Would you trust your Gaylander?

Not long after I got my Freelander, my Uncle asked "How's it going, any problems?..."

My reply was... "Look, your Dad built'em, my Dad repaired'em, of course it's had problems, it's a ruddy Land Rover....!!"

He shrugged his shoulders and replied..." See what you mean.....Silly question really wasn't it?"

Love it!

Yes would after a bloody good service though then take spares as back up ,took Mine to Italy 7 years ago no problems bar a dead cluch which I had spare in the boot.
Did the same trip last year one broken track rod end replaced with one from the boot .
Top tip I learned when in the millitary always have spare parts as back you never know what can happen.

Watched the 'Hairy Bikers' on Tuesday night - brilliant programme - they closed the prog with a trip over the GrossGlocknerHochAlpenstraße - the highest road in Europe.

It reminded me of when my trusty Freelander let me down at the 'Top of Europe'.

At an altitude of 2571m the TD4 didn't start. That's 8435ft - twice the height of Ben Nevis.

I was taken by surprise and completely puzzled.

But,.....I solved the problem.......I turned the key a second time!

I reckon it was a hot engine and oxygen starvation at that altitude.

Made me question my total trust in the machine for a minute though.

TD4s rule!

Rock on!

Singvogel.

Gay or not, my Freelander is almost boringly reliable.
Just arrived in Bosnia i Hercegovina again - I travel to Tuzla at least 3 times a year.
That's 1850 miles in 3 days.
Is that reliable enough. Should I trust it? It's done this trip nearly 30 times now.

What is the point of this thread by the way?
Last time I drove a Defender any distance (Cannock to Albania) the bu**er broke down in Italy.
In addition I landed up with one leg frozen and the other cooked by the crazy heater - I was NOT impressed.
Chunky big LandRovers must be for masochists? Real men can withstand needless pain?

Singvogel.

Singvogel said:

......Chunky big LandRovers must be for masochists? Real men can withstand needless pain?

Singvogel.

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That's not ownership, it's pennance!

Singvogel said:

Gay or not, my Freelander is almost boringly reliable.
Just arrived in Bosnia i Hercegovina again - I travel to Tuzla at least 3 times a year.
That's 1850 miles in 3 days.
Is that reliable enough. Should I trust it? It's done this trip nearly 30 times now.

What is the point of this thread by the way?
Last time I drove a Defender any distance (Cannock to Albania) the bu**er broke down in Italy.
In addition I landed up with one leg frozen and the other cooked by the crazy heater - I was NOT impressed.
Chunky big LandRovers must be for masochists? Real men can withstand needless pain?

Singvogel.

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Just out of interest, what mileage is it on? Have you had to replace the VCU yet? Certainly encouraging that at least SOMEONE here trusts their car - but I'd be willing to bet that you look under the bonnet more than once a year ...

WLJayne said:

Just out of interest, what mileage is it on? Have you had to replace the VCU yet? Certainly encouraging that at least SOMEONE here trusts their car - but I'd be willing to bet that you look under the bonnet more than once a year ...

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Hi WL,

We're now on 98K.

Original VCU still good and given a clean bill of health from Bell Engineering only 2 days ago - good for another 20K probably / hopefully.

Yes, I look after it, - it's my ticket home.

So far nothing really unexpected / planned has failed.

New brake discs, new fuel pump, new MAF, and new prop shaft bearings - other than that just routine service items.

Singvogel.

That's great, sounds like you really look after it mate. Unfortunately the previous owner of mine was running it on miss-matched tyres - at 115k now and Bell will be fitting a new VCU as soon as I have the cash - after I've bought a full set of tyres.

Tomorrow's jobs; new intake manifold gasket and replacement header tank. Looking forward to it.

Like I said, nice to see some positive commentary on here. I know most people come here with problems to solve but the odd "My Freebie works fine, nyaaaar!!" thread would be nice hehe .

WLJayne said:

.....but the odd "My Freebie works fine, nyaaaar!!" thread would be nice hehe .

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Feel free to start one, bud!

CB40 said:

Feel free to start one, bud!

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Aye ah will, when it's wekkin propper !!

WLJayne said:

That's great, sounds like you really look after it mate. Unfortunately the previous owner of mine was running it on miss-matched tyres - at 115k now and Bell will be fitting a new VCU as soon as I have the cash - after I've bought a full set of tyres.

Tomorrow's jobs; new intake manifold gasket and replacement header tank. Looking forward to it.

Like I said, nice to see some positive commentary on here. I know most people come here with problems to solve but the odd "My Freebie works fine, nyaaaar!!" thread would be nice hehe .

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Yes, we do need more positive comments on here as otherwise we will all get depressed and think we were mad to buy a vehicle with inherent problems that are going to break the bank.

Yes, I like to think that I look after my Freelander, but it's certainly not pampered and protected - It gets a lot of serious hard work to do - and then some.

The most important thing vis-a-vis transmissions and VCU etc is to keep the tyres matched up. I swap mine around regularly so as not to have more than a millimetre or so difference between them.

I spoke to the 'wizard' at Bell Engineering who agrees that 1mm difference would not put any undue strain on the system.

Singvogel.

Yes Bell said that a small difference would be ok, but there is a 6mm difference between Michelin Syncrones and the Bridgestones on the front of mine! Eeek!

Someone needs to write a mini guide on the freelander, the Hayne's is good for how to take it apart and put it back together but it doesn't tell you anything about how to look after it above and beyond service items. Some things which really should be treated as service items (like VCU) are treated as if they will last forever which is unlikely at best. Neither does it list the faults that are most likely to occur, when they might occur and how prevent them or fix them cheaply. Also, if I had known about some of the specialists around that I could have asked for advice or services it would have been much easier.

To be honest writing a guide like that is something I would reall like to do, I'd get input from the experts of course and make sure it was all correct but I enjoy stuff like that. If anyone thinks it would be useful, then I'd have a crack at it. I know not everyone has the time, but like I said I enjoy writing. That's not to say that there isn't valuable information around here - there's mountains - it would just be great if it was all in one place. Like a booklet, that was updated whenever was needed and newbs could download as soon as they wash up here with a problem .

Will.

People like to moan about anything, it's human nature!!

I am waiting for a break in the weather long enough to replace the brake discs and pads, replace the reverse light switch, and replace the battery and cables. I have no garage in which to do all this, and don't really feel extreme enough to brave the rain, soaking my tools in the process! Luckily I have a van to do all the mundane runs.

I also need to change the tyres, the rears first before the fronts, but both within a couple of weeks, so vcu issues should be at a minimum. As I said previously, I also like to work on my cars, it's quite therapeutic.........

WL .. I think thats a great idea.It woud be a great read too I'm sure.

Well I suppose it couldn't hurt to have a go. Alot of the informtaion I could collect from old threads, but it would be good to identify the key areas that need to be written about. I'll start a new thread about it perhaps. I know I'm new here and I'm not trying to throw my weight around or anything, but something like this would have really helped me when I was panicking about the Freebie .

So it would be more of a compiling and editting job really.

WLJayne said:

.....Alot of the information I could collect from the old threads, but it would be good to identify the key areas that need to be written about. I'll start a new thread about it perhaps..........

So it would be more of a compiling and editing job really.

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Brilliant idea. A lot of useful information is spread over a LOT of threads, and of course the nature of this forum, means a lot of those threads are 'fluffed' out with mickey taking about our chosen steed!

To be able to refer to it under ONE thread would be a fabulous advantage.

I agree with you, that when I first had my Freelander I asked a lot of 'repeat' questions, because I found it very hard work to find the info across so many existing threads.... and sometimes the banter was frustrating my search.

Good luck, and I think many of us will look forward to seeing the end result. Cheers.

crockett007 said:

...I also need to change the tyres, the rears first before the fronts, but both within a couple of weeks, so vcu issues should be at a minimum...

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If your going to change all 4 you might as well get all 4 done at the same time. Less risk.

CB40 said:

Brilliant idea. A lot of useful information is spread over a LOT of threads, and of course the nature of this forum, means a lot of those threads are 'fluffed' out with mickey taking about our chosen steed!

To be able to refer to it under ONE thread would be a fabulous advantage.

I agree with you, that when I first had my Freelander I asked a lot of 'repeat' questions, because I found it very hard work to find the info across so many existing threads.... and sometimes the banter was frustrating my search.

Good luck, and I think many of us will look forward to seeing the end result. Cheers.

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Thanks that's encouraging, definitely sounds like it would be well worth doing. I'll have a think later today about a chapter structure and then anyone who wants to pitch in would be most welome. A centralised information collection would help reduce repeat questions and frustration I think.

Will.

WLJayne said:

Thanks that's encouraging, definitely sounds like it would be well worth doing. I'll have a think later today about a chapter structure and then anyone who wants to pitch in would be most welome. A centralised information collection would help reduce repeat questions and frustration I think.

Will.

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Excellent idea - you have my full support too.

The info on here needs to be collated and organized.

There is indeed a wealth of brilliantly helpful info but it often can't be sifted through quickly.

Caio,

Singvogel.