What have you done to your Freelander today

Rich in Vancouver · Mar 2, 2017

I have finally got my V6 Facelift Freelander working again. It was running on 5 cylinders and giving a code that Coil F secondary or primary circuit was faulty.
Over the last 3 months I have replaced the spark plugs, the coils from the rear bank, the wiring from Coil F back to the ECU, and for good measure the crank sensor and the cam sensor.
To make it even more challenging I received a duff cam sensor harness the first time. In the end the only thing left to change was the ECU itself. Of course, my Hippo is a North American model and the ECU is matched to the immobilizer and the key chip so it's not a simple matter of swapping the thing out. I ended up buying a numbers matching ECU out of California off E-Bay and shipped both of them to Cartech Electronics in the UK to have a data transfer done. (None of the ECU shops I contacted in North America wanted to touch it)
True to their word Cartech did the transfer in 3 days and I installed the ECU today. It worked right off and after clearing the old codes the Hippo is running well again.
What an ordeal! Made even worse by having to order most of the parts from either the US or the UK and having to check one component before moving on to the next.
Phew!

GrumpyGel · Mar 2, 2017

Wow, what a monumental amount of effort - presumably as well while all these electronic bits were traversing the Atlantic you didn't know for sure that they would fix the problem.

Well done, are you feeling ****ed off because of the problems or elated at having fixed them?

Rich in Vancouver · Mar 2, 2017

GrumpyGel said:
Wow, what a monumental amount of effort - presumably as well while all these electronic bits were traversing the Atlantic you didn't know for sure that they would fix the problem.

Well done, are you feeling ****ed off because of the problems or elated at having fixed them?

I'm feeling Relieved!
You are right, I was never 100% sure that the ECU was the problem so it was a combination of a leap of faith and last resort when I sent the ECU
off for the data transfer. In the end the whole performance cost me the equivilant of 1000. quid. (possibly more, I don't want to add it up!)
The worst part is that the Hippo was out of commission over the worst winter we have had for years.
With an 80km round trip to work every day eventually I broke down and bought another car, so now the Hippo goes up for sale.
It's a pity as I really enjoyed driving it, but I'm not putting myself through that again.

Nodge68 · Mar 2, 2017

Rich in Vancouver said:
I'm feeling Relieved!
You are right, I was never 100% sure that the ECU was the problem so it was a combination of a leap of faith and last resort when I sent the ECU
off for the data transfer. In the end the whole performance cost me the equivilant of 1000. quid. (possibly more, I don't want to add it up!)
The worst part is that the Hippo was out of commission over the worst winter we have had for years.
With an 80km round trip to work every day eventually I broke down and bought another car, so now the Hippo goes up for sale.
It's a pity as I really enjoyed driving it, but I'm not putting myself through that again.

Glad you sorted it out. It's a shame to sell the hippo on, especially after so much work. It is very unlucky to have an ECU output driver fail. The ECU is well protected against such events.
Glad it's sorted though.

Rich in Vancouver · Mar 2, 2017

And it happened so innocently. I was just accelerating into a left turn from a standstill and it started misfiring. I thought it had popped into limp mode but it didn't respond to switch off/switch on.
And that was the start of 3 1/2 months of diagnostics and repairs.

Alibro · Mar 2, 2017

Rich in Vancouver said:
And it happened so innocently. I was just accelerating into a left turn from a standstill and it started misfiring. I thought it had popped into limp mode but it didn't respond to switch off/switch on.
And that was the start of 3 1/2 months of diagnostics and repairs.

Well done for getting it sorted mate but sorry to see you leave the fold.

Sounds like you were unlucky.
I sold my MGF last year and SWMBO's TD4 last month so Bertie is my only Rover.

Rich in Vancouver · Mar 3, 2017

I`m not gone yet!
I agree, it was an unlucky failure.
I do still have my MGF. As a matter of fact I had to reinsure it to get me to work when the Hippo packed it in.
It`s no fun driving through a blizzard white-out in the smallest car on the freeway-Scary!
By the end of December I had had enough of that and went to the local Chevy dealer and bought a 2016 Cruze.
It has turned out to be ideal for my commute so it`s staying, and the MGF is back on stands in it`s winter quarters
getting a delayed suspension rebuild.

NeilTD4 · Mar 3, 2017

Set about replacing the radiator yesterday by dismantling everything (in the sunshine) and fitted the new one this morning (in the rain) and it's quite an undertaking!

The one I have replaced was a replacement I had fitted just over 4 years ago. I had it fitted by my local LR specialist, but guessing it was just a generic one as I can't find any identifying marks on it.

This time I have gone genuine as I found a brand new one on the bay for less than a Nissens one.

I bought some Laser Tools 4976 brake hose clamps which saved me having to drain the whole engine, just the rad.

One thing I noticed, is that my 04 TD4 SE is pre wired for front fogs…

Skinny Mike · Mar 4, 2017

Fitted a replacement O/S power fold mirror. £45 fleabay special, and it works

Greased the front window regulator N/S and O/S and sundry cables etc.
Greased the rear door regulator and other bits and bobs.
Washed the air filter, pipercross green sponge type.
Cleaned the MAF again with what was left after the last go.
So the Hippo is back to full strength with no faults

Just in time for the weather to get better so I can start tinkering and break it, again

Mike

Lukas430000 · Mar 4, 2017

Fitted MG rear view mirror. Easy enough. Mine have earth cable going to courtesy light so it was clear matter to splice wires and its working spot on. Car is great to work on. easy and cheerful.

Rich in Vancouver · Mar 4, 2017

Took the Hippo for a nice long test drive now that it's running again.
Of course after all the work it's running better than ever.

baptista · Mar 5, 2017

over the last days:
fixed the exaust, and found out the VCU's rear bearing is seized

fitted a center console, had to homemake the rear bracket since the breacker didn't sent it...

also tried to fit some steering wheel controls but it is not so plug and play

Lukas430000 · Mar 5, 2017

Spruced up an engine bay a bit. After my adventure with timing, clutch, bent valves and head gasket. I have purchased new Ht leads, plugs, distributor cap and arm. I have replaced my flat spark plug cover with fancy one from rover and added a wee personal touch to it. Also found exhaust heat shield to protect alternator cables. Might be a bit rusty but does the job.

Also as mentioned before fitted front spots. Wired to high beam. I don't think there will be mot issue till at least november.
Interior gained MG rear view mirror. They are absolutely the same. Landy one even have precuts for downlights. One on the left MG one on the right Landy one. As You can see there is space for downlights.

It i possible to fit some other leds. As there is a tons of space inside. And frame and glass are removable. There is possibility to retrofit auto dimmi g from other car I think.

Hippo · Mar 8, 2017

Driven 400 miles without breaking down.

GrumpyGel · Mar 8, 2017

Hippo said:
Driven 400 miles without breaking down.

That's a fair workout - and a few liters of fuel in the V6!

Tempus Fugit · Mar 8, 2017

Sold it.

4Bee4Bee · Mar 8, 2017

Passed MOT - no advisories : 2003 TD4 with 101k on clock

@Lukas, I like the idea of the swapping in an MG rear view mirror with the lamps. I just checked on mine and can see the cutouts for where the lights would go. Could certainly do with a version that has the lights, for that one central curtesy light in the 3 door hippo is pretty poor.

Lukas430000 · Mar 8, 2017

4Bee4Bee said:
Passed MOT - no advisories : 2003 TD4 with 101k on clock

@Lukas, I like the idea of the swapping in an MG rear view mirror with the lamps. I just checked on mine and can see the cutouts for where the lights would go. Could certainly do with a version that has the lights, for that one central curtesy light in the 3 door hippo is pretty poor.

Mine is 5 door but I still like that mod. 3 door will be much imprved if it comes to lighting. Mg mirrors are quite popular at scraps. Mine came with a loads of wire. And at cost of 5 quid was a great bargain. It have 3 wires. Black and two purple. One with tracer. My courtesy light have 3 wires. I know some of them came with 2 and earth through fixing. No problem to use scotch locks and rewire as colours are the same.

I have few other mods in mind. Have spare brand new backbox from my boyracer times. Unfortunately the exit is 3,5" so a bit big. But sounds a beast. It would snuggly fit where the standard is but with side exit. Behind driver side rear wheel. Might try to test fit it.

GrumpyGel · Mar 8, 2017

Tempus Fugit said:
Sold it.

Shame.

Still, at least you can buy another one now

Tempus Fugit · Mar 8, 2017

Going to see one tomorrow afternoon TD4 this time and a manual as well. Lots of bells and whistles and lowish miles. There's also an auto on the radar but a basic one.

Will be my 5th. Am I sane????

What have you done to your Freelander today

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