Driving home for christmas and she broke down

Hi all and merry christmas.

Unfortunately the landy (freelander 04) packed up tonight and ive had to leave her at a random petrol station awaiting a tow.

It has been hard getting into first and it will often pop out of reverse, but tonight i was driving on a motorway and began to hear some grinding noises. At the next roundabout i could only just manage to get into 1st with a struggle and then pulled over shortly after where she met her end. I turned her off and when i tried to revive her, she would stall instantly. The only way she can start is it i put my foot down on the clutch and then she starts normally but when i put her into first or even when i lift clucth when shes not in gear she still stalls. Same on reverse. Its like shes stuck in gear or something. There was a grindy noise and a hot metal smell from the engine on the passenger side.

I suppose this is gear linkage, gearbox or cluch related?

Is this the end for the landy? Will she see another christmas?

its another gear box

Thread title is not how I remember the song!! If it is a TD4 I have a good gearbox spare. On Ebay but message me if interested.

andyfreelandy said:

Thread title is not how I remember the song!! If it is a TD4 I have a good gearbox spare. On Ebay but message me if interested.

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Hi mate thanks for the offer, not quite how I planned spending Christmas Eve stuck at an esso garage!! I've organised a tow truck but once it's home i'll establish if it's a gearbox or clutch issue and determine whether she's worth saving. Either way, it doesn't sound cheap.

It's worth fixing. A facelift FL1 is currently worth at least £2K (winter price) in running condition

Nodge68 said:

It's worth fixing. A facelift FL1 is currently worth at least £2K (winter price) in running condition

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Either way, still worth fixing, good family car with a decent level of comfort and safety is a worthwhile thing to have.

Get her home, get her undressed and see what the real damage is, you never know how bad it is until you strip it down, could be cheap fix, could be a recon gearbox.

Nodge68 said:

It's worth fixing. A facelift FL1 is currently worth at least £2K (winter price) in running condition

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dieseldog69 said:

Either way, still worth fixing, good family car with a decent level of comfort and safety is a worthwhile thing to have.

Get her home, get her undressed and see what the real damage is, you never know how bad it is until you strip it down, could be cheap fix, could be a recon gearbox.

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Thanks for the advice. Trouble is, I really do like the landy. I will probably fix it but driving it anywhere will be a pain because I'll always be worried about it breaking down.

cbfks said:

Thanks for the advice. Trouble is, I really do like the landy. I will probably fix it but driving it anywhere will be a pain because I'll always be worried about it breaking down.

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This fella has got your back



*other breakdown services are available

dieseldog69 said:

This fella has got your back

View attachment 165674

*other breakdown services are available

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Haha, yeah. As my first ride the insurance was expensive so I opted out of breakdown cover. In hindsight, I don't think you should be allowed to buy a Landrover without it.

cbfks said:

Haha, yeah. As my first ride the insurance was expensive so I opted out of breakdown cover. In hindsight, I don't think you should be allowed to buy a Landrover without it.

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ADAC are about the cheapest and will recover you from anywhere in Europe.

You should see what your insurers will do for you as I know mine offered breakdown cover for less than £80 on top which is very reasonable for the peace of mind that it brings

cbfks said:

Thanks for the advice. Trouble is, I really do like the landy. I will probably fix it but driving it anywhere will be a pain because I'll always be worried about it breaking down.

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Any car can break down. Our VW Tiguan went back to the dealer 12 times in 3 years for a variety of reasons. I couldn't wait for the lease on that car to come to an end. It's the most unreliable vehicle we've ever had, which was bad, considering it started off as a new car.

Sort your TD4, and see how it goes. On the whole they are pretty reliable cars, and easy to fix too, unlike modern stuff.

I got green flag recovery for 50 quid when I took out my policy used it last year recovery from Wales to Scotland
& including a free night in a hotel best 50 quid I ever spent

dieseldog69 said:

ADAC are about the cheapest and will recover you from anywhere in Europe.

You should see what your insurers will do for you as I know mine offered breakdown cover for less than £80 on top which is very reasonable for the peace of mind that it brings

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I completely agree. I hadn't even thought about breakdown cover until now. AA has quoted me £200 per year for full UK cover and parts and garage cover up to £535 per year up to 5 times claim limit on the freelander. Had I got that, I would already have saved almost a grand.

Nodge68 said:

Any car can break down. Our VW Tiguan went back to the dealer 12 times in 3 years for a variety of reasons. I couldn't wait for the lease on that car to come to an end. It's the most unreliable vehicle we've ever had, which was bad, considering it started off as a new car.

Sort your TD4, and see how it goes. On the whole they are pretty reliable cars, and easy to fix too, unlike modern stuff.

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That is why i'm apprehensive about buying something else - if I pay 8 grand to get a more modern car there's still no guarantee it will be problem free and the parts will be far more expensive than they are for the freelander. But the amount of problems i've had in just 6 months has been insane. I just don't think it had been looked after in the past and had a big backlog of problems that i'm now dealing with. I think the way forward is to fix it, and get a decent breakdown cover to give me peace of mind in the future.

Nodge68 said:

Any car can break down. Our VW Tiguan went back to the dealer 12 times in 3 years for a variety of reasons. I couldn't wait for the lease on that car to come to an end. It's the most unreliable vehicle we've ever had, which was bad, considering it started off as a new car.

Sort your TD4, and see how it goes. On the whole they are pretty reliable cars, and easy to fix too, unlike modern stuff.

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First D3 I had as a company car spent more time with Marshalls in Cambridge than it ever did with me, brand spanking new and it was fault after fault after fault, EAS, tranny, something, something, something and I got sick of it and demanded another new one, got it in the form of a customer care D3 that I never took back and left it to the offices to squabble over

AA is currently about £135 for full cover outside you ouse or relay where yer at t'other end of country and they carry it home for yer. It's too heavy to push or carry home. The main problem is getting it home when broke'd. Once home yer can have a go at fixing it yerself.

I have startrescue (I think!?) It's £40/year to cover me. They aren't interested in what car I'm in, even if it's not mine..!




Must add, I have been fortunate enough to not need it so far!




Ps, definitely fix it, or at least find the problem! I haven't got my Freelander yet, but I am looking forward to finding one. Any used car has a questionable past. Just try and find the issues before they manifest in a break down! I went the opposite way when I lived in the middle of manchester and had no where to fix a car, bought a nearly new BMW and it has been ace in terms of reliability, but I'm terrified every time I park in a car park, worrywabout using itifor anything that might mess uputhe insode/outside, and I'm sick of paying monthly for a car.

green flag on my insurance policy, touch wood never needed it,but there for piece of mind.

It’s worth checking your bank account benefits, I get free AA cover on mine.

The decision on fixing it should be based on what the car is worth ( in running condition), how much it is going to cost to get it back in running condition and whatever else is wrong with it that will cost money in the near future to sort out. My FL1 cost £1000 when I bought it about 14 months ago and I've spent about £800 on a set of new tyres and a recon vcu but it's still only worth a grand or less. The ac doesn't work, garage quoted £700 to fix it and there is a bad water leak being held back with kseal. If my gearbox needed replacing, I would sell it for spares or repair.

Col

The decision on whether to fix or not should be based on what the car is worth to you. This is directly related to how much it will cost to replace with something else which will almost certainly be more modern, with the inherent inbuilt revenue generating solutions to problems which simply do not exist. (Think electric handbrake and other such sh*t).

Then there is the issue of the insurance value - if you cannot get your chosen vehicle on agreed value cover, then run away now as your insurance has no value ( though clearly it might cover the legal obligations ).

Remember: things are only not economically repairable due to way the insurance scheme works. I'll leave to you to decide why it "works" in this particular way

That a "4x4" is worth more in the winter is an indictment of societies proclivities in this matter, and my advice is to watch less TV, think for yourself and outwit the standard scams which most sheeple fall for.