What have you done to your Freelander today

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GrumpyGel said:
Got the remaining bolts back in the undertray today - less one, but that can stay off.

Turned to the wing mirror, offered the new one up and realised the inside plate has a larger diameter than the old one and was fouling the metal work. So concluded this was much a much bigger job than just drilling a couple of holes. So put the old one back on and will turn the radio up on our trip.

Then topped up the coolant. Oh dear, normally the expansion bottle is empty and it just needs filling. Did that this time, and it all drained away. Ooow. So filled it again... and it all drained away again. In all I had to fill the tank from empty to max about 3.5 times :oops:

I haven't noticed it filling the passenger footwell, but its obviously leaking. Anyway, got on to giving the car a sweep out of dirt, but mainly dog hair. Did the back, then front passenger side - lifted the rubber mat and underneath its sopping wet. Rubbed the carpet a bit to clear some dirt and carpet basically disintegrated as I rubbed it.

So, all in all, there's no putting it off now, that heater matrix has got to be replaced.
Click to expand...
Time flys when you're a lazy bugger.

Having not done anything with the wing mirrors, and losing the cover on our first fishing trip post lock down, the wing mirror has been rather naked. It needs its WOF (MOT) this week and I don't like the car looking to much like a tatty mess for the examiner in case it puts them in the mind to fail it before they start, so decided to swap the parts one over today.

Having taken the decision - that meant taking the drill to the door, if I cock it up, so be it. I didn't have a drill anywhere near big enough for the screw molding on the mirror to fit through, so used a 'countersink' bit! It didn't like cutting metal, but got the hole done in the end with some tidying up with a regular bit. I had to cut a few mils off the screw molding with an angle grinder, but having drilled and cut, the mirror went on OK. It's not aligned perfectly, but good enough. Having drilled the door for the '3rd' screw, I realised I'd lost the one from the parts car - so that isn't in at the moment till I can find a replacement, and the white 'clip' at the top for the 'top screw' snapped as well (stupid little fecker that is) - so the mirror really is only held on with the 2 main bolts.

Booked in for WOF 10:30 tomorrow.

Still haven't done the heater matrix and the car's still sopping wet.
 
Changed the tailgate drop glass for one with a working demister. That's going to be an absolute luxury this winter. Had the door handle off and checked all was well, no rust. Cleaned whole car outside, discovered it is black, not brown. Will clean the inside one day soon when I can be arrsed to bring the wheelbarrow round from the garden so I can tip the resultant mud into a raised bed. That's enough for now.
 
GrumpyGel said:
Time flys when you're a lazy bugger.

Having not done anything with the wing mirrors, and losing the cover on our first fishing trip post lock down, the wing mirror has been rather naked. It needs its WOF (MOT) this week and I don't like the car looking to much like a tatty mess for the examiner in case it puts them in the mind to fail it before they start, so decided to swap the parts one over today.

Having taken the decision - that meant taking the drill to the door, if I cock it up, so be it. I didn't have a drill anywhere near big enough for the screw molding on the mirror to fit through, so used a 'countersink' bit! It didn't like cutting metal, but got the hole done in the end with some tidying up with a regular bit. I had to cut a few mils off the screw molding with an angle grinder, but having drilled and cut, the mirror went on OK. It's not aligned perfectly, but good enough. Having drilled the door for the '3rd' screw, I realised I'd lost the one from the parts car - so that isn't in at the moment till I can find a replacement, and the white 'clip' at the top for the 'top screw' snapped as well (stupid little fecker that is) - so the mirror really is only held on with the 2 main bolts.

Booked in for WOF 10:30 tomorrow.

Still haven't done the heater matrix and the car's still sopping wet.
Click to expand...
As luck would have it, our daughter was going out after work tonight, so I dropped her off at work... and got a text to say a brake light was out on the car. So replaced the bulb before its WOF test.

However, still failed the test :(

All it failed on was the front/center diff mount. Which is amazing really as the car has been 2WD for 7 years now!

Any how, they are cheap as chips. Well $15 (£7.50) is cheap as chips, $65 once you add delivery is a bit more! Tried other UK suppliers, but the delivery on that 1 item was was expensive and a couple of the suppliers had warnings about delivery delays at the moment, so possibly wouldn't be here before the free retest. In the end I managed to source 1 in NZ (probably Sh*tpart) for $38 + $8 delivery. Not bad for 6 months road worthyness. Will cost a bit for the next WOF though as it will need at least 2 tyres, so that's at least $500.
 
Today I continued to removed various parts from the FL2 engine, including the starter, fuel rail, air filter housing and various other bits, relating to getting the cylinder head off.
 
Nothing on my Freelander takes a day.
Last week finished and fitted the Lightbar.
Well that took surplus parts, respraying parts, digging through the spares box,and a long shopping list from ebay. Its fitted and wiring into the car. Next week hopefully have it wired in and finished.
IMGP0918.jpg


IMGP0920.jpg


Golf GTi Oak Green, similar to Epson Green but not an exact match:
IMGP0921.jpg

Note the red theme that I've taken to the Freelander just for the fun of it all.
 
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Got the aircon refilled at Kwikfit. Good news is that it took a charge without any trouble. Bad news is that the compressor doesn't kick in. :( Well at least I got the refill for free, after that. Just need the new CV joint boot to be delivered so I can right the major wrongs on the old girl. I'm thinking I have a bad wheel bearing and an exhaust hanger left to sort out.
 
Its stealthy.
One day I did this to my old Freelander, now that is stealthy:
IMG-3976.jpg


This is the old one when first done:
IMG-4548.jpg


However, it had to be retired after 10 or so years. The new one looks a whole lot smarter, cost a good bit more, but will be doing the same job. Night Vision has improved no end too. Most is Deer Warden work, helping out the Emergency Services with deer related RTA's.
 
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Discovered this (mangled nut on left)
20200802_175759.jpg
sitting on the piston of my FL2, no wonder it was running on 3 cylinders, with the piston looking like this.
20200802_163232.jpg
 
Yeah, mangled nuts are a generally bad thing, except maybe as an ice cream topping. Verified my AC clutch isn't engaging and spotted a bit of an oil leak. It's marked its territory on the driveway.
 
Jayridium said:
other three are a weird assed shape, its almost like they have a cup holder recess in the centre of them, whats that all about?
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It's a diesel, and the head face is flat, so the air is squeezed in to that round recess with a domed centre to create swirl. The injector sprays in the centre and as the mixture is swirling about, it mixes well and burns cleaner. It's a pretty standard shape of a modern diesel piston, actually it's a pretty standard shape even for an old diesel engine. ;)
This is a piston from a Napier Deltic engine which shows a very similar recess in the crown.
20200803_214643.jpg
 
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It was the aspect ratio of the depth and narrowness of the depression that caught my attention, I'm used to dealing with pistons more like this:
HTB1SrKglXkoBKNjSZFkq6z4tFXad.jpg


Whereby the concave element is broader but shallower than the FL2's pistons.
 
Pluribus said:
Ouch... How does damage like that happen and not feck the entire engine?
Click to expand...

A small nut isn't enough to totally wreck the whole engine, just one piston and dented the head/bent valves. The hollow in the piston is quite large, so this will have been a refuge for the nut a majority of the time. Unfortunately the nut obviously got trapped between the edges of the crown and the valves. :(

I suspect that if I'd not driven it the 103 miles home, then there would have been less damage, but that's the luck of the draw I guess.

At least there's plenty of cheap parts available for it, so with some luck and time, it'll be running again soon.:)
 
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