malcolm_durant
Active Member
A cautionary tale (with no pictures)...how to leave yourself without a car.
Took my early 2000 Freelander 1.8 for its MoT in the mid / late October and it failed on four things:
Poured a bottle of Cataclean in the tank and replaced the numberplate bulbs easily enough.
Overpaid (£25) for a second-hand Owners Manual on eBay, because I could see it was definitely a 1999 edition and so would prove to the tester what I was claiming about the ABS light's operation.
Decided I'd replace rear lower arms on both sides, so I ordered a pair.
When they arrived a couple of days later, I got underneath and started to attempt to get the passenger side arm off and rapidly realised the lower "long bolt" on the back of the hub was not shifting (rusted solid to the hub). Thought "Nevermind I'll buy two long bolts and cut the old ones off". Put the rear wheels back on the car and got it safely on the driveway
When the long bolts arrived a few days later, I got underneath and (fortunately as it turned out) decided to remove the upper bolts before trying the long bolt. Rapidly realised the 23 year old upper bolts were so corroded that replacement was necessary. Put the rear wheels back on the car and got it safely on the driveway again.
Decided that now it was senseless not to do it properly; and I'd replace both the solid and the adjustable lower arms and all fixings on both sides - so ordered all the extra bits.
When they arrived it turned out the M12 flange head nuts I'd ordered were M14 flange head nuts. I still need to get back to the supplier about that - when I initially complained that what were listed as M12 were actually M14, they tried wearing me down with semantics so I ignored them and bought six from Land Rover (£18 instead of £6 for the after-market mail-order ones).
When the correct M12 nuts arrived it was almost last weekend (now too late to qualify for a free re-test at the garage).
On Saturday (in the continuous p!ssing November rain) I spent a pleasant 7 hours sitting, kneeling and lying on the driveway. The driver's side actually went quite smoothly (everything came undone with only minimal brute force), I adjusted the adjustable arm as closely as possible to match the old one and fitted everything in about 90 minutes.
The rest of the day was spent fighting the long bolt on the passenger side (I also had to cut one of the upper bolts off too, but that was easy). I got the old long bolt's nut off, but no amount of impact gunning, hammering, levering or penetrating oil was shifting the bolt itself. In the end I cut it in the middle (behind the hub) with a hack saw to get the top half with the bolt head off...it was just the lower end of the bolt that was rusted solid to the bracket on the hub.
By then my neighbour had popped his head out to laugh at me. I was considering using heat, but decided not to because of the very real risk of damaging the drive-shaft gaiter and the rear brakes. He came back after a few mins with a set of those unbranded generic "socket-like" stud extractors. I borrowed the largest one and to my massive relief (and surprise) the remnants of the long bolt slowly started to unwind from the hub. It took about 15 minutes to tease the remains out of the hub, but it did finally come out.
Another 45 mins had that side's new adjustable arm set to exactly the same length as the old one and everything back together.
Couldn't get 4 wheel wheel-alignment from the garage I used for the MoT, so took it to a fast fit tyre place on Wednesday for alignment. Was pleasantly surprised when the mechanic there told me the rear alignment was spot on and he'd only charged me to adjust the front wheels. Today was the earliest I could get an MoT (the place where I took it for aligning have a 12 day long queue which seems fairly typical here).
The result today was everything was fine except the CO emissions and an advisory for the power steering pump leaking, which is a fair cop and on my "To Do" list anyway.
Despite the Cataclean, the CO emissions were still over the limit (0.300) for CO (it was a best reading of 0.450, compared with about 0.800 in the first MoT, so the Cataclean did something). Oh...the ABS light - I didn't even need to show them the Land Rover owner's manual...the Tester who tested it today knew about it anyway - so the handbook was a complete waste of money as well as ridiculously over-priced!!
The MoT tester has suggested to me that although the catalyst appears recent (the whole exhaust looked brand new when I bought the car), if it's a "too cheap" aftermarket one, a year might be its lifespan. However he is sure the manifold is cracked (I can hear it with a hot engine now he's mentioned it) and he reckons the chances are good that if the crack is welded I'll be okay.
Booked in for Monday for (what I hope is just) a quick welding job and a retest.
Part 2 to follow. Exciting huh?
Took my early 2000 Freelander 1.8 for its MoT in the mid / late October and it failed on four things:
- Worn bush on one passenger-side lower rear arm (the solid one).
- ABS light on
- CO emissions about 3 times the limit (HC and lambda all well within limits)
- Bulbs gone on rear numberplate lamp (I have no excuse for missing that...)
Poured a bottle of Cataclean in the tank and replaced the numberplate bulbs easily enough.
Overpaid (£25) for a second-hand Owners Manual on eBay, because I could see it was definitely a 1999 edition and so would prove to the tester what I was claiming about the ABS light's operation.
Decided I'd replace rear lower arms on both sides, so I ordered a pair.
When they arrived a couple of days later, I got underneath and started to attempt to get the passenger side arm off and rapidly realised the lower "long bolt" on the back of the hub was not shifting (rusted solid to the hub). Thought "Nevermind I'll buy two long bolts and cut the old ones off". Put the rear wheels back on the car and got it safely on the driveway
When the long bolts arrived a few days later, I got underneath and (fortunately as it turned out) decided to remove the upper bolts before trying the long bolt. Rapidly realised the 23 year old upper bolts were so corroded that replacement was necessary. Put the rear wheels back on the car and got it safely on the driveway again.
Decided that now it was senseless not to do it properly; and I'd replace both the solid and the adjustable lower arms and all fixings on both sides - so ordered all the extra bits.
When they arrived it turned out the M12 flange head nuts I'd ordered were M14 flange head nuts. I still need to get back to the supplier about that - when I initially complained that what were listed as M12 were actually M14, they tried wearing me down with semantics so I ignored them and bought six from Land Rover (£18 instead of £6 for the after-market mail-order ones).
When the correct M12 nuts arrived it was almost last weekend (now too late to qualify for a free re-test at the garage).
On Saturday (in the continuous p!ssing November rain) I spent a pleasant 7 hours sitting, kneeling and lying on the driveway. The driver's side actually went quite smoothly (everything came undone with only minimal brute force), I adjusted the adjustable arm as closely as possible to match the old one and fitted everything in about 90 minutes.
The rest of the day was spent fighting the long bolt on the passenger side (I also had to cut one of the upper bolts off too, but that was easy). I got the old long bolt's nut off, but no amount of impact gunning, hammering, levering or penetrating oil was shifting the bolt itself. In the end I cut it in the middle (behind the hub) with a hack saw to get the top half with the bolt head off...it was just the lower end of the bolt that was rusted solid to the bracket on the hub.
By then my neighbour had popped his head out to laugh at me. I was considering using heat, but decided not to because of the very real risk of damaging the drive-shaft gaiter and the rear brakes. He came back after a few mins with a set of those unbranded generic "socket-like" stud extractors. I borrowed the largest one and to my massive relief (and surprise) the remnants of the long bolt slowly started to unwind from the hub. It took about 15 minutes to tease the remains out of the hub, but it did finally come out.
Another 45 mins had that side's new adjustable arm set to exactly the same length as the old one and everything back together.
Couldn't get 4 wheel wheel-alignment from the garage I used for the MoT, so took it to a fast fit tyre place on Wednesday for alignment. Was pleasantly surprised when the mechanic there told me the rear alignment was spot on and he'd only charged me to adjust the front wheels. Today was the earliest I could get an MoT (the place where I took it for aligning have a 12 day long queue which seems fairly typical here).
The result today was everything was fine except the CO emissions and an advisory for the power steering pump leaking, which is a fair cop and on my "To Do" list anyway.
Despite the Cataclean, the CO emissions were still over the limit (0.300) for CO (it was a best reading of 0.450, compared with about 0.800 in the first MoT, so the Cataclean did something). Oh...the ABS light - I didn't even need to show them the Land Rover owner's manual...the Tester who tested it today knew about it anyway - so the handbook was a complete waste of money as well as ridiculously over-priced!!
The MoT tester has suggested to me that although the catalyst appears recent (the whole exhaust looked brand new when I bought the car), if it's a "too cheap" aftermarket one, a year might be its lifespan. However he is sure the manifold is cracked (I can hear it with a hot engine now he's mentioned it) and he reckons the chances are good that if the crack is welded I'll be okay.
Booked in for Monday for (what I hope is just) a quick welding job and a retest.
Part 2 to follow. Exciting huh?
