Freelander 1 Skinny Mike's TD4 ES Auto

Skinny Mike said:

Anyway, spot the difference time

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1 UFO is playing Hula Hoop, the other not?

GrumpyGel said:

1 UFO is playing Hula Hoop, the other not?

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Now you know where I keep my spare oil filter seal's. That is why they designed it like that, isn't it?
Mike

Well, I don't know what I did to the hippo over the weekend, but it went like a scolded cat on the drive to work this morning.
Much fun was had
Mike

You put a Tiger in the tank Mike?

rob_bell said:

You put a Tiger in the tank Mike?

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lol

Did you get a load of Tiger Tokens Mike? Swap 'em in for lovely glasses or simply just see how big a pile of tokens you can collect

So back after my caravan excursion. Woke up to snow this morning and had to pack the caravan up in snow and rain, lovely.
Anyway, the Hippo has been sat unused since last Tuesday, 6 days. Got in it to get some food shopping (beer) and it started straight up and drove great again.
All I did to the glow plugs was to clean the top bits and connectors with contact cleaner and give them a wipe. Put the manifold back on, as said it was clean, and gave the M.A.P sensor a quick blast with cleaner.
Could it really just have been bad contacts onto the glow plugs? I can't believe it, but what else would explain this sudden perkiness.
Got me baffled
Mike

Today's job was to sort the T top sunroof out. It's been letting a small amount of water in that manages to drip straight on my glasses whilst driving, not ideal.
So took the two glass panels out, then the T bar that has a spring release, then gently prised the rubber seal off.
Didn't take any photos as it's just some rubber seals.
So washed and dried them, used Wurth rubber restorer on them, good stuff that, went outside and did the seal that's on the roof itself. You can take it off, but it's alot if messing about.
Then put it all back together. That seal is a right tw*t to get back in, but some silicone lube and swearing at it loudly did the trick.
Now to wait for the rain and see if it's sorted.
Mike

Skinny Mike said:

That seal is a right tw*t to get back in, but some silicone lube and swearing at it loudly did the trick.

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lol, its a pain that a hammer doesn't work well on rubber - you have to resort to swearing, its the only way

Heart stopping moment last night.
Driving to my dad's and the car suddenly started vibrating really bad and making a loud humming noise
I was on a dual carriageway so I couldn't pull over, but slowed down. Then a burning rubber smell. Oh no me thinks, belt snapped? Carrier bearings given up, is it going to pack up?
Pulled up at the first safe place, popped bonnet, all belts still there. Checked prop shaft, all ok. Checking tyres and when I got to the front offside there was a powerful smell of burnt rubber. Tyre was ok, so kept looking.
I'd picked up someone else's broken belt, it had wrapped round the inner tyre and onto the brake disc. Phew!
So a bit of removal and burnt fingers later and the old girl was back up and running.
Had to have an extra cup of tea at my dads
Mike

Skinny Mike said:

Heart stopping moment last night.
Driving to my dad's and the car suddenly started vibrating really bad and making a loud humming noise
I was on a dual carriageway so I couldn't pull over, but slowed down. Then a burning rubber smell. Oh no me thinks, belt snapped? Carrier bearings given up, is it going to pack up?
Pulled up at the first safe place, popped bonnet, all belts still there. Checked prop shaft, all ok. Checking tyres and when I got to the front offside there was a powerful smell of burnt rubber. Tyre was ok, so kept looking.
I'd picked up someone else's broken belt, it had wrapped round the inner tyre and onto the brake disc. Phew!
So a bit of removal and burnt fingers later and the old girl was back up and running.
Had to have an extra cup of tea at my dads
Mike

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Phew, result, glad it was nothing serious Mike

Skinny Mike said:

Heart stopping moment last night.
Driving to my dad's and the car suddenly started vibrating really bad and making a loud humming noise
I was on a dual carriageway so I couldn't pull over, but slowed down. Then a burning rubber smell. Oh no me thinks, belt snapped? Carrier bearings given up, is it going to pack up?
Pulled up at the first safe place, popped bonnet, all belts still there. Checked prop shaft, all ok. Checking tyres and when I got to the front offside there was a powerful smell of burnt rubber. Tyre was ok, so kept looking.
I'd picked up someone else's broken belt, it had wrapped round the inner tyre and onto the brake disc. Phew!
So a bit of removal and burnt fingers later and the old girl was back up and running.
Had to have an extra cup of tea at my dads
Mike

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That's a wierd one

GrumpyGel said:

That's a wierd one

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Definitely unlucky. At least is was easy to sort.

Caliper repair kit installed on both sides. That was a glorious morning spent wrestling with greased rubber
All back together now, seems to work better than before, but I also stuck a load of new fluid through the system while I was at it.
Only a good drive around will show wether it was a bargain or if I'll need to order new calipers.
Can't say I recommend using the repair kit, very fiddly. But funds are limited currently.
Beer is now being drunk
Mike

Skinny Mike said:

Can't say I recommend using the repair kit, very fiddly

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Which is why I don't bother these days.

Skinny Mike said:

But funds are limited currently

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That's the only reason I'd mess with changing seals. Needs must and all that.
At least it's working now.

Nodge68 said:

Which is why I don't bother these days.

That's the only reason I'd mess with changing seals. Needs must and all that.
At least it's working now.

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Yes, you can call me Mr skint at the moment. But give it a month or so and I'll be back on track. Not that I'll be flush with cash or owt.
Took it for a drive this morning, definitely going up through the autobox easier than lately. And coasting downhill better. Took it over to the caravan using my normal route so I knew what to expect. Wheels were warm by the time I got back, but not hot.
New tyres now, mine are down to 1mm over the markers and definitely wouldn't pass an m.o.t they're cracking between the treads!!
So it'll have to be a budget set for now and payment on the old flexible friend.
Moral to this story, when the wife says let's decorate, run like fook and hide all bank cards
Mike

So, the brakes work happy with that.

New tyres fitted yesterday, had the same ones as already fitted. Zeta ZTR20, can't complain really, they did over 20,000 miles and they're cheap, plus they suit the Freelander for what I use it for.
Cost me £266 fully fitted and balanced, not bad for 4 tyres. Especially with limited funding.
Slowly crossing the jobs off

Mike

Brakes are coming off again tomorrow, the pads must have glazed when the caliper stuck on. They were ok at first, but then started squealing like a pig being prodded with a hot poker up the back side, to put it politely. After a couple of strip downs, cleaning new grease etc they're still doing it.
So new pads and metal carrier bits are here, putting them on in the morning.
Out of interest, do you prefer red rubber grease for the brake parts and pads like me, or are you in the copper grease team?

Other than that, the Freelander is now my daily driver, Woohoo. Had enough of the Citroen van, French piece of shyte. It's bad enough driving it in the day without taking the thing home. Costing me just under £30 a week in diesel and I'm returning just over 34mpg. Not bad considering the hills round here. And the drive to work and back is alot more fun.
Worth £30 of anyone's money in my humble opinion.
Cheers
Mike

Great to hear of all your successes Mike!

Skinny Mike said:

Out of interest, do you prefer red rubber grease for the brake parts and pads like me, or are you in the copper grease team

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A small smearing of copper grease on the pad back and the contact points with the anti-rattle shims is all that's needed. Make sure you clean the rust off from behind the shims, or it pinches the pad in tight. The pad should slide easily and sometimes needs to paint removing from the contact points to achieve free movement.

Red grease is for rubber lubrication, and melts at the sort of temperature that pads can reach.

New pads installed (Delphi's) using copper grease as suggested. The old pads were well glazed, and they still had around 6mm of material left, but I couldn't put up with that noise.
Also stuck a bottle of tyre goop in one wheel. I have to wait to see where they've installed my dodgy rim, this time it's front offside. Never wants to hold 30psi, it drops to 26psi all the time. I've had the wheel redressed twice but it never stays up. Fortunately the goop seals it after couple of weeks.
Blasted the fuel tank cradle with stone chip, think I'm going to have to do some work on that see picture. The underseal is wearing off and the rust has got in a bit. But as the underseal is ready for doing again I'll do the whole underside in one go. M.O.T isn't til November so ive got some breathing room.
Mike.