Freelander 1 TD4 auto 2003, 18MPG

FrenchyArnaud said:

Yes, sorry my english is not up to scratch...yet.
Actually it's the LR mechanic who proposed it straight away. His argument was simple and to me, made perfect sense : if the car does not actually off-road, the car in effect is a FWD. At 90000miles, the risk of VCU failure outweights the benefits of having 4x4. Hence, it makes sense to take it of. The loss in weight + the reduction of mechanical friction should have a marginal but positive impact on mpg. It sounded sensible to me, the removal costs essentially nothing (charged 20mn of labour), I went for it. As for the insurance, this won't be an issue. (already quoted)

This being said, it's not done yet so if there is a trade-off I should be aware of, now looks like the right time !

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what about driving in winter - snow, ice etc.

Benefits in fuel consumption are minimal, possibly less than increased tyre wear. It may well invalidate your insurance

I live in Bournemouth, UK south coast. This winter has been the worse in a generation snow-wise. That was 2 days. My other cars (ford fusion 1.4tdci and volvo s40 2.0l petrol), both FWD of course, did just fine. And the closest to off-road I will ever do is bridal-path-like roads when my customers are deep in the country side (where my other cars never had issues accessing...)

what does your insurance say?

In a nutshell that I need to inform them once the modif is done, and I'll pay an extra £18/month (£82 instead of £64). My reasoning : the extra premium is always gonna be much less than a new gearbox if the VCU seizes, so...

FrenchyArnaud said:

In a nutshell that I need to inform them once the modif is done, and I'll pay an extra £18/month (£82 instead of £64). My reasoning : the extra premium is always gonna be much less than a new gearbox if the VCU seizes, so...

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Blink 'ek. £18/month is about what I pay for fully comp on my F1. Mind you the annual road license is about £70.

Whether you go 2WD is really personal choice. Assuming the car isn't already broke, the only real benefit is reduced risk of major component failure. As you say, fuel consumption is not improved noticeably - but if you are going to do it, then you need to remove the rear diff and drive shafts (less stubs in the hubs) as well as props/VCU for maximum gain (even replace the IRD's rear pinion with a blanking plate).

The drawbacks are purely in reduced traction. This may be because it curtails off-road possibilities or creates wheels spin when pulling away on-road - which can happen with some of the F1 engines due to the low first gearing - and is particularly evident on wet/gravel roads and/or when tyres are getting towards the end of their life.

Mine blew its transmission 5 years ago. It was going to cost £3500 for the parts over here. So I opted for a £150 bearing kit for the IRD shipped from the UK and rebuilt as 2WD. It has been perfectly reliable since, but I haven't seen any noticable fuel improvements and I really miss being able to take the car places I used to go - much more walking these days! Do not be so dismissal of those bridal paths, you may have got lucky, I got stuck on a perfectly flat but wet piece of grass once and needed towing off - that is very embarrassing in a Land Rover.

Knowing what I know now, particularly about what causes the transmission to blow and buying parts from the UK, I would probably have fixed up the IRD/VCU back to 4WD and install a TPMS to make sure it doesn't happen again. Having said that, I've had an IRD in the garage to do just that for the last couple of years... and its still just sitting in the garage!

After 14 months of paying additional insurance at £18 per month, yer would have covered the cost of a reconditioned VCU replacement at £250. This will reduce the risk of transmission faults and things braking. It will also save £216 per year in increased insurance costs.

That's if the vcu hasn't already been replaced or it's in good health as yer already tested it. If it's in good health then it doesn't need changed.

The Freelander 1 drives horrible with the vcu removed. Difficult to explain. It feels less stuck to the road.

If yer running with the VCU fitted then all yer need to do is keep an eye on the tyres. Same make/model/size/pressure.

The benefit of reduced fool consumption by removing the VCU is not worth thinking about. One day of differing temp and air pressure would kill the benefit.

FrenchyArnaud said:

Actually it's the LR mechanic who proposed it straight away. His argument was simple and to me, made perfect sense : if the car does not actually off-road, the car in effect is a FWD. At 90000miles, the risk of VCU failure outweights the benefits of having 4x4. Hence, it makes sense to take it of. The loss in weight + the reduction of mechanical friction should have a marginal but positive impact on mpg.

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The Freelander's Mpg is almost identical with or without the VCU fitted. There is actually a tiny improvement without it fitted, but that's more likely due to the reduction in weight.
True the VCU will stiffen with age, but many go well over 90K miles, providing they've not been abused and still function correctly. My own TD4's VCU has now covered 124,500 miles and is still perfect.
As for removing it for the sake of it, I'm not a fan. The vehicle was designed to be 4WD when needed, so everything on the vehicle is designed to match this system. Arbitrarily removing the VCU link between the front and rear will impact on other components, some of which are there for safety. The ABS system will be calibrated to compensate for the mechanical like between front and rear, especially the EBD which is a special programme of the ABS system's ECU.

The suspension system is also designed to compensate for the loads that the 4X4 system imposes. So removing the VCU could well upset the balance of the vehicle, leading to unpredictable handling in slippery conditions. The front tyres also wear faster as a FWD, which counteracts any tiny saving at the pumps.

It's also worth noting that some vehicle examinations across Europe, will fail a missing VCU, which renders it unroadworthy.
So it's best to consider all these elements before removing the propshafts.

It's such a nice car running as it should - enjoy it - as it should be - the checks you need to do are simple - tyre maintenance is crucial but only good sense in any vehicle. Can't see the point in having one if you'r going to largely spoil it's handlng and pay more for the priviledge

your brakes are not catching are they, check as the hand break releases properly

Ok, so after reading all your input and researching on each and every argument, I decided to side with the majority and keep it 4x4. A friend of mine who's an mechanic hobbyist will service the car the WE (I have ordered and received already the full service set, with synth oil and filters I did not even know existed)

I'll see if this makes any difference... As for my VCU, the IR gun shows it is essentially at the same temperature the road is, which is barely above ambiant temp, so I must trust it's ok - time will tell, at the end of the day I have no way to know and no reason to think it's faulty or on its way out.

FrenchyArnaud said:

Ok, so after reading all your input and researching on each and every argument, I decided to side with the majority and keep it 4x4. A friend of mine who's an mechanic hobbyist will service the car the WE (I have ordered and received already the full service set, with synth oil and filters I did not even know existed)

I'll see if this makes any difference... As for my VCU, the IR gun shows it is essentially at the same temperature the road is, which is barely above ambiant temp, so I must trust it's ok - time will tell, at the end of the day I have no way to know and no reason to think it's faulty or on its way out.

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The temp test you have done is known as the "turnip test". If its not changing temp, then its not slipping and might indicate its seizing up. You need to do a proper test. Have a read of this...

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/tests-new-freelander-owners-should-do-on-their-car.312863/

Also, I would strongly advise investing is a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). They are a set of air pressure sensors that replace the dust caps and use a bluetooth link to a display you put on your dash. It'll tell you if one of your tyres has lost any air.

Do the OWUT and make sure all tyres are identical with least worn on the rear and save yourself £18 a month on insurance.

If the OWUT shoes less than 1 minute and the tyres are as they should be then there's nothing to worry about. Do the OWUT every 6 months and monitor the results. If it gets to 1 minute, then replace the VCU with a reconditioned unit from Bell Engineering.

My own TD4 auto has 124,600 miles on the original VCU and is still fine at under 40 seconds on the OWUT. It's always had identical tyres as per the LR guidance and replacements have always been fitted to the rear.
I don't worry about the IRD going bang and I rotate my tyres front to back every 1,500 miles so they wear evenly.

The VCU is long lived if looked after, but can cause issues if simple procedures like tyre maintenance aren't followed.

+1 to everything said above.

Keeping the 4WD is a good decision. Bad fuel consumption (and poor performance) on my M47R was related to a bad MAF. These Bosch MAFs don't seem to last long. I am not convinced that the Pierburg MAF is any better. So in the absence of a better alternative, source another Bosch item for the cheapest price you can find it

Ok, little update... I have had the FL duly serviced by a friend of mine who's got the know-how, kept the 4WD and installed the EGR Bypass. 3000 miles later (yes, I drive a lot! The FL is my work tool) I can give a solid calculation : 32.9MPG, 50% city, 25%suburb and 25%dual carriage way... Pretty happy with that. So, to whoever will read this thread in the future : first thing for a good MPG, full service !