New to Freelander Ownership...everything great till....

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MrCobraman

New Member
Posts
4
Location
Felsted
Hi Landy Zoners
I'm a new member saying Hi & needing some guidance (apart from: don't buy a Freelander 1.8!!!).

I've recently purchased a 2001 Freelander 1.8 (roof-off one) for a small bundle of cash (£400). Sailed through MOT & cleaned up surprising well. Paint is ok, but plastics were faded badly. Used a heat gun on the plastics & now like new! Loads of little fettling jobs to do, but each one has generally needed a little solder here or tinkering there or just some touch up paint. Now the car is in pretty good nick, which is ironic, as I only want it to skirt around the outside of fields. :)
In the last few weeks it has developed a temp sensor fault. Temp gauge drops to zero & fans cut in. Started as intermittent (maybe 1in3 working), but now pretty much (1in20 working). I have searched the forum and seen similar issues, but not seen one (yet) that is identical. The wagon is not overheating, it's just really noisy with the fans running 24/7 (which is not good for stealthing around meadows).
Dim witted mechanic tried a new sensor (might not have been the right one) & finally put in a switch to turn fans off, but that burnt out in minutes.
He reckons its an ECU fault, but I want some thoughts from experienced people before even considering that route. One thing to add, when I got the car, the dash bulb on the temp gauge side had blown. The problem started around the time i replaced the bulb (new bulb does burn slightly brighter than the original other two), so not sure if that could have something to do with it???
Sorry for war & peace, but generally information is a good thing!
Cheers!
 
Hi Landy Zoners
I'm a new member saying Hi & needing some guidance (apart from: don't buy a Freelander 1.8!!!).

I've recently purchased a 2001 Freelander 1.8 (roof-off one) for a small bundle of cash (£400). Sailed through MOT & cleaned up surprising well. Paint is ok, but plastics were faded badly. Used a heat gun on the plastics & now like new! Loads of little fettling jobs to do, but each one has generally needed a little solder here or tinkering there or just some touch up paint. Now the car is in pretty good nick, which is ironic, as I only want it to skirt around the outside of fields. :)
In the last few weeks it has developed a temp sensor fault. Temp gauge drops to zero & fans cut in. Started as intermittent (maybe 1in3 working), but now pretty much (1in20 working). I have searched the forum and seen similar issues, but not seen one (yet) that is identical. The wagon is not overheating, it's just really noisy with the fans running 24/7 (which is not good for stealthing around meadows).
Dim witted mechanic tried a new sensor (might not have been the right one) & finally put in a switch to turn fans off, but that burnt out in minutes.
He reckons its an ECU fault, but I want some thoughts from experienced people before even considering that route. One thing to add, when I got the car, the dash bulb on the temp gauge side had blown. The problem started around the time i replaced the bulb (new bulb does burn slightly brighter than the original other two), so not sure if that could have something to do with it???
Sorry for war & peace, but generally information is a good thing!
Cheers!
Hi. My experience somewhat more old-school Land Rover (Defender) but from your description it sounds like there might be an intermittent short circuit somewhere in the wiring that connects the temperature gauge to the sensor. Maybe be worth tracking the circuit backwards and try to find if it is rubbing against metal that might have worn through the insulation. I'm guessing that the add-on switch wasn't connected via a relay, thus burning out under too high a load. Is there an Independent Land Rover Specialist anywhere near you? If so could be worth your while giving them a visit.
 
Still not found a fix, but noticed today that there is a blue temp sender underneath the pipework that has nothing attached to it??? I have read that Brown/black is ECU & Blue is gauge. Not sure how the gauge works intermittently if the blue sender isn't even connected???

Car still going well otherwise, but fan noise is a pain in the ass.

Can anyone advise where the connector wires are routed to, so I can further wire short testing?

Thanks
 
Still running with the fan running full tilt :(

Downloaded Rave, but not sure what I am looking at! Started to chase the wires back & looks like we're heading up to the ECU unit. I've tried a continuity test on the wires which failed, so I guess that might be the problem. As I chased the wire back it does look like someone has previously cut chunks out to test.

Can anyone advise if I can use any gauge of replacement wire or should I try to keep to original spec? If so, what might that be?
 
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