Freelander 1.8 Instrument Fault

Hi people. I bought a low mileage 1998 R plate Freelander Xei and I think it's great.

Been a great fan of the Freelander 1 however I have developed an interesting fault.
The car is low milage and spent most of its life stood still doing nothing. When the car is started and eft to Idle the instruments work and display the correct fuel level and temperature and everything else works as it should.
When you apply and revs or drive the car the temperature guage resets to the rest position and the fuel guage starts to drop as you drive.

Has anybody got any idea where I could start to track the fault down.

Do the guages go back to normal when the engine returns to tickover speed?

Col

Colthebrummie said:

Do the guages go back to normal when the engine returns to tickover speed?

Col

Click to expand...

They do go back to normal slowly yes, if you drive and come to some lights they will return to normal.

Speedo and Rev counter always work just the fuel and temperature guage doing the thing.

Sounds like a bad earth. If you remove green/black wire from engine temp sensor and connect it to earth then you should get a steady reading, max or min displayed. If this is constant then the fault is on the engine end, possibly the earth strap. You can then try the same at the tank end sensor.

andyfreelandy said:

Sounds like a bad earth. If you remove green/black wire from engine temp sensor and connect it to earth then you should get a steady reading, max or min displayed. If this is constant then the fault is on the engine end, possibly the earth strap. You can then try the same at the tank end sensor.

Click to expand...

Thanks Andy, I will look into it.

Where is the earth strap mounted on the engine?

Can you access the fuel senders from under the rear seat do you know?

I'm thinking it's more likely to be the Ipack, as the temperature and fuel are fed from two different sensors.

Nodge68 said:

I'm thinking it's more likely to be the Ipack, as the temperature and fuel are fed from two different sensors.

Click to expand...

Thanks Nodge

Is there any way to transfer the milage to another one or modify a used one.

sejin26 said:

Thanks Nodge

Is there any way to transfer the milage to another one or modify a used one.

Click to expand...

Not at home, as far as I know. When fitting a replacement Ipack, the mileage from the replacement will remain on it, so all you can do is fit a new one with zero miles, or put up with the incorrect mileage recorded on a second hand Ipack.

Right guys and gals it's not the instrument pack.

I have exchanged it with a good used one off a running car and mine did the same of the temperature guage going to rest and the fuel guage dropping but not to 0.

I earthed the temperature sensor (blue one) and temp guage went to max temp and stayed there when I was driving about etc.

So what next could I check people.

That's an interesting one. The temperature gauge and fuel gauge are on different circuits, so that's very odd.

I'll look at the wiring diagram tomorrow at work.

Nodge68 said:

That's an interesting one. The temperature gauge and fuel gauge are on different circuits, so that's very odd.

I'll look at the wiring diagram tomorrow at work.

Click to expand...

Thanks Nodge.

Would it be possible that the altanator could be causing any interference?
I might just have to bite the bullet and call an auto electrician but I hope you might be able to assist.

Its a 1998 R plate and it has air con.

I messed with my instruments on a Mk2 escort.
I didn't refit part of it which allowed air flow to the back of the fuel and temp gauge, this in turn made them drop.
Don't know if yours work the same way, I think it was a bimetallic strip that moved the needles?