Freelander 1 just purchased

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Border Boy

Member
Posts
77
Location
South Wales
Taking delivery of a 2006 Freelander 1 tomorrow, 108k miles.
All the windows work without making a noise and the VCU seems ok, what other areas of the car should I be looking at to carry preventative maintenance?

I live near Pontypool S Wales so let me know if there are any meets or events going on in South Wales

I hope there is a good search facility on this forum to answer my questions:)

One final thought, where can I input the VIN number to see details of trim levels, etc
 
Taking delivery of a 2006 Freelander 1 tomorrow, 108k miles.
All the windows work without making a noise and the VCU seems ok, what other areas of the car should I be looking at to carry preventative maintenance?

I live near Pontypool S Wales so let me know if there are any meets or events going on in South Wales

I hope there is a good search facility on this forum to answer my questions:)

One final thought, where can I input the VIN number to see details of trim levels, etc
As Htr said.
Tap in your chassis No on here and it'll give you the build sheet information. ;)https://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/check-lookup/
 
Last edited:
:D Can't beat a good piccie! ;)
Piccie,:) on ramps to remove the belly panel to investigate oil leak which appears to be from gearbox bell housing.
Changed gearbox oil and washed off oil so that I can identify source of leak.
Managed 43mpg on slow motorway run, local journeys including some towing now down to 33mpg.
Will start a new thread for further questions after carrying out a search first;)
 

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lol, sounds just like my old L Series tractor - the best fuel run I've had is 43mpg (when following a Series III for a day :) ) and I have a oil leak that appears to be exiting where bell housing meets engine - not a big leak, just irritating.

I can understand why you'd want to lift the car to get the undertray off - but it might hinder getting it back on because you've got to lift and balance it in place somehow while you do up all the bolts (or at least the first few). I suppose some wooden blocks cut to the right size for when its on the ramps would help so you can forget about balancing the bloody thing. :mad:
 
While it's up there check on the state of the petrol tank cradle and rear subframe. The tank cradle is a well known rot spot.
 
Taking delivery of a 2006 Freelander 1 tomorrow, 108k miles.
All the windows work without making a noise and the VCU seems ok, what other areas of the car should I be looking at to carry preventative maintenance?

I live near Pontypool S Wales so let me know if there are any meets or events going on in South Wales

I hope there is a good search facility on this forum to answer my questions:)

One final thought, where can I input the VIN number to see details of trim levels, etc
Good luck with your new purchase. :)
Not saying you're wrong but just wondered how you tested the VCU. I've had a couple of Freelanders with similar miles and the VCU's were totally shot.
 
lol, sounds just like my old L Series tractor - the best fuel run I've had is 43mpg (when following a Series III for a day :) ) and I have a oil leak that appears to be exiting where bell housing meets engine - not a big leak, just irritating.

I can understand why you'd want to lift the car to get the undertray off - but it might hinder getting it back on because you've got to lift and balance it in place somehow while you do up all the bolts (or at least the first few). I suppose some wooden blocks cut to the right size for when its on the ramps would help so you can forget about balancing the bloody thing. :mad:

The facelift is more awkward to fit the under tray as the front lower valence gets in the way if the front bolts.
 
lol, sounds just like my old L Series tractor - the best fuel run I've had is 43mpg (when following a Series III for a day :) ) and I have a oil leak that appears to be exiting where bell housing meets engine - not a big leak, just irritating.

I can understand why you'd want to lift the car to get the undertray off - but it might hinder getting it back on because you've got to lift and balance it in place somehow while you do up all the bolts (or at least the first few). I suppose some wooden blocks cut to the right size for when its on the ramps would help so you can forget about balancing the bloody thing. :mad:
lol, sounds just like my old L Series tractor - the best fuel run I've had is 43mpg (when following a Series III for a day :) ) and I have a oil leak that appears to be exiting where bell housing meets engine - not a big leak, just irritating.

Thanks for reply. I've left the under tray off so that I can, hopefully identify the source of the oil leak. I can see the problem when re-fitting. Presumably you put the rear bolts in first?

I can understand why you'd want to lift the car to get the undertray off - but it might hinder getting it back on because you've got to lift and balance it in place somehow while you do up all the bolts (or at least the first few). I suppose some wooden blocks cut to the right size for when its on the ramps would help so you can forget about balancing the bloody thing. :mad:
 
Good luck with your new purchase. :)
Not saying you're wrong but just wondered how you tested the VCU. I've had a couple of Freelanders with similar miles and the VCU's were totally shot.

There doesn't appear to be any problem with the VCU when going backward or forward on "full lock" BUT I see on the Stratstone Land Rover "vehicle health check" carried out 6k miles ago that the VCU bearing mounts have excessive play which indeed they do when I checked with a pry bar. Is renewal of these bearings a DIY job?
 
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