Hello again!

As a separate issue to my other post about the fuel pump. I have recently tackled a replacement of the MAF Sensor. My Freelander TD4 (05) was painfully slow to get going when pulling out at junctions, so much so I felt I had my ass hanging in the breeze every time I pulled out of a blind junction.

I disconnected the MAF Sensor and it vastly improved, I hopped straight on eBay and ordered a replacement for £28. The part arrived and it looked pretty much the same as the Bosch one with the exception that the Bosch sensor had an extra metal mesh inside.

With the top cover removed replacing the MAF Sensor took about 30 minutes or so, I spent nearly an hour plus refitting the top cover!! Anyway, the main problem I had was that when I reconnected the plug it would not quite go down far enough for the two locking clips to lock into place.

This has left me wondering if the Sensor will come un plugged over time and if it did how would I tell? I presume it would revert to factory settings. Can any damage be done driving around with the MAF Sensor being disconnected?

One other question is the £28 MAF Sensor actually any good anyway or should I have fitted the real deal?

I have to say after a test drive after fitting the new sensor it seemed to be much improved when pulling away but now a few days later I am beginning to wonder if it hasn't just reverted back to being a bit sluggish again.

Guess I haven't really gained the peace of mind I was hoping for! I have not driven another Freelander so unsure if it is particularly slow to accelerate from idle or not? the thing that made me question it was I drove a 1.6 diesel van which had far more get up and go pulling away than than the Freelander which did not seem right to me so I began to blame the MAF Sensor.

Sorry to rattle on!

Cheap MAFs aren't as good as a new Bosch MAF, but better than a duff Bosch MAF.

There is a MAF available for a BMW which is cheaper than the FL MAF but just as affective apparently.

The FL1 TD4 isn't a speed machine by any stretch of the imagination. It has 110 Bhp but weighs over 1600 Kgs. This gives it a power to weigh ratio of just 69 Bhp per tonne. This is about the same as a 70s 1.3 Ford Escort.

I like your thinking, something is better than nothing, I may replace it later down the road in that case. I think in a few weeks I will have to remove that dreaded top cover and check the plug to see if it has moved at all. Regarding power, put like that I can see that I may be looking for something that just isn't possible, it is definitely better now the MAF flow sensor has been replaced but still a bit sluggish when pulling away, once its away then I have no complaints about power or acceleration, it goes pretty well in fact. I may see if I can find one to test drive at some point so I can compare it to mine. The situation I was in before is when someone let me go at a junction I was having to floor it and almost apologise for taking so long to move!!

Daniel Hunt said:

I like your thinking, something is better than nothing, I may replace it later down the road in that case. I think in a few weeks I will have to remove that dreaded top cover and check the plug to see if it has moved at all. Regarding power, put like that I can see that I may be looking for something that just isn't possible, it is definitely better now the MAF flow sensor has been replaced but still a bit sluggish when pulling away, once its away then I have no complaints about power or acceleration, it goes pretty well in fact. I may see if I can find one to test drive at some point so I can compare it to mine. The situation I was in before is when someone let me go at a junction I was having to floor it and almost apologise for taking so long to move!!

Click to expand...

There are plenty of things you can do to make the TD4 more useful as a daily driver/ tow vehicle.
First and foremost is make sure it's running perfectly.
This means making sure the Low Pressure (LP) fuel supply is spot on. The live data on the CAN bus can be monitored with a suitable reader.
Make sure all vac pipes are free from leaks.
Make sure all boost pipes are free from leaks.
Make sure the inlet manifold and inlet ports are free from carbon goop.
Make sure the air filter is changed every 12K miles, and remove the fluffy stuff off the outside of it before fitting.
Then things get more in depth.
The injectors do foul up internally, so really benefit from a good stip down clean. This helps power, responsiveness and economy too.
From then on you are looking at making it perform better than the factory spec. So a decent remap will make a huge difference, often 30% increase or more. A Synergy is another way to increase power, although not as effectively as a remap.
Once it's running spot on, and all the built in restrictions are sorted, the TD4 can be quiet a lively performing Freelander.

Interesting Nodge, thank you! it may be getting more involved than my knowledge and capabilities but I will certainly look into it, over time I am sure it is possible since I plan to keep the car for some while yet, I quite like tinkering with it so maybe in time I can get to grips with the list above. At least with a relatively old Freelander like mine I stand a chance of doing things myself where as the new ones look a nightmare under the bonnet, I would know where to start!

Nodge68 said:

There are plenty of things you can do to make the TD4 more useful as a daily driver/ tow vehicle.
First and foremost is make sure it's running perfectly.
This means making sure the Low Pressure (LP) fuel supply is spot on. The live data on the CAN bus can be monitored with a suitable reader.
Make sure all vac pipes are free from leaks.
Make sure all boost pipes are free from leaks.
Make sure the inlet manifold and inlet ports are free from carbon goop.
Make sure the air filter is changed every 12K miles, and remove the fluffy stuff off the outside of it before fitting.
Then things get more in depth.
The injectors do foul up internally, so really benefit from a good stip down clean. This helps power, responsiveness and economy too.
From then on you are looking at making it perform better than the factory spec. So a decent remap will make a huge difference, often 30% increase or more. A Synergy is another way to increase power, although not as effectively as a remap.
Once it's running spot on, and all the built in restrictions are sorted, the TD4 can be quiet a lively performing Freelander.

Click to expand...

Just found this old thread - what's the purpose/benefit of taking the fluffy stuff off the air filter?

what's the purpose/benefit of taking the fluffy stuff off the air filter?

Click to expand...

removing it takes away a bit of air intake flow restriction
just a tad .. but ..
the quicker the air flows across the maf sensor .. the quicker the engine will respond to go-pedal input ..
more effective to increase engine 'pickup' from the lower rpm range ..
( you might want to leave the fluffy surround on if you like to go off-road
( as that surround will prevent twigs and the like damaging the paper part of the filter ..
sort of all ads up .. ..
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/intercooler-problem-mod.126484/
( read both pages )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hd3 said:

removing it takes away a bit of air intake flow restriction
just a tad .. but ..
the quicker the air flows across the maf sensor .. the quicker the engine will respond to go-pedal input ..
more effective to increase engine 'pickup' from the lower rpm range ..
( you might want to leave the fluffy surround on if you like to go off-road
( as that surround will prevent twigs and the like damaging the paper part of the filter ..
sort of all ads up .. ..
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/intercooler-problem-mod.126484/
( read both pages )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click to expand...

Got it, thanks for the quick response - and some amazing work done on those mods!

For my part, any improvement in airflow and therefore performance is a bonus. I just bought mine and it was in a desperate state, it would hardly drive.

I changed all filters, oil, MAP, EGR to EGR delete and cleaned all the gunk out of the intakes - it was 100% better than it was but still not great. This morning after further googling I unplugged the MAF (after continuing problems with stuttering, lack of revs above 2500, engine light coming on, etc.) What a difference!! It drives like a new car now. So I was researching the best replacement MAF and that's how I ended up seeing the post I quoted from 2017.

Oh and no worries about going off-road currently, I have no propshaft/VCU fitted...