Zero power when towing horse trailer?

flanagaj said:

It is a very dainty pony

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:lol:

there you go

Freelaner said:

:tea:

i dunno without seeing it or taking it to bits tbh

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:tea:
You are right. tis all guesswork till you actually get your hands on it.

though you should be able to smell the clutch

jamesmartin said:

though you should be able to smell the clutch

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that would be a big clue and eggstremely diagnostic

If it is gutless when it isn't towing there is another problem.

If it needed loads of revs I would suspect the clutch is suffering. But if by reversing and then pulling away that would indicate a brake problem. Could be on either the trailer or the brakes on the hippo.

Take it for a drive solo - see how it performs.
Check for excessive heat from the brakes, and check for smells from brakes or engine(clutch)

Does it sound normal...

If all is good try towing the empty horse box..... And check brake temps etc.

Let us know anything that is out of the ordinary in as much detail as you can and we might be able to help more.

Turboman said:

Depends how big the pony is!

Also, it appears it didn't!

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:hysterically_laughi:hysterically_laughi seen 300 LBS pony's and have seen 1100LBS pony's...

Did yer missus remember to release the trailer handbrake?

I don't think it is related to needing more horse power! Hippos are rated at towing 2000kgs..... And I guess it was alright before unless the pony was delicate and is now a barrel!

Someone with no towing experience should be able to tow a 350KG + trailer weight with a Freelander without any problems - even starting on an incline. I had almost 3 times that on the back the other day and a car load of passengers, starting from still on an incline - I didn't have to worry about the speed cops, but there were no issues moving it.

We tow that sort of weight when we go on holiday with the boat and all our camping gear in it (tent weighs 100KG). We cross mountain ranges and all sorts with no issues, the gearbox is perfectly geared for it. You only need a low-range with much heavier stuff.

Having said that you need to have some consideration for the car - or more specifically the clutch. If you slip the clutch in an effort to get lots of speed up, you'll probably smell it and you won't be able to do it too many times before the car will rightly just sit there, make a horrible smell and say it don't want to do it again!

flanagaj said:

Oh dear, not what I wanted to hear.

Just for my own understanding, what does low box mean?

The gear knob does have a yellow switch on it with a sticker showing a steep decline. Is that low box

The vehicle is really gutless though even when not towing the trailer.

The last time the clutch went it cost £1200 to replace

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The yellow switch is hill descent. RTFM. Whats the car like solo?

The Freelander should tow 2000 Kgs. This is the on road hill start rating for a 1 in 12 hill iirc. Off road you have to halve that rating to be safe. I expect it's a combination of factors including, possibly engine down on power which would require more revs and Lots of clutch slip. This coupled to a heavy load on the back on poor ground results in no movement.
I've towed some very heavy stuff off road with mine, but mine is automatic so it just moves without any worries about a clutch.

It does sound like it may be an engine problem if you say the vehicle feels gutless even when not towing. My td4 tows a 1300kg boat and trailer easily, doesnt fly up hills but doesnt struggle. When was car last serviced? When were trailer brakes and bearings last checked out? You should be able to push your trailer around using "man power" when its unladen. Even when laden and on level ground.

flanagaj said:

It is a light weight dainty sports pony. According to my daughter it weighs 350kg, so not much less than the wife.

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If she ever reads this thread, you'll need to invest in body armour rather than fixing the car

I agree with what people are saying, there's something else to this Sherlock.

The fact there was "lots of white smoke" sounds very very VERY wrong. At the first sight of any smoke, you'd think the sensible thing would be to stop and think what's going on.

Did the smoke smell? Was it very noxious? Is there any idea where it was coming from? Was it from the exhaust, tyres, engine bay?

"The vehicle is really gutless though even when not towing the trailer."

Eveything is relative, diesel Freelanders may beat milk floats in a drag race, but not a lot else. So if you're comparing to a v12 beemer then yes it will feel gutless, but they'll pull a 350KG load over virtually anything. Is it fact that its down on power? Is there any way to comare against another TD4 to see if its a real problem or just your expectations?

The more I think about this, the more I think that a 350KG + trailer weight is basically nothing. Its like pulling away some KFC regulars on-board!

As I said before, we often pull the sorts of loads your wife was trying to move. I pulled so much weight once the wheel studs sheared on a trailer - it was basically a new trailer, but only rated to 750KG and carrying a LOT more than that - woops! This is with our L Series diesel. The biggest problem I have is that I've trashed both wing mirrors on branches reversing the boat up our drive.

So unless there was an issue with the trailer itself, you can disregard that it was towing anything.

There may be some technical problems here, but I can't help but think there is a sizable amount of pilot error as well (probably too much clutch slipping).

Sounds like a wheel was choked.....possibly......as she was able to go forwards after reversing

Must be something wrong. My L series diesel with manual has no problems towing 2000kg.

I will try and add a bit more clarity here.

a) The combined weight of the wife and daughter in the vehicle was about 110kg.
b) The trailer brake was not on, and the brakes were recently serviced
c) Even when not towing I find I have to drop down gears just to get up steep hills

I will jack the vehicle up later to make sure a brake is not binding on the freelander.

Definitely something wrong if it struggles with that. My Td4 with 216k on it pulls a 1700kg twin axle caravan two adults two kids two dogs and a roofbox with few worries. Pulls most motorway inclines without a gear change. Might be just cos its nicely run in tho!

So the likely theory is the engine in under performing and the missus is needing more revs to pull away. More revs = clutch slip. Thats what it sounds like to me.

flanagaj said:

I will try and add a bit more clarity here.

a) The combined weight of the wife and daughter in the vehicle was about 110kg.
b) The trailer brake was not on, and the brakes were recently serviced
c) Even when not towing I find I have to drop down gears just to get up steep hills

I will jack the vehicle up later to make sure a brake is not binding on the freelander.

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in that case yer Gayla..... Sorry, Freelander's Fooked, burn it and get a proper 4x4

Sounds to me like a typical case if fixing the symptoms and not the fault.

Get your engine checked out and make sure everything on there is spot on.