Refurbished my FL1 Td4, inc the VCU

Having not-so-long-since returned to Spain, from the UK with a suitcase loaded with spares for my Freelander Td4, 2006, 3-door, 77k miles, I set to work replacing and fitting all kinds of stuff I had delivered to a UK family address.

Replaced:- The plastic fuel feeds above the Injectors with Mercedes brass unions and new hose, The sponge crankcase-breather with a modified unit that doesn’t get clogged, New front-disks & pads, New intercooler hoses, Wheel-nuts with locking units, Bee-sting radio aerial for a shark-fin type, Glow-plugs with temp-sensor & relay, Main air-filter, Turbo-fan air filter, oil change (fully synthetic 10W/40) + filter, and the Pollen-filter.

In addition to all of that, I finished the refurbishment of the VCU with silicone-fluid I bought on Ebay.uk, along with two new support bearings. The new fluid was less viscous that what came out, which incidentally took approx’ two months to completely remove, aided by Brake & Clutch cleaner with a final flush with neat alcohol. The new stuff went in easily & quickly. Sealed in with two 12mm bolts cut-down to fit, with copper-crush-washers, and screwed into tapped holes, it looked the biz.

The VCU was carried out by following the experiences of others who use this Forum, and I have to say their efforts were priceless in aiding me. I combined what I learned from them with YouTube videos too. The entire process needed me to buy extra tools I needed, although not many, and a bit of ingenuity when it came to raising the VCU and both prop-shafts onto the underside of the car while lying on my back – alone. It all worked great and the car is sweet as it drives. The problem of a scuffing sound as well as the engine struggling when turning slowly at full-lock has gone and it grips the road as if it has super-glue on the tyres.

All-in-all, I have a car I’m proud of, as is my wife - who incedentally knows nothing about mechanics but says she can tell there's a huge difference.

That was some suitcase you used to transport all that stuff back. I see you found space for some suitable reading material for the wife too!! Top work Pop.

I've just done another job on my FL1. It's because I read on this Forum, quite a while back, that someone commented on how the air-filter was wrapped in what can best be described as a thick-wooly-carpet. Having just fitted one I found myself agreeing with what had been written, and how the paper element beneath should be enough. Well, I went into the engine compartment again and removed the 'carpet' from around the filter. I even tried to blow through it, the carpet part of the filter, once it was removed. It wasn't easy. Now, I'm aware that both parts equate to a complete filter, but with the knowledge that most vehicles only have a paper-element I left the carpet part off. I then took it for a test drive and WOW... even better acceleration with a smoother response. What can i say, except the car is even better without the carpet on the filter. I'll retain it in my shed though, just-in-case.

The polyester wool isn't needed and is a massive air restrictor on the filter. I cut it off of every TD4 air filter I fit.

Nodge68 said:

The polyester wool isn't needed and is a massive air restrictor on the filter. I cut it off of every TD4 air filter I fit.

Click to expand...

I took my car out for a lengthy drive today, monitoring how it behaved without the outer-part of the filter. And with my wife on board, as well as whole pile of shopping - including four 5-litre bottles of water, our FL1 did 0 - 100Km's ph (60Mph) in 12 seconds, and I didn't push it to its limits either. Oh, the fuel tank was 3/4 full too. Brill!