New owner and his woes.

Good evening all, my wife and i have just had the week from hell, after buying a Hyundai Terracan 2.9CDTi from a local car auctions woth a full service and MOT being done just over 4 months ago, we got it home to find out the car was overheating... I was about to drive it to a garage for them to diagnose when the rear damper sheared off the axel. When we eventually got to our local garage they said it wasn't roadworthy and not worth the cost to repair it.

So off we went having just spent all our money on this lemon to find a new car. We pulled together our savings and borrowed money from family and ended up with a gorgeous 2002 Freelander 2.0 td4. This time we thought we'll be smart and buy from a dealership. The car had just had MOT in December and a full service. We thought we were on to a winner....

To celebrate we drove up to Oxford to see some of our friends from the Guide Dogs (as we're puppy walkers) we made it without an issue! (Exeter to Oxford) however on the way back everything was going well untill there was a massive clunking coming from the ns front wheel. After a visit from the AA it turns out the transfer box has blown and needed replacing. Thankfully the dealership gave us 3 month waranty so they're fixing it but is there anything else i should prepair myself for or have i just been unlucky this week?

:welcome:

Get them to check and replace your vcu - probably seized and the cause of your blown IRD.

Get them to check the entire drive train while your at it ...including rear diff

Make sure all tyres match - same make, type and size to stop any further damage to the new bits that your getting.

see info....
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f38/definitive-freelander-vcu-testing-thread-99163.html

Welcome to the forum.

+1 to the above. Very important to have 4 matching tyres: same brand and identical size and wear. Tyre size is critical to drive-train health. VCUs stiffen with age/km. If that happens it can wreck an IRD, diff and poss' g'box too.

PS As you may be on this forum again pop over to the introduction section and introduce yourself. A lot of people on here are happy to share their knowledge and experience with those that do if you take my hint!

Thanks for the replies everyone, i presume just asking them to check the VCU they will know what they're looking for.

geoffpalmer85 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone, i presume just asking them to check the VCU they will know what they're looking for.

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If they don't ...return the car, ask for your money back and go elsewhere

Fair enough, will give them a ring today.

Hippo has done loads of videos so that owners can check things like VCUs at home with simple tools.
The Freelander's drive train, while pretty robust is easily damaged by incorrect tyre placement.
As said, all tyres MUST be the same Make, type and size. The front tyres wear out faster than the rear tyres though. So when the front tyres are due to be replaced. Fit new identical tyres on the rear and move to rear tyres to the front. This is absolutely critical. If this is not done, the drive train WILL be damaged.
Good luck with your new Freelander. If you are unsure about anything, just ask.

Thanks, in the short time we had it, it was an awesome ride! So comfortable on the drive up to oxford. I do a lot of photography and am surprisingly looking forward to getting in the boot with the rear window down to get some interesting shots!

Still no joy with the car repair, it's no further along and my wife is starting to lose patience. Looks like we may be ending up with a refund as the garage don't seem to care how long it takes to repair (2weeks and counting)

It's back, it's working!!!!

Check that all 4 tyres are EXACTLY the same - brand, type, load rating, tread depths etc.

Post results on here if you want them checking

Also do the one wheel up test for the VCU (link at top of Freelander page)

Checked the tyres all sorted. Only thing i feel is up now is the passenger side front cv joint sounds like it's on it's way out :-/ can't cut a break!

geoffpalmer85 said:

Checked the tyres all sorted. Only thing i feel is up now is the passenger side front cv joint sounds like it's on it's way out :-/ can't cut a break!

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What symptoms are you getting?

Clicking when turning to the right under acceleration

Where did you get it from?

But steering wheel generally a quarter turn

A trader in Taunton

geoffpalmer85 said:

A trader in Taunton

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I thought it might be somehwere in exeter I needed to avoid. That's good then. I wouldn't go into zummerzet

Haha nah. Car has been a nightmare from them, won't be going there again!