Project: The impossible utopia - Freelander S TD4 3 door (2002)

rob_bell said:

To be honest, I am ignoring mine for now... If I attempt to clean it up, it'll likely turn into a paper doily

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I suppose if the frame is still solid, there's no chance the tank will move. At least it's plastic.
I do wonder where an MOT tester will draw the line on its condition. If I remember rightly, it was one of the most common advisories when I was looking to buy one.

weemac said:

I suppose if the frame is still solid, there's no chance the tank will move. At least it's plastic.
I do wonder where an MOT tester will draw the line on its condition. If I remember rightly, it was one of the most common advisories when I was looking to buy one.

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I had an advisory on surface rust on suspension components. Perhaps that was a good distraction

Yes, you're right: unless the frame as a whole is shot, the fuel tank is safe

rob_bell said:

I had an advisory on surface rust on suspension components.

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That's not very specific! Maybe they just didn't know where to start...

Gary: 'There's some surface rust on't suspension here, Terry.'
Terry: 'Oh yeah? Where abouts, Gary?'
Gary: Everywhere, Terry.'
Terry: Everywhere, Gary?'
Gary: Yeah, Terry. It's all rusty. All of it.'
Terry: OK, cheers cocker, I'll just put that on the certificate.'

yup - that about sums it up! ROFLMAO

weemac said:

Thanks, Ali. Suppose I won't know how much metal is left until it's off completely. And whether welding new plates on is possible. However, I did read through your thread 'Looks like I've done it again, Doh!!!' and it looks like you did the plates without removing the bars (?). Does that mean you left the subframe on, too? Now, that would speed things up

I do like to salvage things. Particularly as a new complete cradle is almost a hundred quid!

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I just cut and pulled the old one out, then made some replacement plates from alloy and shoved them in. A couple of times I used cable ties and once used home made saddle brackets held on with small bolts. I don't know if I spent more time doing it that way or saved time by not fully dropping the subframe and replacing with new. I saved a few quid though and when your doing multiple repairs, saving money on each one adds up.

Got that rivnut in so progress continues...



I won't dwell on how much I fecked around with DIY insertion tools before finally resorting to this...



I don't break out the impact gun very often but found it necessary here. I'd also ran out of long, M6, hex headed bolts of any reliable strength. Ended up using bolts with 4mm allen heads and praying that they'd compress the nutsert before stripping the head. It worked well enough!

Fuel filter swapped out (inc. a liberal dose of copper grease around the new one). You're required to split the two parts of the plastic housing to get a straight shot at knocking the old filter out. That means drilling out two rivets that need to be replaced. I used a pair of tiny nickel plated machine bolts from me electronics kit. Same to refit the hanger bracket...





The original earth cable/connector had come loose a long time ago by the looks of things. The rusty tab I pulled out of the old assembly couldn't have been conducting owt although I believe this is only a safety ground. Replaced with a small earth lead (wire with 2 x spade terminals) and cut the old spade off in lieu of a new connector...




There's a handy little gutter on the housing that you can jam the wire into keep it from shaking loose. A generous application of grease around the terminals should keep them in good shape for a while...



And that's it. Fuel filter done albeit in a meandering fashion. A few cycles of the pump to get the filter full of fuel and to purge the air and it started up first time (turning on the ignition should run the pump for about thirty seconds).




Must remember to refit the anti chaffing bits above the rear electrics conduit.

No coughs or smoke. Idling for the first time in a month \/

Also, got the ABS sensor back in. Had to use a stainless bolt as I don't have short M6 8.8. I'll monitor it to make sure we don't get any interaction with the cast hub. Better than the crusty mess it was, though



We also get the first peek into the N/S/R wheelarch. It's the same so similar treatment required.

interesting thread, ive been doing up my 52 plate freelander td4 aswel, ending up changing clutch, flywheel, master, slave, exhust box, brakes all round, rear wiper arm......so far?! car runs well now!! next job is that the heater doesn't work on speed 4?! ive done the simple things like change the resistor and check fuses but still no luck, will take out the dash and prod about abit?! any ideas on this?

bigtom54123 said:

interesting thread, ive been doing up my 52 plate freelander td4 aswel, ending up changing clutch, flywheel, master, slave, exhust box, brakes all round, rear wiper arm......so far?! car runs well now!! next job is that the heater doesn't work on speed 4?! ive done the simple things like change the resistor and check fuses but still no luck, will take out the dash and prod about abit?! any ideas on this?

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Cheers, dude. You've been busy on yours by the sound of it.

Not sure how much help I can be with yer heater issue. Probably don't need the dash out, though. Can you clarify the actual fault? Did it used to work? Not getting heat or does it just switch off the fan in position 4? If so, could just be dirty contact in the rotary switch type thing. Some FL1 owners seem to get a similar issue with the front wiper control stalk. In many cases, it's solved simply by cleaning the contacts inside the barrel switch thingy.

I never used full speed (!), so could be that your contacts have accumalated some dust, dirt or grime that never gets cleared. I'd be checking whether the heater control box can be removed and bench tested/cleaned before the dash comes out!

If in doubt, post a question in the Freelander section and the more experienced lads and lasses will help you

weemac said:

Cheers, dude. You've been busy on yours by the sound of it.

Not sure how much help I can be with yer heater issue. Probably don't need the dash out, though. Can you clarify the actual fault? Did it used to work? Not getting heat or does it just switch off the fan in position 4? If so, could just be dirty contact in the rotary switch type thing. Some FL1 owners seem to get a similar issue with the front wiper control stalk. In many cases, it's solved simply by cleaning the contacts inside the barrel switch thingy.

I never used full speed (!), so could be that your contacts have accumalated some dust, dirt or grime that never gets cleared. I'd be checking whether the heater control box can be removed and bench tested/cleaned before the dash comes out!

If in doubt, post a question in the Freelander section and the more experienced lads and lasses will help you

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Ive had the freelander for over a year but never got round to do it yet but never had speed 4, fan just stops when switched to number 4. yeah was thinking the switch fot it, will have a go soon on it

Funny what you learn to live with, eh?

I had really sketchy wipers for a while. Sometimes they'd come on, sometimes not. Never worked from cold and intermittent was a shambles. Took me three months to do anything about it.

If no speed 4 fan is yer biggest problem, you're doing alright

Bristol City Council have announced this bollocks...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-50292596
...so we're having to consider the future usage of our Freelander which, until recently, was used for a daily commute to the city. The proposition [apparently] still needs formal government approval so ain't set in stone. Probably just another bit of manifesto-bolstering posturing from the mung bean munchers...

weemac said:

Bristol City Council have announced this bollocks...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-50292596
...so we're having to consider the future usage of our Freelander which, until recently, was used for a daily commute to the city. The proposition [apparently] still needs formal government approval so ain't set in stone. Probably just another bit of manifesto-bolstering posturing from the mung bean munchers...

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Going to be eggspensive for shops to receive daily deliveries if it's a dedicated own shop brand truck. Is there a park and ride option you could use if this goes ahead?

Hippo said:

Going to be eggspensive for shops to receive daily deliveries if it's a dedicated own shop brand truck. Is there a park and ride option you could use if this goes ahead?

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There are two Park and Ride sites near Bristol (north west, BS11 9QE and south east, BS4 5LR) although they close before 11pm and the eastern site is not accessible to vehicles over 2.1m. Some services appear to be reduced on Sundays and public holidays. The new MetroBus services run three routes from the north, west and east although there is no dedicated [free] parking to use these buses. They also run with reduced services on Sundays and public holidays.

As you say, businesses within the diesel ban zone will be hit very hard as will residents. A token scrappage scheme may appear but the idea that a local authority can expect the population to wholesale change to petrol or electric vehicles is preposterous.

I worked for a firm that operates three 3.5 tonne diesels on a shoestring. Their bread and butter work is waste timber collection in central Bristol. I can't see how businesses like that can survive in such circumstances. Utter madness.

This is what annoys me about the whole environment thing, they just expect car owners to scrap their older vehicle and put £20k+ on a new electric/hybrid vehicle on Tick like its nothing with maybe a small grant from the government to sweeten the deal

Someone raised it recently on R4 about we would be ignoring the national debt and get the personal debt amount per person down (car loans hpi payments etc etc ) which is increasing year by year and the presenter very quickly shut the lady up, .

I'm not a climate denier but im realistic that until an electric vehicle does 500+ mile to a charge every time its charged without trying like you can with a modern diesel I certainly won't be changing to one.



If the diesel ban comes into force are there any letters or numbers on your number plate that could be doctored with a bit of electrical tape to show a different number?

LUKBENPHI said:

This is what annoys me about the whole environment thing, they just expect car owners to scrap their older vehicle and put £20k+ on a new electric/hybrid vehicle on Tick like its nothing with maybe a small grant from the government to sweeten the deal

Someone raised it recently on R4 about we would be ignoring the national debt and get the personal debt amount per person down (car loans hpi payments etc etc ) which is increasing year by year and the presenter very quickly shut the lady up, .

I'm not a climate denier but im realistic that until an electric vehicle does 500+ mile to a charge every time its charged without trying like you can with a modern diesel I certainly won't be changing to one

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There is no economy in electric vehicles. It's all a myth as far as I can make out. Too expensive to produce and expensive to buy, even with subsidies. Just an opportunity for governments to hand production contracts to their pals. It's funny that Land Rover think they can save Castle Bromich with EV.

LUKBENPHI said:

If the diesel ban comes into force are there any letters or numbers on your number plate that could be doctored with a bit of electrical tape to show a different number?

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Ha! depends on how 'proper' the ANPR system is! It would have to be a clone of another silver 3 door Freelander.

weemac said:

There is no economy in electric vehicles. It's all a myth as far as I can make out. Too expensive to produce and expensive to buy, even with subsidies. Just an opportunity for governments to hand production contracts to their pals. It's funny that Land Rover think they can save Castle Bromich with EV.

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We're still in the very early days of EV's so (in this country anyway) they are only being bought by green warriors and tech enthusiasts.
I predict in the next 5 years the battery technology will advance to the point where they will be a no brainer, both financially and practically.
If only the manufacturers can stand up to the oil companies and build cars with a decent range then push them.
Tesla were able to build a car with genuine 300 plus mile range six years ago yet no other car company has come close since.
Why not?
Is it because Tesla are so much smarter than Mercedes BMW, Volkswagan, PSA group etc?
I don't think so, I think they are all dragging their heels because of the money they spent on engine development over the last 80 years, not to mention the pressure from the oil companies.
Eventually they will have to leave ICE behind because at some point in the near future electric cars will start to snowball in popularity and it will be impossible to sell a new ICE car.

Back on topic.

Repeated the restorative work on the near side rear wheelarch and frame. I may have found my first bit of welding. The inner front wheel arch metal (above the sill) is heavily pitted and my eagerness with the hammer discovered some holes. Although it's unsightly and prone to further rot, I've just stripped the rust, treated and lathered in underseal for now. We'll come back to it once I've sorted a better power supply into the garage (for welding).









Continuing to mirror the O/S work, the ABS sensor had to come out and, oh dear. I hadn't factored in the cold making the plastic more brittle. The first hint of leverage snapped the retaining tab. Another lesson learned At least it eventually came out in once piece but it's put the ABS MIL on.

Had a proper poke at the fuel tank cradle, too. Most of the support plates are now iron oxide cornflakes in the garage bin. The tubular sections are still solid enough and, surprisingly, the bolts are near untouched by rot.





A bit of interogation with the pointy stick...






Gave as thorough wire brushing as I could and hit it with the Rust Reformer to slow the rust down. I'll be removing the support plates entirely while the cradle is still bolted into place (some small spot welds here and there). I'll make up some new panels and work on how to fix them to the tubes without welding. I'm looking to scavenge some stainless sheet but beggars can't be choosers

weemac said:

Had a proper poke at the fuel tank cradle, too. Most of the support plates are now iron oxide cornflakes in the garage bin. The tubular sections are still solid enough and, surprisingly, the bolts are near untouched by rot.

A bit of interogation with the pointy stick...

Gave as thorough wire brushing as I could and hit it with the Rust Reformer to slow the rust down. I'll be removing the support plates entirely while the cradle is still bolted into place (some small spot welds here and there). I'll make up some new panels and work on how to fix them to the tubes without welding. I'm looking to scavenge some stainless sheet but beggars can't be choosers

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You can undo the two rear bolts and drop the cradle down enough to replace the support plates, it's easier to hold the fuel tank up if it's near empty.
I used cable ties a couple of times and home made saddles once to secure them.