Finally got another Freelander...

Odd that, but my Golf (130 PD) was actually more economical at 75/80 than at 70, but best figures was at 65-70 which gave 75mpg regularly. Outstanding! Shame the 180 remap was too much for it! It was damned good while it lasted!! I stick to 60-65 in the Freelander and it helps a lot I reckon.

Ok, so drove about 100 miles today and it was lovely. Couldn't be better, except for the smell of diesel every now and then...

Once I'd finished fitting the injectors, I loosely connected the fuel unions and turned the key to bleed out any possibly dirt contaminated diesel as the fuel pump primes itself. Worked fine and then I mopped up as much diesel spillages as I could from around the injector site. Obviously must have missed some as it bloody stinks when in traffic jams! Any ideas how to clean it out without stripping everything down to much?

Does anyone actually read this?

Anyway, as I'm doing a lot of the 'essential' Freelander jobs I'll keep reporting so that in the future when someone is told to do a search, they might find some of the info I couldn't...

Today's job was putting the correct bearing for a Senden PXV16 compressor clutch in. I have a spare 22mm bearing if anyone wants one, unused which I believe is the correct size for the Denso/Delphi pump, whereas the Senden model uses 20mm. Perfect fit this time but the shim appears to be too thin now as there is no air gap between the plate and pulley, so I have removed the shim to find some more and play around with it. Was absolutely ****ing it down when I did it and was quite ****ed off that I had to take it off again after failing to find the shim size online. External dia 12mm, internal 8mm, and mine appears to be 1mm thick. So I'll try a 1mm, .5mm and put together that should give me a range to play with. I shall report back next week on that one.

The other job I did at last was to fit the inline thermostat in the radiator top hose, using the method on the Rover 75 forums. I fitted a Gates thermostat from a Renault 5 and I soaked it in the pink coolant that came out as a lube, then pushed it in. I didn't have to remove the hose as it went in fairly easily really. A few taps with a hammer and socket then final push with a screwdriver, a side at a time. It doesn't have to go all the way in as the bulb can happily go into the plastic part without issue. Mine has about 3-4mm clearance from the plastic housing and then secured with a jubilee clip, on the hose/housing and also around the thermostat body. Used a dremel type tool with the rotary disc cutter and it went through the metal strap easily and quickly. Very easy job to do, then warmed up and topped up as I went. Didn't lose much fluid and didn't need much bleeding. Now I have a heater that heats to proper hot levels, and a needle sitting firmly halfway on the temp gauge. Result...

I'm reading it.

I'm reading it ....

Cool! I'll carry on then! Turned the Ronbox dial all the way up to 11 today and it flies! Well, for a diesel Freelander anyway.. My mate's X-Trail (136bhp) is definitely quicker on road, but you feel every bump and the Freelander will **** all over it off road as his doesn't have traction control, and that's definitely a leveller. He's even starting to come over the dark side way of thinking...

Spacemonkey... said:

Cool! I'll carry on then! Turned the Ronbox dial all the way up to 11 today

Click to expand...

My Ronbox only goes up to 10..........

Epicuser said:

My Ronbox only goes up to 10..........

Click to expand...

Spinal Tap - "These go to eleven...." - YouTube

Desperately after some new shim washers for the AC clutch and having absolutely no joy.

See the new thread I have started in the General section:

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f16/shim-washers-required-any-ideas-where-240705.html#post2808569

Finally fitted the silicon intercooler hoses on mine. I got the 3 hose kit and cut the last 3 " or so off the long hose to fit my sensor. Much improved over the 'original'. I think they used an old hose and fitted it straight on the sensor, hence it was about 3" too long, which made it rub on the big nuts for the pump underneath it. My new one doesn't touch anything. Sorry, didn't take pics, but they're red, so naturally it goes faster than the blue ones.

Also phoned around for a flat steel bar to make a tool to de-tension my belts as the 24mm nut on the tensioner is loose so the normal method won't work. After my cold is gone I shall go around and pick it up. There's a nasty moise form the belts area which I hope and suspect is the tensioner or idler bearings. It sounds like straight cut gearbox that is too tight, if that makes sense. There's nothing wrong with the water pump or the electrics so I'm fairly sure it's not the pump or alternator bearings. I've already done the AC bearing and not fitted the belt yet, so it's not that, but the sound is similar.

This is me today:

man flu - YouTube


Every time I try to do anything my nose just turns into a tap at full flow! Yesterday at work I gave up trying to wipe it and just let it run everywhere as I couldn't keep taking gloves off to get a snotrag. My missus is feeding me lots of ginger soup and ginger tea along with anything with chillies in which is helping a lot. She's got a cold too, but she'll live.

Right, well, knocked up the flat bar and all was good- except there was nothing to use as a lever! So that idea got scrapped after an hour of different ideas. So, tried a 15mm on the back of the tensioner and 24mm up front but couldn't do much. Suspected the 24mm might be reverse thread so just kept doing the anticlockwise thing, until after a while I noticed the belt was slacking slightly each time. Tried to slip the belt off the silver idler while pulling the spanner down and it came off. As I released the tensioner, the spanner got jammed against the chassis, but I took the belt off and checked everything else while I could. Waterpump, alternator and the other pump all seemed fine, but the idler was quite graunchy. Swapped the idler over then fitted the aircon belt. I still don't have the correct shim to increase the air gap, so the aircon will be on all the time until I do, but changing the shim is a simple affair that does not require belt removal. I can live with that- at least the belt and tensioner is all new now as the AC tensioner was really shot.. Can't see how I can get the tensioner out as the holding nut at the end of the arm is only really accessible when the alternator is off and I didn't have time today so that can wait. Routing the belt was straight forward as was getting it back on the silver idler once the tensioner was slackened. I used a couple of bits of wood to stop the belt jumping off the top pulleys while I was underneath. Checked again then fired up. Everything fine- much quieter, but still a bit of noise from the tensioner, but I will change that later when I have more time as it's nowhere near as bad as the others were. So job done for now and nowhere near as bad as people say...

Had a quick shufty at the clutch pipework as I want to bleed that soon and found that self sealing connector someone mentioned the other day so I'll have a crack at that next along with overhauling the brake shoes etc. Will buy some new ones before taking it all apart as they're not dear. and then I know it's done.

Hi mate,

So was it you air com pump causing you issue? My dads k series has a noisy air con pump and I was planning to replace the bearing as you have, if you have that bearing going drop me a PM with a price

Overall good work mate, seems to me that doesn't matter how new or old the FL is they all just need some TLC. My td4 has for almost 160k on it now and still going strong so you have years in that bad boy

Cheers

Spacemonkey... said:

Can't see how I can get the tensioner out as the holding nut at the end of the arm is only really accessible when the alternator is off...

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That is really anoying - you come to work on something, and you have to work on something else before you can do it !!!!

The drivers side indicator on my FL keeps 'packing a sad' - the bulb doesn't blow - it just stops working - I worked this out of course after replacing the bulb a coupe of times. Its the connection where the bulb holder plugs into the unit. So yesterday I thought I'd remove the light housing to see if I could look inside and clean the connector - but it looks like the whole bumper has to come off before I can remove the light - bugger.

Resorted to conventional firefighting - wiggled all the wires and wobbled the bulb holder and its working again. But I know it won't work for long.

GrumpyGel said:

That is really anoying - you come to work on something, and you have to work on something else before you can do it !!!!

The drivers side indicator on my FL keeps 'packing a sad' - the bulb doesn't blow - it just stops working - I worked this out of course after replacing the bulb a coupe of times. Its the connection where the bulb holder plugs into the unit. So yesterday I thought I'd remove the light housing to see if I could look inside and clean the connector - but it looks like the whole bumper has to come off before I can remove the light - bugger.

Resorted to conventional firefighting - wiggled all the wires and wobbled the bulb holder and its working again. But I know it won't work for long.

Click to expand...

Those indicator bulb holders are very weak. Both my FL's had bad ones.
The spring connection which touches the side of the bulb gets weaker until it doesn't protrude enough to make contact. You can try to bend it out but eventually it breaks.
They unplug fairly easily though. I fixed mine by rebuilding it with copious amounts of solder.
But you can buy them online for a few quid.

roccotune said:

Hi mate,

So was it you air com pump causing you issue? My dads k series has a noisy air con pump and I was planning to replace the bearing as you have, if you have that bearing going drop me a PM with a price

Overall good work mate, seems to me that doesn't matter how new or old the FL is they all just need some TLC. My td4 has for almost 160k on it now and still going strong so you have years in that bad boy

Cheers

Click to expand...

On mine the AC bearing was an issue, as was the Ac tensioner pulley, the main aux belt idler pulley and probably the main tensioner pulley too. All because some wazzock went nuts with degreaser down there... :clap2:


If you're sure the bearing I have is the right size for you (the 22mm wide one) then let me know and you can have it for £18 posted, bearing in mind the cheapest I could find online was £40 plus postage...

Let me know.

Will drop you a pm when I'm on my computer tomorrow as don't think I can from phone app. It's deffo the pump.

Cheers mate

Well today the sun was shining and the air was warm ish and the ground was almost dry so I decided to crack on and get some jobs done. I'd read up on what was needed to change the aux belt tensioner and it sounded a right ****e of a job, so I'd been putting it off, but the screeching was getting quite embarrassing....

Well it's now done and the engine is lovely and quiet! The tensioner bearing was totally shagged- loads of play and dry as a nun's foo-foo. So, to get it off the undertray, side cover and belts come off, then the water pipe under the engine has to come off, the AC pump has to move, to get the AC bracket off, to get the alternator off, to get access to the 8mm locking nut on the back of the tensioner to remove the tensioner. Well, that's the theory. In practice the water pipe only has to have it's 3x8mm mounting bolts removed and it quite happily sits slightly out of the way so no need to drain the water. This is the same procedure to replace the alternator or AC pump so remember that... The pipe only has to move an inch or so to access the bolt holding the AC pump (3x10mm IIRC). The RAVE says to just swing it out the way. Which would be easy if it wasn't for the electrical wires on the opposite end of the AC pipes. I dropped it and rested it on the water pipe, the bumper lip and a bottle jack. Then the 3x10mm bolts are easy to get to to remove the AC support bracket. Once that's gone it's a 10mm bolt on the wire end of the alternator (you did disconnect the battery and remove the wires? Good..) just needs loosening, the 13mm lower bolt needs loosening, then the top 13mm bolt needs removing and the alternator swings down out of the way. Remove the bolt holding the dipstick pipe so that can move to allow better access. Believe me- you will need it..

And now for the fun part: getting the 8mm nut off the back of the tensioner pulley. I'd already removed the silver idler pulley (which I had replaced earlier as it too was shagged) which is a 5mm or so allen bolt. I used an 8mm ratchet spanner on the nut but it's quite hard to tell if it is loosening as you might get 1 click at a time on the ratchet so this takes forever and a day. I placed a magnet nearby so I wouldn't lose the nut if it fell off, which would be just my luck. I had to feed my right hand from the space behind the fans and around the dipstick to hold and move the spanner, while my left hand somehow turned and held the end of the ratchet bit on the nut. Painful to say the least, and I'm lucky I have gynaecologist's hands- long and slim. Sausage Fingers need not apply. So finally removed and then to remove the tensioner, it has to come out from the engine towards the wheel about 2cm to get it out of the tensioner slot then it can be spun 180degrees and pulled out. Except it can't as there's a chassis member right in the way. Basically, you have to lower the engine by an inch to clear it. Bugger. And it was all going so well.

By now the sun was getting low so it was time to get the lights out and hurry up! I put a jack under the sump and took the weight while removing the ait intake system to reveal the 4 14mm IIRC bolts holding the top of the engine to the engine mount on the drivers side (right). The jack was then lowered until the pulley could be removed. Hurrah! Finally out!!! Changed the seal (you'll see if you ever do it) then replaced the tensioner and jacked the engine up and refitted those engine mount bolts as quick as I could. Refitting everything was the reverse of removal as the Haynes Book of Lies likes to say, except for use of copper grease. Fired up and.......... silence!! Well, relatively speaking. SOOOOO much nicer!! :5bhurray:


As it was dark, I put things in the car and left it up on the ramps. Tomorrow I shall do it's oil change and then put the tray back on and cut the hole for the sump plug removal in the future. Can't believe I've done over 7k miles already....

Well, that's all the nasty jobs that needed doing when I bought it. Feel like celebrating now!! :lvbear-176: Think I'll go and see my great uncle and get blasted on his home made grog. We can celebrate his 87th birthday. :5bcheers2:

Well done, sounds like a right palarva.

Certainly was! At least doing the belts now is a piece of ****. The Halfords Pro 24mm spanner is perfect for the job. Can't believe all the horror stories were putting me off for so long...

thanks spacemonkey very interesting and well worth the read