Freelander 1 Return of the (Land) Rovers: Kilo-Hippo-Delta

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Well done on getting the engine running ;)
Don't worry about the reverse lights for the MOT as they aren't part of the test.
The brake lights are however, as will the binding brake.
 
Thanks Nodge. The brake light should be simple - quick bulb swap. The handbrake binding? Not sure (collecting a 160 engine today from Derbyshire) and fixing nephews ZR (duff coil pack)

Seized release mechanism? Binding shoes? What's the most common problem?
 
Rich in Vancouver said:
It's always a relief when they start without any unfortunate noises!
Click to expand...
Absolutely! I wasn't expecting it to start that easily to be honest! Lol

I took the engine through two complete revolutions by hand before starting just to ensure that there was no piston/valve contact - but as you say, it's still a slightly nervous moment when you turn the ignition key for the first time!

I haven't added the oil additive yet, so will probably get the engine up to temperature a few more times, get the car MoT'd and then change the oil after adding the additive, along with a fresh oil filter.

I think I've got all the air out of the coolant system too: it took some massaging of the rubber hoses to clear the air locks, but everything seems to be flowing well, the heater blows nice and warm, and to my surprise, all four fan speeds work as they should! :D
 
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Hopefully will get the rear brakes sorted this coming weekend - as mentioned on another thread, the OSR brake is binding (gets nice and hot after only a few meters of driving!!!)

Then I'll do the OWUT and repeat the reverse with full lock test. May be, just may be, I'll get lucky, and the VCU isn't toast. But I have that in my "mental budget" (very important for my man-maths accounting system).

Once this is done and the car is through its MoT, I'll get some miles on the car. Here in North London, we've just had our first real frost and I am thinking about replacing those cheap and nasty ("get me through the next MoT cheap please") tyres for something decent.

Tyres, I find, are perhaps the single most important component on the car, which can radically alter its performance. For better or for worse.

This is a bit more complicated on a Freelander, because we're asking the car to be a road-going motorway cruiser as well as being a bit handy off-road. There is a compromise to be made. As this is not exactly my only car (ahem!) I can afford to make it a little more focused in one direction over the other. And as it is a Land Rover, and I fancy doing some gentle green laning sometime, I think a tyre more aggressively AT (not MT at the moment!) would be suitable.

And let's face it, will look a whole lot better. ;)

I've asked questions already - and naturally I've had a lot of interesting and helpful answers. But what I'd like to ask you chaps is your thoughts on General Grabbers - either the AT2 or AT3. Oponeo have the AT2 215/65 R16 for around a 100 nicker each. Nice mud-plugging styling. Should be good for winter/snow work (even if they can't be branded as such). AT3 would be my preference, but I haven't found a supplier yet (I'll keep looking).

General Grabbers on a Freelander 1 - good idea or bad idea? :)
 
Avoid Grabbers, they are horrible on the Freelander. They are OK on seperate chassis vehicles. But transfer loads of noise on the monocoque Freelander. Grabbers are not good in the wet either.
You won't go far wrong with Pirelli Scorpion STRs for the same price. The STRs are OK off road, better on the road than Grabbers and miles better in the wet.
 
Realistically, unlike Ali's and DD's off-road toys (hope you don't mind me calling your project cars that chaps!), my Hippo is going to spend most of its time on the road - so a car that does an impression of an angry swam of bees might prove a tad tedious.

Let's assume for now a road:green-lane mix of 80:20 (probably more like 95:5, but I can dream... lol)

Okay, Pirelli Scorpions (thanks Nodge). Any others to look at?
 
I have Maxxis Bravo AT771 on my SE. They are more noisy than pure road tyres, but not exclusively so. I am running 225/60/17 which are larger in all dimensions to the standard 16" Freelander size. I'm happy with the Bravo 771s especially the tyre life.
Another good AT tyre is the Yokohama AT'S. These grip well in all conditions, including wet tarmac and last ages and ages. I'd have got the Yokohama in preference to my current Bravo, but were out of stock when I needed them.
 
20161027_201407_zps9f3ekehe.jpg


These were £75 fitted. Only driven a few miles on them but so far very quiet.
 
rob_bell said:
Realistically, unlike Ali's and DD's off-road toys (hope you don't mind me calling your project cars that chaps!), my Hippo is going to spend most of its time on the road - so a car that does an impression of an angry swam of bees might prove a tad tedious.

Let's assume for now a road:green-lane mix of 80:20 (probably more like 95:5, but I can dream... lol)

Okay, Pirelli Scorpions (thanks Nodge). Any others to look at?
Click to expand...
Mine lives on road, its only really been off-road for the photo-shoot. the insa turbo rangers aren't too bad at all for noise on tarmac. It gets used as my daily run around and car.
 
For the first time in about 2 weeks I have finally had some time to work on my Hippo. All the lights now work and the OSR brake is no longer binding!

The faulty NSR brake light fault turned out to the connector inside the lamp assembly: the contact just needing pulling up to make a decent contact with the bulb.

The faulty reversing lights (I'd already replaced the faulty switch) turned out to be a severely corroded loom-side bullet connector. I hadn't noticed this before because it is dark down there in the engine bay! LOL

The OSR drum came apart okay - I had to release the ratchet quite a lot to get the drum off, although the drum itself is not badly warn. The inside was caked - I mean CAKED - in dust and corrosion. But the brake shoe friction material still had 3.4mm of meat on them. The slave cylinder looks to be a pattern part, but it was dry and the seals in good condition. I basically cleaned everything up as thoroughly as I could and reassembled - and now the car will coast when the clutch is depressed. Reversing now doesn't bring the car to a halt at idle and generally things are looking rosy. :D

I do need to adjust the handbrake now though - I wonder whether a PO tried easing it off in an attempt to release the rear brake??? No idea, but hopefully that should not take too long :)

A couple of minor and perhaps not so minor things:
1. The rear drum is making a noise after I've reassembled - that soft chuff-chuff of something rubbing: have I put the drum back on square or done something else wrong (I'm much more comfortable working with disc brakes!)
2. I've noticed that the TC (and occasionally also the HDC!) lamp will momentarily come on and then extinguish. Any thoughts? I'll need some diagnostics on that I think...
3. The digital clock adjustment doesn't work - despite disassembling and cleaning the button contacts. Annoying.

Oh, and I've still not completely sorted the malodourous interior. But Fabreese soft furnishing de-odouriser seems to be the best product so far... ;)

I'm going to take it for an MoT this week - let's see what it'll fail on! I can't see anything too obvious now, so who knows? :)
 
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