I just purchased a 1999 1.8 liter manual that had no owners manual. I have a few questions about it that googling has had no luck helping me with.
1. The stick shift has a yellow button on the back and a trigger on the front . What are these for?
2 Is there away to lower the drivers seat? I seem to sit very high.
3. There are to upper tail lights with reverse lights in them. they don't work and they are only running single filament bulbs. I read on the web that they are not hooked up on export models so why would they have bulbs it them? I have no power with the lights on or when I hit the brakes.
4. Does anybody have a manual online for this thing?
Cheers

g'Day Jon - where about's are you?

The switch on the gear stick is to enable "Hill Decent". You press the 'trigger' in and slide the whole thing down to enable it - but it only functions when you are in first and 2nd gear. Most of the time it doesn't work anyway because the wire has broken away from the switch. When you slide it down a light should show on the dash.

I don't think there's any height adjustment on and seats available on '98 models - there isn't on my '99.

I'm not sure on the light setup - but the brakes and indicators are in the bumper (I've got an indicator out at the moment!) - as the spare obscures these when the door is open and the hazards would not be visible. The reverse light(s) are on the wings and should function. There is another thread running currently about the reverse light(s) not working - you might like to follow that one and add any comments/questions on there...

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/reversing-lights.329944/#post-4255538

There's a link on that thread to the Rave Workshop Manual produced by LR. Its a comprehensive manual and can be downloaded onto a (Windows) PC.

Good luck fixing your bits.

Jon Carter said:

The stick shift has a yellow button on the back and a trigger on the front . What are these for?

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That's for the Hill Decent Control (HDC).

Jon Carter said:

2 Is there away to lower the drivers seat? I seem to sit very high.

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No, that's what gives you the high driving position.

Jon Carter said:

3. There are to upper tail lights with reverse lights in them. they don't work and they are only running single filament bulbs. I read on the web that they are not hooked up on export models so why would they have bulbs it them? I have no power with the lights on or when I hit the brakes.

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Upper tail lights are for reverse and fogs lights.

Jon Carter said:

4. Does anybody have a manual online for this thing?
Cheers

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There are some on the net. Do a Google search.

GrumpyGel said:

but it only functions when you are in first and 2nd gear.

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HDC only works in 1st and reverse GG.

Nodge68 said:

HDC only works in 1st and reverse GG.

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My mind went walk abouts - I meant to write reverse! How mad is that

Thanks . The reverse lights work fine it is just the upper tail lights that don't.
If they only work with the fog lights can I ask how you turn on the fog lights? Is it different then the park lights?

As said - the indicators and bake lights are in the bumper, and the high brake light above the spare wheel.

The 'upper' lights on the wings have nothing to do with them. They are just for reverse, and as Nodge says, fog lights. The reverse light is turned on when putting the car in reverse and has no interaction with anything else. The fog light is turned on when you press the fog light switch on the dash board (binnacle surround).

I'm pretty sure a '98 Freelander has no 'park' lights.

Yes - yellow button arrangement is for HDC - a green lamp lights on the dash [left hand side] showing a LR going down a slope. It limits speed to 8kmh. The brakes will make a funny noise from the ABS pump - it sounds like a wooden ruler on the side of a school desk when it's flicked! The ABS pump is in the front right corner of the engine bay. HDC works well for getting down greasy / undulating slopes - you can still over-ride it with the foot brakes.

Rear lamps: reverse and fog lamps. The fog lamp switch is a push/push on the left side of the instrument pod. It feels like it's faulty and doesn't work - but it does. Side, brake and turn lamps are on the bumper so they can still be seen with the rear door open.

To keep you and your LR FL happy look up on here about the One Wheel Up Test [OWUT], the importance of matching tyres and even inflation, cooling system...

Mines a '98 1.8 petrol 5 door. I'm in Central Otago and GG is in Canterbury. There's loads of advice / guidance on here. Search or just ask someone will respond.

The rear lights was a missing fuse. Tried the down grade switch but nothing happened on the dash so I'm guessing the wires are broke.
I will do the torque wheel test today if the weather stays away. I'm betting that the system is bad since it has over 200,000 kms on it and when I turn hard in a parking lot the car almost stops. Looking underneath I noticed the rear drive shaft support has almost not rubber left in it like the front one.
Still pretty stoked about this. It seems to have plenty of space in the engine compartment to work on it unlike other suv I owned in the past.

Jon Carter said:

The rear lights was a missing fuse. Tried the down grade switch but nothing happened on the dash so I'm guessing the wires are broke.
I will do the torque wheel test today if the weather stays away. I'm betting that the system is bad since it has over 200,000 kms on it and when I turn hard in a parking lot the car almost stops. Looking underneath I noticed the rear drive shaft support has almost not rubber left in it like the front one.
Still pretty stoked about this. It seems to have plenty of space in the engine compartment to work on it unlike other suv I owned in the past.

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You need to remove the prop shafts and VCU - its reasonably quick and easy and will save your car going to the breakers. You need to undo the prop shaft at the front from the flange to the IRD (front diff) and the same at the back - you may need to support them rather than over extend the UJs - then jack under the VCU and undo the 4 bolts holding the 2 support bearings. Lower the VCU and props on the jack. The bolts to be removed are Torx rather than 6 sided so its much much easier with torx sockets - but I did mine the first time with regular hex sockets - its easier here in NZ cos stuff isn't so rusted up.

If you don't remove the props you are definitely going to destroy the front diff (IRD) and if it breaks the wrong way, the car is going to be toast cos they're hard to come by here. Even if it breaks "the right way" you can be in for a lot of trouble! I didn't know about this stuff before mine went bang and I had to get a reconditioning kit (bearings, seals & cooler) shipped over from the UK and, if you're not into pulling and pushing bearings, its a dickens of a job rebuilding it - and that doesn't cover any broken gears which are going to set you back $500. etc etc - so best get the props off!

You could just check the tyres first - they need to be the same make/model and pumped to same pressure - least worn on the rear. If there's any problems with that you can try resolving but going by your description of turning - you are on borrowed time.

I'm presuming the VCU is toast. There is a company in Hamilton that will recondition them for about $450...

Peter Hastelow
ATL Balancing & Driveline
32 Commerce Street
Hamilton NZ
Ph 07 8479182 Fax 07 9572829
www.atlbalancing.co.nz

You can do it yourself at home - its not the easiest of jobs though! Info....

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/how-to-recondition-a-vcu-yourself.307445/

How long have you had the Freelander and where are you based?

I'm in Christchurch.

Gerald

ps if there's no photo of the car, it doesn't exist!

I'm in Wellington. It was a late night trademe purchase. I figured for the price it wasn't to bad and I wanted a non jap car again. My daily driver Wolseley failed WOF again for rust so I just got fed up and wanted something newer. We have a Hoda CRv but I hate it and working on it sucks.
Will it pass a WOF if I remove the drive shafts? Thhe old owner just had a clutch done and I thought it felt like a brake was dragging.
I will convert it to 2 wheel drive and get the vcu rebuilt or might try my hand at doing it myself.

For $1,500 its probably a reasonable price, however you are right to question whether it will get a WOF with the props removed.

By the letter of the law it probably does need to be certified if you remove the props. What happens though is that its very much a gamble on who tests it. Some testers/stations will pass it, others will fail it.

From your description, the props should really be removed now - but you could gamble and put it through a WOF then remove the props until its fixed up. Even then, I'm not sure how your insurance will stack up.

Another member from a fantastic country now that is all said and done those upper lights on my old one I got some light fittings from a scrap yard with the two connectors in so they take the double fil lciment bulbs and connected the lower watts side to the side lights and the other side was used as the fog lights so I actually had four lights on the back which was better to be seen,we will be coming again to NZ next February for a month .

When I first got my FL back on the road, and like yours was a low cost TradeMe purchase, I'd remover the prop shaft and it failed its WoF. Making it 2WD alters the class of vehicle, or something like that. So for a year I 'popped' the prop shaft on for the WoFs and then toddled home and dropped it off again. I bought a new VCU and support bearings in 2016 and it's been 4WD since. Works a treat to in the slippery stuff. The VCU makes it an 'on demand' 4WD it's not a permeant 4WD like a RRover ...

VCUs stiffen internally through their constant use. Normally the FL is FWD but when the front wheels suddenly begin turning faster than the rear wheels the fluid in the VCU stiffens / and locks the unit up transferring power / drive to the rear wheels. When all wheels are turning at the same speed the fluid so to speak relaxes and you're back to FWD. In normal use drive power is slipping in the VCU and not being transferred to the rear wheels. With time... the VCU fluid stiffened so that drive power is continually being transferred from both front and from the rear as well. This results in 'transmission wind-up'. You feel it when at low speed you turn on full lock and the car stalls. Yes, it's like a brake binding on or the hand brake on. There's a simple driving test you can do. 1st and reverse gear and with the motor idling try and do circles on full lock in an empty paddock or car park... A Good VCU will let you do it in either direction. A crook VCU will stall the motor. Transmission wind-up if left or excessive will destroy the IRD, that's your transfer box, and / or the diff too.

Matching tyres are important. Mismatched tyres front and rear will not be good for a VCU. Seriously unevenly inflated tyres will be likewise be tough on the VCU. As mentioned new or less worn tyres on the rear - this will ensure that the smaller tyres at the from are always turning that wee bit faster and the VCU will do its job of slipping to cater for that.

That OWUT gives and indication on a VCUs condition. Times under one minute are good and the VCU will probably be good for a few years yet. Times around 2 minutes or more and it's best to either remove the VCU / prop' shaft assembly or replace the VCU. Times over one minute but well under two min's show a VCU to be on its way out.

The 1.8 motor is pretty easy to work on. This weekend I've replaced the F left wheel bearing, drive shaft and diff oil seal. All good now with no worrying noises. If you're interested have a look here and see some of the things I've done to mine. And look at YouTube [ HTR, Land Rover Freelander or Freelander 1] to see some of the places I've been to.

teddywood1 said:

Another member from a fantastic country now that is all said and done those upper lights on my old one I got some light fittings from a scrap yard with the two connectors in so they take the double fil lciment bulbs and connected the lower watts side to the side lights and the other side was used as the fog lights so I actually had four lights on the back which was better to be seen,we will be coming again to NZ next February for a month .

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Planning on coming down South next year Teddy?

I bet this time you will - and it will coincide with our trip to Aus!

Checked all tyre pressure and they were the same. OWUT showed me 1min 10 seconds to 1min 30 seconds slower one being first.
Now I have to get my temp gauge to work. I ordered a manual but it is not here yet. I plugged my OBDCANII scanner in but it can't make a conection. I have no engine light on and when I turn on the key I have no light that has a engine symbol. I would thin if a sensor was out it would not give a proper signal to the ECU and that would put up a code. either way that is my next step.
For all the hate I found on the net for these, I must say I really enjoy it plus it is easy to work on.