Freelander 1 Petrol K engine mounts

Hello, I do have a pop quiz about my new to me petrol fl1.
What are the percentage of engine mounts failures? I see there are 3x.
One left lower, one right upper (there is a pear shaped one as well there) and one in the right which I suspect is also holding the gearbox. From what I see the upper ones are quite ok, however the lower one near he exhaust seems quite stressed to me.
I do have more vibrations than expected (more than my lady Peugeot 207) and not sure which to change 1st so I am staring with the cheaper.

Also, in microcat I see different part numbers after vin 1A, the price difference is quite significant. Any ideas what happened there? Both upper and lower ones have different part numbers.

I'm not sure about the one on the gearbox end.

The top mount at the 'fan belt' end did change after the YA VINs. The early (to YA999..) mount is a big blob of rubbery stuff with a plate on the bottom and a bolt on the top. Mine failed a WOF (MOT) so I bought a replacement (Bearmach) one and fitted it, but it was rubbish and the car vibrated like crazy. So I put the original back on and it has been through a further 5 of so WOFs without being picked up on again (ie there was nothing bloody wrong with it in the first place). The later cars have a mount that looks to have bolts on either end, the mounting bracket to the engine must have been redisigned for some reason.

The lower tie bar is a bit confusing to me. I am probably wrong, but I believe there are different part numbers for different engines/ages, but I wouldn't mind betting that they are all interchangeable. They are not that expensive, however, I recall someone ( @Nodge68 ?) said that you can just replace the rubber bush with a part that is standard on Rover cars?

The FL1 power unit (engine/gearbox assembly) has its weight supported on 2 mounts, one on the timing belt end and the other on the gearbox end. The power unit is suspended between these 2 mounts 'hammock style' , which is pretty normal for a FWD vehicle. To prevent the power unit swinging under load 'like a hammock' , there are 2 tie bars fitted. There's an upper tie bar, which is affixed to the engine end mount, and is bolted to a bracket on the front inner wing.
There's also a lower tie bar, which is attached to the bottom of the engine block on the timing belt end. It's bolted to the front sub-frame, below the IRD. The tie bars (upper and lower) use a large diameter, spherical bush, which can go soft, especially the lower one, which is under the highest loads. A soft lower tie bar can affect power unit stability, which is especially true if the inner CV joints are past their best. If the inner CVs are beginning to stiffen under load, then it can cause a shaking of the power unit under acceleration, which is exaggerated if the lower tie bar bush is soft.

There were a couple of different designs of engine mounts, which improved engine refinement, and the tie bar specification changed a couple of times too.

I've found the large tie bar bush from an MG ZS180 gave the best power unit stability when used in the lower tie bar, but these are now virtually impossible to find.

There are polyurethane tie bar bushes available from the Rover 200, but these cause engine vibration to be transferred to the body, unless they're modified before fitting.

Alright thanks guys. I am going to replace the lower one.
Genuine is 100 quid while bearmach britpart or "unbranded" is about 35.
I am thinking on getting the cheap one while I use the old bracket to put polyurethane ones, if Nodge is kind enough to tell what sort of modification is required.

GrumpyGel said:

The lower tie bar is a bit confusing to me. I am probably wrong, but I believe there are different part numbers for different engines/ages, but I wouldn't mind betting that they are all interchangeable. They are not that expensive, however, I recall someone ( @Nodge68 ?) said that you can just replace the rubber bush with a part that is standard on Rover cars?

Click to expand...

Indeed they are, according to microcat numbers. Actually even before 2001 there was another modification.

PRO said:

I am thinking on getting the cheap one while I use the old bracket to put polyurethane ones, if Nodge is kind enough to tell what sort of modification is required

Click to expand...

No problem.
This is how they come.

This is how I modified it to ease the vibration.

I've actually thought about making some from scratch, in a spherical shape, like the original, but don't really have a need for them at the moment.

I see, and these would be https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320861633132 ?
Thanks Nodge

PRO said:

I see, and these would be https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320861633132 ?
Thanks Nodge

Click to expand...

That's one one.

Fitted an unmodded set of those to my TD4 and it rattled all my teeth fillings out!!

But then I was, as I later found out, driving it with a broken crank!!!

I now have a slight knock, can barely hear it but it's there on idle. This scares me very much... I am hoping is a lose exhaust or something touching something else. Car drives fine apart from a bit of vibration but might be my OCD.
It is quite consistent. This will be PITA to troubleshoot... I am thinking of a stethoscope

Haha actually these seems to be this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123609186227
Sexy and useful. As for the bushes, will do exactly as Nodge68, 4x channels on it. However is there a reason why the outer edge was cut as well?