hello from a prosective '04 Freelander TD4 owner: OBD help please.

ratty said:

FFS. You could at least polish my magic lamp before you start using up yer 3 wishes.

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:hysterically_laughi:hysterically_laughi

thanks chaser for the reply

Maf sensor? was the trottle response poor/flat spot pulling away?

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Initailly yes. 1st time i engaged 1st gear i felt a shudder @ 1200. The engine definately wasn't on all 4 cylinders. However, i increased the revs to 1500 rpm and it drove fine. Every other stop at traffic lights etc the car behaved perfectly, and the throttle response felt good.

Out of the 5 cars i have viewed and driven to date, the performance was excellent for the vehicle type.

fixed by doing what?

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re ecu fault codes:
that i don't know. hence my questioning of the OBD system. Dealer said the ecu was "reset" and he would be taking it for an extensive test drive tonight, to see if the faults reoccurred. Especially on 1st cold start tomorrow morning.

They are indeed common faults on td4s and it would be wise to ask for them to be replaced.
you should also question what exactly has been done to rectify the misfiring/poor idle and the poor starting issue, it's fair to say that td4s fire up almost instantly when all is well.

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indeed, the other vehicles i have driven started instantly without fault. But, other than the initial poor idle and misfire at 1200 rpm ,i have to say that this cars performance up to motorway speeds was much better than the others.

I intend to query again tomorrow, to get a better understanding of what was "fixed". As i understand it, no parts were replaced. Only that the fault codes were reset by laptop.
I have taken the given advice onboard and discussed the likely hood of a faulty MAF, Cam sensor, fuel rail sensor and or injectors with the dealer. I await his response...


op2:

might be worth turning up at the garage unannounced and try to start it. The MAF is indeed a common issue, but you can get a better fix for it than just fitting a new one. If you do a search on here for roverron, you can fit a cheaper pierburg MAF along with a Synergy unit, which will give you a much more driveable vehicle.

The vehicle not starting easily when cold could be down to a leaky injector. if the pressure is not equal across all 4 injectors then the engine refuses to start. However, it will start on easy start then run happily. It may be that the continued cranking with fuel in the cylinders makes the diesel vapour in the remaining cylinders hot enough to ignite, then the engine will run.

personally, I would walk away from this, or get a written guarantee the faults have been fixed and any recurrence will be fixed at the garages expense. The faults you listed cannot be "fixed" by using an OBD tool, or any diagnostic equipment. The fault codes can be cleared out, but the actual fault can only be rectified by replacing the relevant component.

Good Luck

...illl fix it good for ya £375+vat.
plus delivery/collection charge.
7 day service.

Beast o Bodmin said:

...illl fix it good for ya £375+vat.
plus delivery/collection charge.
7 day service.

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would it still be driveable afterwards, or only on the back of ratty's recovery truck ?

Optimus Prime said:

might be worth turning up at the garage unannounced and try to start it. The MAF is indeed a common issue, but you can get a better fix for it than just fitting a new one. If you do a search on here for roverron, you can fit a cheaper pierburg MAF along with a Synergy unit, which will give you a much more driveable vehicle.

yep i have read about those: Tuning-diesels for cheaper diesel tuning.

The vehicle not starting easily when cold could be down to a leaky injector. if the pressure is not equal across all 4 injectors then the engine refuses to start. However, it will start on easy start then run happily. It may be that the continued cranking with fuel in the cylinders makes the diesel vapour in the remaining cylinders hot enough to ignite, then the engine will run.

the vehicle only ever failed to start on the very 1st turn of the key. All other subsequent starts when warn and hot, it started OKish but would idle lumpy on 3 cylinders for 3-5 seconds before clearing itself.

The faults you listed cannot be "fixed" by using an OBD tool, or any diagnostic equipment. The fault codes can be cleared out, but the actual fault can only be rectified by replacing the relevant component.

Good Luck

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thanks Optimus. that i am well aware of....

all things considered, i'm not prepared to walk a way quite yet... as the vehicle is otherwise cosmetically in excellent condition and on budget. If i do decide to pursue this further i will be looking for evidence of works carried out to resolve these common faults and written guarantees.

In the meantime, i am still on the look out for a Facelift TD4 SE for £5 > 5.5K in Dark metallic blue or graphite

Gary ST165 said:

just read some great info on: 75ZT HOME

oh dear. as i understand the symptoms might suggest a new MAF may be required.
£220 for the bosch unit... and i read that the signals can start to deteriorate from as little as 30,000 miles.

i am in a dilemma now where i feel that all the vehicles in my price range (£5K) are showing 100,000 plus miles...and may all be due imminent MAF replacement.

would it be sensible to replace the camshaft sensor and MAF on any vehicle of this age and then hope fingers crossed for trouble free motoring :lol:

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£5K for a Freelander 1 with over 100,000 miles is way too excessive. Mine was bought just over a year ago with 52,000 miles 03 plate auto 3 door for £4700 through a dealer on ebay who gave me a warranty & also allowed me the option to return the car when delivered if I wasn't happy as it was bought 300 miles away. Glad to say the car is excellent.
The MAF can be brought back into spec with a Roverron MAFAM compensator as they usually drift out of spec & few fail completely. The other benefit of the mafam is that in future you can fit the reliable, cheaper (£50) pierburg MAF with it if your Bosch one fails completely.
Camshaft sensors do fail fairly often but only replace if you need to.
Crankshaft sensors can also fail but are less likely. Injectors are very pricey at around £150-£200 EACH so always run with Millers Powersport 4 additive in your fuel to keep the fuel system clean. As previously mentioned there can be connector problems, low pressure fuel lift pump problems, but they are all covered here in great detail. Crankcase breathers need changed religiously every 12,000 miles unless you get one of the new BMW redesigned ones.
I'd definitely leave the car you test drove alone as merely clearing codes & not replacing the intermittant parts is very poor.
The cars are very good & you will find a nice one for your £5k. Good luck.

ya could get a disco and a tdi golf fer 5k ya silly moo

chromiumuk said:

£5K for a Freelander 1 with over 100,000 miles is way too excessive.

I'm after 04 / 05 Facelift TD4 SE spec.
i have seen plenty of the older style on budget....

I'd definitely leave the car you test drove alone as merely clearing codes & not replacing the intermittant parts is very poor.
The cars are very good & you will find a nice one for your £5k. Good luck.

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i shall keep looking

Beast o Bodmin said:

ya could get a disco and a tdi golf fer 5k ya silly moo

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i've got no more room to store another 2 cars (a golf? urgh. no thanks), as i own 3 Celica GT-Fours / Turbo 4WDs and am currently bidding on another money pit that needs restoration :doh:

> i need a flexi family car / 4wd / tow wagon to trailer my celicas.
Might go and test drive a Honda CRV ? :? >>> dunno what its towing weight is though

Honda CRV diesels were only introdced in 2005 so will likely be just over budget.
Only 1500kg towing limit also so stick with the Freelander....

Gary ST165 said:

I'm after 04 / 05 Facelift TD4 SE spec.
i have seen plenty of the older style on budget....

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I do take your point, but as the facelift came out on 53 plate, I think that you should still easily get one with sensible mileage for your £5k.
You know, quite a few guys on here did the upgrade themselves & Muply did an extensive thread on this with plent of photos. You need the parts (04 spec - bumper, headlights, connectors), available cheaply enough off ebay, connectors for the headlights again plenty of info & people to help on here, a small amount of cutting & redrilling on the panel behind the headlights to fit the new lamps & the bumper resprayed.
Budget around £500 & a weekends work.

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/freelander-headlight-upgrade-facelift-51864.html

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff211/DUBSPORT77/Image009.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff211/DUBSPORT77/Image012.jpg

Check out the photos on the above thread.

thanks for the links.

it is not just the front end, but i much prefer the facelift SE trim: part leather interior heated seats etc , and potential resale value of a laterspec car.

...and i don't want to spend too much time faffing / modifying the new car. i do far too much of that with my other projects!

dont listen to the disco bunch by a honda etc the freelander is cooler looking bigtime i have a td4 sport 04 plate paid £7995 from landrover dealer 40000 on the clock the best advice i can give you is buy one but get a warranty with it

lawjm5 said:

dont listen to the disco bunch by a honda etc the freelander is cooler looking bigtime i have a td4 sport 04 plate paid £7995 from landrover dealer 40000 on the clock the best advice i can give you is buy one but get a warranty with it

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You don't have to buy one from a garage to get a warranty. Do a google search for 'independent car warranty' and you can get a better one than most garages offer for about £250 a year.

some warranties aint worth the paper they are written on beware

and we all missed glow plugs as a potential cause of the starting from cold problem...

Optimus Prime said:

and we all missed glow plugs as a potential cause of the starting from cold problem...

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indeed.

anyway, might be viewing 2 more TD4s tomorrow. I really appreciate all the info and advice that everyone has been kind enough to share. i have a much better understanding now

huge thanks to Landyzone.

and we all missed glow plugs as a potential cause of the starting from cold problem...

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don't want to sound a smart arse but that's because in these temperatures td4s fire up easily without preheat

Chaser said:

don't want to sound a smart arse but that's because in these temperatures td4s fire up easily without preheat

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my reasoning too.