A quick update.
The car has been sitting unused for the last month but will now be pressed into service. I got my redundancy confirmation on Monday so Tuesday was my last day working for big
business. I now intend to work as a contractor picking up work as and when I can get it so wish me luck.
On the Freelander clutch front I never mentioned how low the bite point is on the clutch, it's pretty much on the floor no matter how much I try to bleed it. Having read many threads on the subject the consensus seems to be it will either sort itself out or I'll need to pressure bleed it. I'll give it a week or two to see what happens.
As promised, some comments from me after following this method. Chronicled in my thread here. Took me the entire August bank holiday weekend including Monday (perhaps spent too much time drinking tea :)).

At the end of it all, the elements I was able to replicate worked for me. Lack of lifting gear and a blanked IRD rear pinion meant I did a few things differently. However, I've had some bad knocking and creaking from my O/S strut after the argy-bargy required to refit the IRD. I will encourage others following this guide to loosen the strut top mounts to allow lots of room for movement without stressing the bearing and damper assy. Alibro does mention this may be a good idea in the OP. You'll have to remove the fuse box to get to the nuts on the N/S and the coolant expansion bottle on the O/S. Better still, if time/tools allow, loosen the strut tops and pull the drive shafts entirely to prevent any damage.

The support/mounting brackets for my IRD are different. Mine comes in two pieces instead of the one piece photo'd in the OP (photos below). The trailing/stabiliser mount is integrated into the lower bracket rather than a seperate overlay piece. Not sure if this makes refitting any easier, just worth noting the differences.

I'll emphasise tying up the drive shafts securely to avoid over-articulating the CV at the hub end (photo below).

I also had to jack up the hub assembly to aid refitting the wishbone's rear mount. It was very useful to leave reference marks around these mounts before dismantling. Got a bit carried away with the rust paint and almost covered them over before I realised I'd done it for a reason :rolleyes:

There is definitely no reason to unbolt the exhaust from the manifold as stated on the RAVE.

Locktite on the pressure plate bolts might be a good idea. I didn't and have been a bit paranoid that the stated 25Nm isn't tight enough. No dramas as yet, though.

Clutch bled out very well (the Borg & Beck slaves are already primed). Went through nearly a litre of fluid to purge the manky old stuff. Bite was almost immediate on the pedal at first but it has since settled in nicely. No problems since.

Alibro's IRD brackets:
20160217_223717_zpsrtfjf9xp-jpg.175981


My IRD brackets (two on the right):
Ux82wwh.jpg


Secure the driveshafts:
QRBlRjA.jpg

JuQHwh2.jpg


As an aside, you'll get the best possible access to the turbo during this job. I had fitted a new one shortly before tackling the clutch without removing the IRD and it was very awkward. Just look at the room with the IRD off...

dy8emK4.jpg


Many thanks Alibro. Your attention to detail was invaluable :D

Ok - will go for it. Have not been doing this stuff since my teens. Very inspiering write-up!
 
Ok - will go for it. Have not been doing this stuff since my teens. Very inspiering write-up!
Great
Just so you know the photo I posted of my IRD brackets was wrong. I only realised recently in my original post I had put up a photo of my old 1.8i K Series IRD brackets by mistake. The two brackets on the right here are correct for a TD4 but they still must be removed before you try to remove the IRD.
Good luck.

Ux82wwh.jpg
 
Great post. Im going to give mine a go this week. After changing Master Cylinder and bleed not fixing the issue (and now sheared bleed nipple on slave cylinder) I think its my only option.

My question is what parts do need if Im going to strip it all down? And where can I get the OEMs before starting the job?

First post here. Hoping for some advice so I don't have to ditch my Freelander at >100,000miles!
 
What's the issue you're having? Did you use an oem master cylinder as Aftermarket seem to have the bite point on the floor.
 
Clutch pedal just started to drop so first port of call I changed the master cylinder. Was fine for about 30 miles then dropped to the floor. I bled and then pressure bled but knackered the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder. So as I have to strip down to change the slave cylinder I thought best to do the clutch too... but I was wondering what else should I change while it’s all stripped down? I know some change the flywheel but I’m happy to take the risk and inspect and clean up to keep costs down. Just wondering what else I should change and what brand/make should I be looking at?
 
Clutch pedal just started to drop so first port of call I changed the master cylinder.

Was it a genuine or OE replacement? Aftermarket replacements are known to be garbage, so it's OE or Genuine LR only for MC.

If you're taking the box off, then it's best to fit a replacement clutch, stick to LUK for quality assurance. ;)
 
Clutch pedal just started to drop so first port of call I changed the master cylinder. Was fine for about 30 miles then dropped to the floor. I bled and then pressure bled but knackered the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder. So as I have to strip down to change the slave cylinder I thought best to do the clutch too... but I was wondering what else should I change while it’s all stripped down? I know some change the flywheel but I’m happy to take the risk and inspect and clean up to keep costs down. Just wondering what else I should change and what brand/make should I be looking at?
As Nodge said LUK clutch kit but agree not to replace the flywheel unless you find it's really sloppy when you get the gearbox off.

Also if no sign of clutch fluid dripping from the gearbox maybe the new master had bad seals
 
Well slave has to be changed now either way. I’ll go for LUK then.

You mentioned “28. Replace the slave cylinder and thrust bearing, greasing as appropriate”. Is the thrust bearing part of slave cylinder? Or a separate rate part?

Also I was noticing a pretty rank smell could have been oil dripping on the exhaust manifold maybe. Once I’ve changed s clutch and slave cylinder I’ll have another look at the master cylinder.
 
Well slave has to be changed now either way. I’ll go for LUK then.

You mentioned “28. Replace the slave cylinder and thrust bearing, greasing as appropriate”. Is the thrust bearing part of slave cylinder? Or a separate rate part?

Also I was noticing a pretty rank smell could have been oil dripping on the exhaust manifold maybe. Once I’ve changed s clutch and slave cylinder I’ll have another look at the master cylinder.
It was a long time ago TBH but I think so. Just make sure the kit you get includes everything.
 
I know this is a very old thread now but in countries like Italy where I live these cars are still going strong. Just a thank you to this great community for the time you take to make the lives of folk like me so very much easier. I managed to save well over €700 on labour and tax because this thread allowed me to swop out the clutch mechanism in my shed. This forum has helped not only with this Freelander 1 Td4 (2003, 380000kms) but also with many other LR models over the years.

So, thank you all and happy motoring.
 

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