Freelander Faults poll

Nick the greek said:

It comes into the car via the black box thing above the footwell but only when its raining, coolant levels never change, I think there's a missing bung under the wiper mech, I'll investigate tomorrow if the weather allows

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Avocet1 said:

Does the car have air conditioning? There's usually a drain hole in the bottom of the heater box, to allow condensation to drip out when the aircon is running. Often they have a little rubber spout pushed into the hole, to carry the water away and through the bulkhead so that it drips on to the ground under the car. These (I've never seen a Freelander one) often end in a sort of "fish tail" so that they can drip water out but not suck air into the heater box, and that can get blocked with mushy dead leaves and the like. Then it overflows into the footwell.

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Avocet1 said:

Does the car have air conditioning? There's usually a drain hole in the bottom of the heater box, to allow condensation to drip out when the aircon is running. Often they have a little rubber spout pushed into the hole, to carry the water away and through the bulkhead so that it drips on to the ground under the car. These (I've never seen a Freelander one) often end in a sort of "fish tail" so that they can drip water out but not suck air into the heater box, and that can get blocked with mushy dead leaves and the like. Then it overflows into the footwell.

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Togo said:

I've got x2 of these. A '07' HSE and a '10' HSE.
Over the years I've changed shafts, CV's, seals for the air intake (which let water in when going through a puddle & turned the filter to paper mâché clogging the inlet & putting me into limp mode), a split hose & various other wear & tear related problems. Both cars have been worked hard. Slight tear to the side of the drivers seat leather on one but this is common. Up to now both have been fine - and then within a week of each other both now have faults - one major. The heater has just packed up in the '10' car. About to go into garage to be sorted and the crank shaft has snapped on the '07' where it connects to the high pressure fuel pump. In being replaced & rebuilt now. I'm told this is also a common problem with the Freelander. Bl***y expensive though.
With a decent set of winter tires (I use Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme S) these have been great little cars & never left me stranded. Sods law they have both let me down now as just valeted, repaired, serviced & MOT'd ready to sell both & buy a Range Rover - all on hold until fixed. I can't complain though - the '07' now has 188,000 on the clock and the '10' now has 138,000 on it and the interior trims still looks fresh & have stood up well - not a single rattle or creak from either car.

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comeinhandy said:

I’ve had 3 freelander 1’s a 1.8 5 door, a TD4 and now a 1.8 3 door. I’ve done a lot of fixes (see long fix with solutions below) but I would still regard them as a reliable day to day car (despite the list below! - a lot of which can be common to a lot of cars) and I still like them. A lot are still going at 20 years old, with good bodywork, which is a good testament.

Central locking door lock fixes: https://youtu.be/Tc4Fvg9GWYY
Floppy door mirror fix: https://youtu.be/DvfiTR8N0wA
Fixing electric window cable https://youtu.be/btQ50b5lHos
Rear tail window fix: https://youtu.be/xLQOzLaq5mw
How to fix the rear door electric window: https://youtu.be/BKaiaPNmTzw
Fixing the clutch, low bite point: https://youtu.be/4X8oAR3aYNA
Crankcase filter upgrade on TD4 to cut smoke: https://youtu.be/FQwZrjGUN-o
Fixing the engine temperature and heater being too cold: https://youtu.be/wQCDvhasrh8
Changing the LP fuel pump and fuel filter: https://youtu.be/BPHUbgBAF_I
Fixing the fuel burning heater (aux heater): https://youtu.be/BFVqjFYsV2M
Fixing the HP fuel pump regulator: https://youtu.be/l0kEew05Vw0
Fixing TD4 smoke: https://youtu.be/sJFHvKIGHIA
Fixing the SRS warning light: https://youtu.be/4kap_pNlZHI
Making the petrol k-series engine reliable: https://youtu.be/aMcjc3LmMv0
How to fix & monitor VIS motors on the 2.5 V6 engine: https://youtu.be/_4NNxnxKugI
Starter motor fix (generic Bosch): https://youtu.be/rtuMCh3iIlw
Fixing a torn car seat (generic): https://youtu.be/qRDXUsOD6SA
Clutch slave cylinder fix on petrol k-series cars: https://youtu.be/z8t2dvIP3cY

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Tenchman said:

I watch your YouTube vids buddy fantastic, are you doing one on the VCU service and checks?

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comeinhandy said:

Thanks. I did check my VCU the other day and as it’s not too complicated I didn't do a video, if there is a demand I will reconsider it. As far as the test goes there seem to be plenty of descriptions on how to do it in forums. Basically put in gear jack up one rear wheel, brakes off (make sure brakes aren’t binding by rotating to feel with both rear wheels off ground beforehand), attach a long wrench to 22mm socket on wheel nut, extend it to 1.2m by taping on a broom handle/bar. Attach 5kg weight to the point 1.2m away from wheel nut/socket, position at 1:30pm angle and time the time it takes to rotate down to 3pm angle, a change of 45 degrees which should take under a minute. Mine took 45 secs, so good fortunately.

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Scousebrian said:

I have. FL1 55 TD4 HSE m47 eng.since 2013 90000 miles been well looked after ,first couple of years flew thru MOTs just general wear ,tyres exhaust ,brakes bulbs gaiters etcserviced regularly .runs great ,used off road as well then rust started all new window regulators ,wishbones sunroof rotten and leaks ,boot tool well floods ,but I love it drove lots of LRs in the past this is definitely the best .just passed another MOT ,with one to watch ,fuel tank cradle ,which is shot ,don’t know how it is supporting the tank ,replacement is passed my pay grade ,someone told me you can use 2 tank support straps ,anyone done this , lanny is mint just a few scratches interior leather great , 153000 miles now still runs great BMW M47 engine is so smooth never touched it .I’m retired now ,LR is great for those fishing trips to Scotland ,I’m sure it’s good for another 10 years ,

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Avocet1 said:

Yes, I've seen people us a couple of ratchet straps to hold the tank in. The MOT requirement is for it to be "secure". A lot of Freelanders are failed incorrectly because the Freelander tank cradle

also has bits of steel sheet welded to it to provide a bit of off-road protection. These bits of sheet steel tend to rust and then some MOT testers fail them, whereas the actual load-bearing part of the cradle that supports the tank, is the tubular part. If that is still sound, it should pass. If it isn't sound, however, they are relatively cheap and easy to source, (have a look on eBay or other online retailers), but quite a big job to fit.

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