Freelander 2 (LR2) Prospective first time FL2 buyer needs guidance please

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Sorry to resurrect this thread (yet again).

Hippo, thx for the excellent advice above. I haven't found anywhere to trial it yet (as its been back at the garage having the handbrake and rear passenger door unlocking mechaism fixed) but do intend to give it a go when I can.
Tyres match now on the rear, so hopefully that wont cause me any problems.
Havent had opportunity to get the Haldex serviced, but its still on the list.
Question time if I may? I asked at the begining of the thread if the car had swirl flaps (I owned a BMW 5 series and know of the scare stories) and told that it didnt. I have subsequently been told (on this forum in a different thread) that it has. Does the car have swirl flaps, and if so are they a real problem like on the BMWs that need replacing/blanking. Or are they pretty safe and not considered an issue?
Thanks in advance
 
Are you sure they aren’t talking about the Freelander 1 Td4, that was a BMW unit, the Td4 on the FL2 was built under Ford and is a different engine, I must admit I now think I know most of the weaknesses on the FL2 and I’ve never heard swirl flaps mentioned, the other guys might say different
 
Here is the other thread:
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/helllllppppp.361078/#post-4909941

And a couple of posts from people who have had problems:

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic17017.html

https://www.freel2.com/forum/post347596.html

I dont know if there are very few people who have suffered this problem, but in internet style it grows legs and seems like its a much bigger issue, or actually its just a one in a million unlucky circumstance.

In the BMW world if you had swirl flaps the perceived wisdom was to delete them and insert blanking discs ASAP.

In a quandry now and unsure what to do?

I wish I didnt need a car!
 
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sharmanator43 said:
If you want the definitive answer ask these guys, they’re happy to answer questions on the FL2 and they know every moving part of the FL2, let us know what they say though thanks
https://www.freelanderspecialist.com/
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I contacted them as you suggested. Below is the reply, but to cut to the chase YES the earlier FL2s had swirl flaps.

"
Thank you for your enquiry.
Yes, the 2009 Freelander will have swirl flaps, and yes, they can be problematic.
We would generally advise changing the inlet manifold about every 100,000 miles. The later models do not have the swirl flaps so you could change the inlet manifold to one of the later ones, however this will mean blocking up the vacuum actuator - it is not something we have done before so we are not sure if this can cause any issues long term.
The best solution is to replace the inlet manifold with a new one with the swirl flaps and put a blanking plate on the EGR valve."

So, how many people with FL2s up to (I think 2010) have experienced problems with their engine ingesting swirl flaps I wonder?

It's all I ever heard on the BMW forums, but FL2 forums dont seem to mention it much. Does that mean it's rarely an issue and worth risking not addressing?
 
I’m really thinking allowed here, and this might be a stupid response, please put me right if it is, but could it be something to do with BMW owners tend to drive their cars like they’re Exocet missiles with their foot constantly buried deep in the throttle 99% of the time, whereas most Land Rover owners (not including Range Rover Sport owners in this who are a common rival to the dangerous overtaking procedure club ) tend to drive at fairly normal speeds and low revs, could that extra tendency to lead foot the engine everywhere make a difference, just not sure, just a common observation, some of my best friends are BMW owners so this isn’t racist in any way
 
The FL2 diesel engines are a unit which was designed jointly by Ford and Peugeot citroen you can source some parts from Peugeot and many bits like brake calipers are clearly marked fomoco (mondeo I think).
I haven't heard of any problems with swirl flaps but cant claim to know all of its issues.
 
Thanks for bringing up the subject of swirl flaps, I had no idea the early FL2s had them and my FL2 is now in the mileage category of being in the danger zone, I’m determined to get my td4 to 200k and I’m lucky enough to live only 25 miles from Freelander specialists so I’ve booked in with sue to have the inlet manifold changed, I know this still gives me swirl flaps but at least I’m starting from scratch again and most people say it’s about the 100k mark when they fail
 
sharmanator43 said:
Thanks for bringing up the subject of swirl flaps, I had no idea the early FL2s had them and my FL2 is now in the mileage category of being in the danger zone, I’m determined to get my td4 to 200k and I’m lucky enough to live only 25 miles from Freelander specialists so I’ve booked in with sue to have the inlet manifold changed, I know this still gives me swirl flaps but at least I’m starting from scratch again and most people say it’s about the 100k mark when they fail
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One thing I have done is to blank off the EGR, this is what sends all the muck down the manifold, with it blanked should only be clean air from the air filter going through.
 
I actually did have that done last year, blanking plate and remap, my EGR was playing up intermittently so I initially took it in to replace the EGR and they said just get it blanked and remapped which I’m glad I did, my FL2 is 12 years old so I’m guessing some damage would of already occurred on the swirl flaps, now I’m getting the inlet manifold changed I feel like I’m starting from scratch with no future EGR crap fouling the flaps so it should hopefully no longer be a concern, although I’m sure someone will tell me otherwise lol
 
Fomoco is ford motor company. Ford insist a lot of their parts have this marted on them. I assume it helps with genuine part identification. The Freelander 2 project development was done when Ford owned LR so it's no surprise they use parts from within the group. Manufacturers have subcontracted supply of parts for years with the option to have details marked on it if they wish. If yer look round a FL2 you'll find a number of different names including Volvo. Makes sense to reduce cost. Use parts already available rather than creating another part the same. Lucas and others made parts for LR for years. Some with and without their name on.
 
sharmanator43 said:
You gotta tell me Nodge, what purchase, did I miss something, I’m curious :p
Click to expand...

I won this
20200714_154441.jpg
on an Ebay auction yesterday lunchtime. It's a 58 plate SE manual in what looks like really nice condition, with the optional sunroof, with 119k on the clock, but it has a misfire. It's unfortunate that I'll need to fix it, but it I won the auction with a £2k bid, which I think it's actually a pretty good deal. So now you know. Friday I'll be the owner of a red (not sure which red yet) FL2, which will need some heart surgery. :eek:
 
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Oh wow, 2k, I’d say you definitely did well, I must admit I was having a look on eBay yesterday for FL2s, I’m happy with mine but I still enjoy looking and there are a lot of good FL2s on eBay at the moment, most are a bit overpriced I must admit, surely at 2k though you can’t go wrong, if you do your own fettling as well, could be an interesting project, might only be something small like a faulty injector, I know the price of injectors isn’t small mind you, looks like a very tidy FL2 tho especially at that price :cool:
 
sharmanator43 said:
Oh wow, 2k, I’d say you definitely did well
Click to expand...
I know. I was shocked that it went for so little.:eek::eek: It'll be really good if it's a cheap fix, and doesn't need a new engine.

I keep thinking about fable about too good to be true and all that.:confused:
sharmanator43 said:
surely at 2k though you can’t go wrong, if you do your own fettling as well, could be an interesting project, might only be something small like a faulty injector, I know the price of injectors isn’t small mind you, looks like a very tidy FL2 tho especially at that price
Click to expand...
I wasn't after a project, but sometimes you just have to go with a roll of the dice.;)

Hopefully it'll make the 103 mile drive home, but if it doesn't then it'll be towed home with the wife's Mazda CX5.
 
You might want to check out the price of car transporter companies, I had a car transported a few years ago and was shocked how cheap it was, it certainly worked out cheaper than getting the train to the seller then fuel home, some transporter companies keep it cheap by working the collections in with other vehicles, might be worth a quick search on the net
 
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