Freelander 1 TD4 2005 thermostat fastener torque

Hello,
I'm in France and just collected a facelift 2005 TD4, (257000km/160000miles). My french skills are reasonable but sometimes I don't get the full answer I am seeking.

There was a new thermostat in a box. SELLER: - "The previous owner said the thermostat was leaking but I never had fluid leaks, so the Quinton Hazell part he supplied stayed in it's box".

Hmmm. A local test drive at slowish speeds showed the temp' gauge coming up and so I thought the seller may be being truthful. Good heat from the heater. A week later when I collected the car, my 2 hour drive home showed the thermostat is stuck (open fortunately) . So I have the part and will change it out. I have yet to check the live data and for any fault codes... (Oh and the fecking driver door glass actuator failed; raining too. Fortunately I could get it back in place and it held. I laughed; but not much).

I know access is poor, some people contemplate calling The Samaritans and some do the inline mod. But I want to do the job and put the thermostat in it's correct place.

SO, my questions are these; is there a published torque for the 4 fasteners please? Has anyone found that the Torx fasteners are stuck or shear off? Anyone used a smear of loctite on the threads?

Thanks in advance!

PS - when I got home, my dog barked incessantly for 15 minutes at the car.

Haynes shows 9 Nm so not very tight!!

Access is through the wheel arch gap by the track rod end.
It is a bit like delivering a calf through a letter box!!
Not done the stat only but did the pump and stat. Might be easier to remove pump?? Someone else will have done it and will let you know best way.
If you don't take the pump off you'll have to loosen the coolant rail as it has a short length that enters the stat at the top. Replace the O ring while you are in there.

andyfreelandy said:

Haynes shows 9 Nm so not very tight!!

Access is through the wheel arch gap by the track rod end.
It is a bit like delivering a calf through a letter box!!
Not done the stat only but did the pump and stat. Might be easier to remove pump?? Someone else will have done it and will let you know best way.
If you don't take the pump off you'll have to loosen the coolant rail as it has a short length that enters the stat at the top. Replace the O ring while you are in there.

Click to expand...

Thanks Andy! Sounds like I better get the Haynes manual!!
9Nm is nothing! That was my concern, that it would be quite low. I think I'll do that and put a touch of loctite in.

As for changing the pump, well I think that is quite the right thing to do. After 15 years and 160K miles of heat cycling and coolant through it, it's possibly as tired as the thermostat. I'm aiming to have a vehicle that will last me another 10-15years. Reliability is everything.

Red wine and surfing for Freelander fixes, playing with my dog and drinking red wine is far more enjoyable than telly! I delivered a calf a few weeks back too, but not through a letter box. Tight exit though...

From experience the pump lasts about 150k then the bearing collapses and the belt comes off!!
Worth doing as it means that the coolant rail can stay in place. That is tricky to remove or loose as the bolts are deep under the rear of the engine.
I class myself as reasonably competent and the pump change took me about 4 hours including changing the start, cutting the old gasket (should be a new section for the pump in the box when you buy it) and refilling with coolant.
Good luck!

Download Rave manual. There is a link on this forum somewhere!!

andyfreelandy said:

From experience the pump lasts about 150k then the bearing collapses and the belt comes off!!
Worth doing as it means that the coolant rail can stay in place. That is tricky to remove or loose as the bolts are deep under the rear of the engine.
I class myself as reasonably competent and the pump change took me about 4 hours including changing the start, cutting the old gasket (should be a new section for the pump in the box when you buy it) and refilling with coolant.
Good luck!

Click to expand...

Can I ask which make of pump you opted for please?

andyfreelandy said:

Download Rave manual. There is a link on this forum somewhere!!

Click to expand...

Just did!

Can't remember but bought it from a factors rather than ebay as I didn't fancy doing it again for a while!!

andyfreelandy said:

Can't remember but bought it from a factors rather than ebay as I didn't fancy doing it again for a while!!

Click to expand...

I have some bitter experience with eBay parts for my motorcycles and a peugeot partner van! I agree with you. Spend wisely, do it once and do it right. Why complain about main dealers prices, then go cheap yourself and end up spending twice as much or more, or worse still break down on a motorway in the ****ing rain en route to a funeral or wedding... wishing you had spent the extra £75 or whatever...

I'll let you know how it goes.

andyfreelandy said:

Can't remember but bought it from a factors rather than ebay as I didn't fancy doing it again for a while!!

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and this screen grab in the attached image makes my blood boil... Is this Brit Part masquerading as Valeo or vice versa????
Furious.

Hi, as @andyfreelandy says it's a bit of a pain doing just the thermostat, you can only get a spanner on a couple of the bolts due to lack of room so there's no chance of torquing them up again (unless you do the water pump) & the coolant rail fixings around the back of the engine are also very awkward, replace the o-ring p/no STC4540. You don't need to use thread lock on the bolts. I don't want to tempt fate but mine is on the original w/pump & has done 173,000 miles , best of luck whichever way you decide to go.

Replacing the torx bolts with standard hex bolts makes more room, as a socket is shorter than a torx bit.

IIRC I used a 1/4 drive socket operated by mole grips to do one of the concealed bolts!!!

It's been a while (for all sorts of reasons nobody will care about) but day before yesterday, I set about this awful installation design conundrum.

I got the thermostat and it's housing out with the use of thin wall Torx E8, stubby 1/4" drive and the use of a strong magnetic pick-up tool. I didn't need to move the coolant rail fixing other GENTLY persuading the thermostat out of it's recess. I doubt the coolant rail pipe flexed by more than 1,5mm to allow removal. The o-ring, p/no STC4540, had degraded badly and the reason for the leak. Time to extract all was about 4 hours. Ugh. Big hands and fat fingers made me not want to repeat such a waste of time on a factory original rebuild. Oh, and neither did I want to remove the engine support.

I decided to remove the thermostat from it's housing and chamfer the edges between the rail pipe feed so that I could easily re-install the housing, rotate it into position so that the potential insertion of STC4540 new o-ring would have minimal side load and squish. I re-assembled with hex-head bolts and used the face gasket from a new housing. Time to re-install, 45 minutes, including re-attach the bottom hose clamp. I believe I could now change that bloody o-ring in less than 90 minutes if it ever gives up again.

I have ordered the Rover 75 / MG ZT CDT/CDTi Inline (Top Hose) Thermostat Kit and will use that. It is a pragmatic solution.

Thank you to all for your contributive answers to my questions earlier in the year.

Still warm weather tonight, so I ran the engine to "bleed" the coolant and went for a drive. System is now coolant-tight! Just waiting for the post to get the inline kit to me.

Kerlaan said:

I set about this awful installation design conundrum.

Click to expand...

The issue is the engine was never designed to be transversely mounted.
In a BMW 3 series, the water pump and thermostat are easy to replace, because they're right at the front of the engine, below a decorative plastic cover.
Unfortunately in the Freelander transverse installation, these items end up being at the back of the engine, near the bottom, almost hard against the RH chassis rail, which makes access challenging.

Going to the top hose thermostat installation is definitely a good move long term.

Nodge68 said:

The issue is the engine was never designed to be transversely mounted.
In a BMW 3 series, the water pump and thermostat are easy to replace, because they're right at the front of the engine, below a decorative plastic cover.
Unfortunately in the Freelander transverse installation, these items end up being at the back of the engine, near the bottom, almost hard against the RH chassis rail, which makes access challenging.

Going to the top hose thermostat installation is definitely a good move long term.

Click to expand...

That explains a lot to me Nodge! Thanks. I hadn't thought about the longitudinal vs transverse issue at all. I sat looking at the thermostat housing wondering why two of the fastener lugs were chamfered, (and now after your enlightenment realising I was incorrect) thinking it was a measure to allow the housing to be rotated into position in the tight space and to clear against the pulley belt. Ugh.