long, but has subsequently been repaired and passed (MOTd until Sept).

Even though the spec is much better and the mileage much lower on the ES my heart still says the GS black 3 door. Am I mad?
 
TBH - you're talking about replacing engines and transmissions - you can get them working with 4WD cheaply.

I know this sounds stupid - but there is a big difference between getting a 2WD and 4WD car. With the 4WD you don't really know its history and it may very well be that the IRD is not in the best of health - however if you can pull and push bearings, or have a mate that can, then the gears etc will probably still be servicable and its under $200 to recondition it. With a 2WD car, you're almost definitely into a recon IRD, so that's $650. I suppose you could get a scrappy one that's still 4WD and recondition that.

Depends what you want though - if it is the full blown project you're after, then it looks like you've found a candidate. If you want something you can drive while you're fixing bits, walk away!
 
TBH - you're talking about replacing engines and transmissions - you can get them working with 4WD cheaply.

I know this sounds stupid - but there is a big difference between getting a 2WD and 4WD car. With the 4WD you don't really know its history and it may very well be that the IRD is not in the best of health - however if you can pull and push bearings, or have a mate that can, then the gears etc will probably still be servicable and its under $200 to recondition it. With a 2WD car, you're almost definitely into a recon IRD, so that's $650. I suppose you could get a scrappy one that's still 4WD and recondition that.

Depends what you want though - if it is the full blown project you're after, then it looks like you've found a candidate. If you want something you can drive while you're fixing bits, walk away!
I figured that with a 1.8 I'd be best off doing the head gasket straight off anyway, so the Ultimate kit price of about £300 needs to be added on to the sale price of a 1.8 either way...especially as 70k seems to be the benchmark for HGF on these K Series.

I hear you with regards the 4WD side of things. Is the IRD necessary in 2WD? My thought was head first and worry about the rest later. I've priced up 2nd hand props/VCU which seem to wobble about the £100 mark, then there is the recon of that for a further £250. But I figure I could drive it as is and sort that stuff out further down the line.

You say £650 for a recon IRD, how much do the parts work out for a DIY job?
 
If the timing belt has gone, then presumably there's been some valves impacting pistons going on which will need fixing - might be easier to buy a complete head.

Hear what you say about the HG though - makes sense. You'll be in for a new belt & tensioner to.

You have to ask why the props were removed? Its possible the support bearings went, its possible they didn't want to replace all 4 tyres, so replaced 2 and took the props off, its possible they believed they might improve fuel economy - in which case its just putting props on with a good VCU will sort things. Highly likely though is the VCU was to tight or they didn't keep the tyres matching or had some other incident with the tyres and the IRD was damaged. A "rebuild kit" for the IRD costs £150-£200 - that's for the bearings, seals and cooler. However, if its damaged, its highly likely the gears (for the rear pinion) have been damaged as well. These are another couple of hundred - and then you are getting into it being not much more just to buy a reconditioned unit. The difficult bit in reconditioning the IRD is pulling and pushing all the bearings - there's 8 of them. I say that's the difficult bit - it sounds like the difficult bit to me - I gave mine to a diff workshop to do that. My total bill was more than you can buy a recon for in the UK and its only 2WD!

There obviously must be an IRD on the car to run 2WD as it contains the front diff. When they are damaged though its mainly the bits driving the pinion to the props that come off worse - hence you take of the props and run 2WD. If you look at the IRD and the pinion has been replaced with a blanking plate - then you'll obviously need a replacement pinion - but also the gears will definitely have been trashed.
 
I figured that with a 1.8 I'd be best off doing the head gasket straight off anyway, so the Ultimate kit price of about £300 needs to be added on to the sale price of a 1.8 either way...especially as 70k seems to be the benchmark for HGF on these K Series.

I hear you with regards the 4WD side of things. Is the IRD necessary in 2WD? My thought was head first and worry about the rest later. I've priced up 2nd hand props/VCU which seem to wobble about the £100 mark, then there is the recon of that for a further £250. But I figure I could drive it as is and sort that stuff out further down the line.

You say £650 for a recon IRD, how much do the parts work out for a DIY job?
I am in the middle of doing a DIY IRD and I can tell you it is not easy. If I could start again I would have paid £650 for a recon and I would have been glad to pay it
 
One just came up on Facebook. Four door 02 plate SE with HGF. Messaged the guy...is the prop on I asks...yes he replies...yippee I thought. Checked through the MOT history and noticed an advisory for missing prop shaft. Asked him when he put it on...sorry, whats the prop again I got confused was his reply :rolleyes::D
 
I got my 2001 FL1 3-door 1.8 for £275, with 81k miles, blown head gasket, but with all the 4WD present and correct. To be honest, the specification didn't really bother me, although I was initially disappointed that it didn't have air con. But actually, I am glad my "S" model didn't have it, as it makes a number of things simpler, and obviously is one thing less to think about!

The most important things in my mind are to have a functioning 4WD transmission and the TC/HDC system. On earlier FL1s, this was not always standard equipment...
 
Hmmm...maybe a different path...

V6
Full Leather
4 new tyres
80k on the clock
No issues on MOT history
Still 4wd!
 

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Runs about the same mpg as my old 2.25 petrol One Ten by all accounts (early 20s)

Why complicated GG?
Its mainly the cooling system really.

They appear to operate hot and "on the limit" - as soon as something is not quite right, they boil over. People generally then have a lot of trouble getting them working properly again.
 
I bought a 3 door fl1 but now wish I'd bought a 5 door. Accessing the back seats is a pain and you need to practically dislocate your shoulder to get at the seat belt.

Col
 
Its mainly the cooling system really.

They appear to operate hot and "on the limit" - as soon as something is not quite right, they boil over. People generally then have a lot of trouble getting them working properly again.

When they are working correctly, the V6 is by far the nicest Freelander to drive. My V6 did 19.9 Mpg on my 10 mile Cornish B road commute. I still love driving the V6 (now the mother in law's) whenever I need to work on it.
 
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I really like my 3-door - the kids get separate seats and we’ve had the rear roof off wich is fun!

I’m even beginning to like the body kit too! Lol



For a genuine 5-seater family car, the 5-door is more practical.
 
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