New to the forum, new to Land Rover

[Lukidge69]

Hey guys.
Nice to be here.
Picking up my Freelander tomorrow. Very excited.
It's a 2litre 2002 Td4. Done 69K and is in great condition. Got 12 months MOT on it too. Paid just over £5k for it.
Now I've seen a mixture of reviews all over the net, some bad, some very bad, some very good. Obviously I've commited to buy now so just want to know what the experts think of my deal.
Thanks guys

 

[craig5056]

not an expert just a newbie but td4,s are the sounder engine not so much of a problem with the old head gasket as the petrol models, just need to keep it well serviced.

 

[Morayjohnny]

Also fairly new to freelanders having had an 2006 TD4 since March last year. But agree with Craig, service it regaularly and get all the fluids changed. also check the vcu (see posts on this forum for details).

Apart from that I live in rural northern Scotland and it did everything I asked of it last winter, starting first time every time and getting me anywhere.

Enjoy....

 

[freelander2002]

Exactly what the other chaps said, I have a td4 to and last winter it was really good even with road tyres on. Have put on some falken all terrains on it now. Engine wise it i
Always starts. Good choice of engine and car and :welcome2:

 

[RichM]

I had a TD4, lost count of how many times I got stuck, mostly as a result of low ground clearance. It drove well and it was quick for what it was but at the end of the day it's a compromise. Despite having a BMW 320d engine, it's certainly no BMW 3 series and it's certainly not a Defender either. Often I'd forget what it was and that's when I landed myself in trouble. One thing I've learned is that in the realm of 4x4's, you can't have it all.

 

[greenlanez]

I'm also a noooob, having had mine since last August. (2002 TD4). I've done approx 10,000 miles since I got the freelander. It's used daily and for weekend round trips of 300 miles to the beach. Not bad off road performace despite what others might say, although the lack of serious ground clearance will limit were you can actually go off road. The main thing I'm concerned about is the price of parts for repairs, other than than it's a great vehicle. Nice to drive.
Repairs so far:-VCU replaced with Recon. unit.
Dif. mounting bush(front).
Fault with injector No.1.

Hi all on the forum...

Nick.

 

[silkwood]

TD4 is the better one. Keep it well serviced because the car deserves it.
I drive it on and off the road. Never got stuck, yet.
Keep in mind that the car has it's limits like every car has. Know these limitation and you will not get stuck.
If you go off road than do it with a club of enthusiasts you learn from them and know what to look after, so you wont get stuck in the first ditch and blame it on the Freelander as some do.
Look after the cranckcase breather, look after the best tires at the back and do a search for more mods.
Have fun with it.

 

[Lukidge69]

Thanks guys. I won't be off roading but I live down little country lanes and decided it's wise to have a 4x4 after the bad weather over Christmas. I also needed something with decent room for my business.
Have just been getting a little nervous after seeing several bad reviews regarding reliability. Just don't want to get stuck in traffic in central london and have it break down on me! Haha.
I'm very excited. Love the look of it and am reassured by the positive things said on here!

 

[Ian jones]

Welcome to the fold ! make sure all 4 tyres are the same make and size as the height tollerance , front to rear is only 5mm take heed or it will damage the drivetrain good luck

 

[HIGHLANDER TD4]

Welcome to the fold ! make sure all 4 tyres are the same make and size as the height tollerance , front to rear is only 5mm take heed or it will damage the drivetrain good luck

Hmmm... that's got me a wee bit worried,my freelander came with different tyres from the back and i've been driving about in it for about 5 months now with no problems!?

Welcome to the forum btw lukidge69

 

[Skynet]

Tyres dont 'have' to be same make, but make sure the newest are on the back. To be sure measure the diameter of all tyres. Largest need to be on the back. This is due to the way the VCU is designed to operate. When front tyres rotate faster than rear, the VCU sends more drive to the back. A larger diameter effectively gives the faster rotation.

Enjoy the hippo, you wont regret buying it

 

[biggeeeee]

:welcome2:

Sounds like a good vehicle, wife had the TD4 for 5 years and it went well. Couldn't afford that and the Disco, so even although she beat me at arm wrestling I still kept the Disco and the Freelander went. Someone local bought it and she sees it regularly and needless to say I dont get any of the perks I used to get for a few days after that.

 

[chromiumuk]

Hey guys.
Nice to be here.
Picking up my Freelander tomorrow. Very excited.
It's a 2litre 2002 Td4. Done 69K and is in great condition. Got 12 months MOT on it too. Paid just over £5k for it.
Now I've seen a mixture of reviews all over the net, some bad, some very bad, some very good. Obviously I've commited to buy now so just want to know what the experts think of my deal.
Thanks guys

over £5k - ouch. Is it a sport model at that money. I got my 03 Td4 auto Serengeti over 3 years ago with 52k on the clock, years mot etc. for £4,700. Unless yours is a Sport which seem to command a couple of grand premium then you've overpaid for it.

 

[markwizard]

Tyres dont 'have' to be same make, but make sure the newest are on the back. To be sure measure the diameter of all tyres. Largest need to be on the back. This is due to the way the VCU is designed to operate. When front tyres rotate faster than rear, the VCU sends more drive to the back. A larger diameter effectively gives the faster rotation.

Enjoy the hippo, you wont regret buying it

Sorry if this sounds a bit dim but wouldn't a larger diameter give you a slower rotation?

 

[jamesmartin]

viscous coupling is designed to let low torque differential by slipping the more torque but through it the stiffer it gets, on a rr with equal drive front/back there not so much a problem usually lasting 10 years or more as only used during cornering or if mixed wear tyres used ie bald at front new at back as axles are doing different speeds viscous has to slip to stop wind up in transmission ,since freelanders are driven faster at front to give you your front wheel drive feel with equal tyres viscous is having to slip at all times this amount increases the bigger the tyre (rolling radius) at front compared to back,fitting bigger tyres to rear would help to minimise the difference of axle driven speed and actual road speed reducing the amount viscous has to slip

 

[zoolander]

Bought my 05 TD4 in Jan this year and TBH was conned by the garage I got it from - it was a sack of ****. Found out much later that the previous owner had been having the same problems and so traded it in!
Anyway thanks to all the advice and info on this forum got my car sorted and she now runs great, fairly chuffed because the previous owner had taken it to a main dealer who couldnt solve the problem.
suggested upgrades
*Check the engine breather - upgrade to the BMW one.
*Clean out inlet manifold and get the EGR bypass kit.
*Synergy 2 and Pierburg MAF.
*Check the plug on the end of the fuel rail - mine was f*cked

Have fun with your car

 

[Lukidge69]

Got it today. Very happy. Drives great and in great condition. Very smooth and great visibility compared to my previous ford puma. Get a little bit of knocking from the back when going down the country lanes where I live. Also there is a bleeping noise whenever I unlock it and open the door. This goes away after a few seconds though. According to the MOT everything is fine on it. Might take it for a service. Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[freelander2002]

The beeping is normally telling you to change the batt in the key fob

 

[Lukidge69]

Ah right. Thank you. Should I take the fob in or can I just find out what battery I need and change it myself?
I am loving it. Very pleasing to drive

 

[freelander2002]

Just open the fob up, it's a flat battery. Can't remember off the top of my head what the battery code is. It will be printed on the current battery. It's a CR.... Something.