Hi all

Since buying our FL 55 plate TD4 2.0 AUTO a couple of weeks ago we have had no problems at all but this weekend we used it to tow our caravan and noticed a few things.

When we drive the FL without the caravan it seems ok, not the quickest of accecarations but my last car was a saab 2.3 petrol turbo so am getting used to going to a deisel car. When we put it in sport mode it is quicker obviously.

When we towed it seemed very slugish indeed and seemed to take an age to get upto speed and when going up hill it was painful, bearly 50mph foot to the floor. Does that sound normal ? I tried putting in sport mode coming home and that improved mattters as it kept the engine in lower gears for longer.

If there is anybody else on here that uses an auto FL to tow as any help would be useful.

Our Caravan is fairly heavy but the saab always towed with ease, it just hurt our wallets.

It maybe normal but just need to know.

Thanks guys

Whats the weight of the caravan? Can you feel the turbo power?

Hi

Its 1300kg unladen so i would guess its about 1450kg, and i was thinking turbo problems. I havent heard the turbo at all yet, as i said i have only had it two weeks and still getting used to things.

can you hear the turbo whistle on a diesel engine like a petrol ?

i havent felt the turbo kick in either, when should it kick in ?

I was wondering if it should be quicker whislt not towing.

Thanks

Hi I tow with a 2002 TD4 AUTO but I fitted a Van Aaaken performance box as soon as I got it about 4 years and 50k miles ago. This boosts the output to 150bhp whilst retaining good fuel consumption Ave 37mpg solo and about 25 towing a similar weight caravan to yours.
I think Van Aaaken went bust a couple of years ago but other similar boxes are out there, they're easy to fit and easy to take off when selling.
I've just towed back to Cheshire from Whitby and the long,long, banks on the M62 were gone up at about 55-60 in fifth in sport mode. As an ex Saab owner too, I noticed the difference in performance but the Freelander gets you off slippy fields, unlike my SAAB 2.0 9-5 and the auto box means smooth pull offs and no hassle standing in traffic on hills. Use the sports mode, just flick it across from D as you approach a hill, if the revs are below 1950 flick it down a gear.
Enjoy the Freelander, it's not a SAAB but it tows better and consider boosting the output with a chip if you've got the 120bhp version .

Thank you that is most helpful

we have found a place only a few miles from where we live that tunes the engine to 150bhp, or so they claim, without chipping. We will enquire about this as we worry about chipping and wondering if to tell the insurance company. Did you tell yours ?

home: lr servicing, land rover repair and servicing specialist in oxton, nottinghamshire

we love the landy but was just a bit shocked when we towed this weekend but all we wanted to know was if it was normal.

Thanks again.

Hi,
if the chip can be 'breathed upon' then it's an invisible fix and only a link up to a read out thingy would reveal, possibly, that it has been 'breathed upon' .The box I have is very visible, sitting on top of the battery and wired into the electrical box behind, so the insurance company is aware. I think it makes some difference, but you pay your money and take your chance.
In effect you are getting the same output as a Freelander 2 I believe from a 2 litre engine.
As for shortening the engine life mine has done 114 k now and no problems at all, except for one occurence of the common 'smoky turbo up a hill' , see other threads, mine was put down to a blocked pipe, very common,Do not immediately think the turbo has gone, as was my Saab experience, my LR turbo hadn't , see Indy Landrover specialists in Middlewich. A pretty cheap fix.
Oh and be prepared to get :
1>the best possible bushes for the rear suspension, some sort of super nylon, as the Original ones can't handle towing !
2> the aluminium/rubber castings that hold the back axle in place fail as well.

Hi thanks for all the infomation

Cheers

Blocked crankcase breathers sap power, as do dodgy intercooler hoses, clogged egr, seized/non-operative turbo variable vane actuator, dirty injectors.

Replace your breather with the uprated BMW part, replace your interccoler hoses every 5 - 6 years, fit an egr bypass, check turbo vane actuator is free & vacuum unit which operates it is working & use good quality injector cleaner like Millers every fillup.
Onto power hike, the absolute best is a good quality remap (not all places will give a good quality one though) which is expensive, & can be accidently overwritten during servicing or if you ever need a new ecu you'll need to pay for another remap.
Many of us on here myself included use a roverron synergy tuning box which is under £200. The other plus with this is it has a built in MAF compensator which you will need unless your MAF is new because they slowly degrade over time. No remap can offer this. The only downside with the synergy is that it can't control the turbo boost pressure which a good remap can do though the difference is reckoned to be 5-10bhp.
Also you can take off the synergy & transfer it or sell it when you're getting rid of the car something you can't do with a remap.
For me the MAF compensator & general flexibility more than makes up for the lack of extra turbo boost & the fact that the synergy is half the price.

I have huge Turbo problems with my 2L TDI4 Landrover. I get up to 120-130 No problem then I loose power have to stop then I restart and it goes again? I have just had the turbo replaced. Please help.

Donald Coxen said:

I have huge Turbo problems with my 2L TDI4 Landrover. I get up to 120-130 No problem then I loose power have to stop then I restart and it goes again? I have just had the turbo replaced. Please help.

Click to expand...

hopefully you mean kph...

if it's mph you could be hitting the rev limiter

Hi i tow a lunar clubman es with my td4 dont no its on the back,but i have done the mods ie rover ron box egr valve engine breather.i bet you egr valve is blocked or intercooler hose split

Noel Glass said:

When we drive the FL without the caravan it seems ok, not the quickest of accecarations but my last car was a saab 2.3 petrol turbo so am getting used to going to a deisel car.



It maybe normal but just need to know.

Thanks guys

Click to expand...

Thank goodness for the second sentence as the first sounds like a Jeremy Clarkson 'ism'

My TD4 Auto - (with mods, to put back the power that they de-tuned out of it, admittedly) is a fair bit quicker than a relative of mine's BMW 320D.

Sounds like you didn't expect much from your Freelander. Other LandRover owners have been passengers in my car and been truly very shocked, at what it can do - including towing a 2 tonne trailer as aerodynamic as a brick.

I agree with chromiumuk & fishingfitter's previous posts especially re the EGR and the engine breather 'pcv'.

IMHO your TD4 needs a good service/check over.

Air Filter - needs to be a good quality one - Mahle for example - the OE suppliers to BMW.

pcv/Oil Separator - fit the BMW update, only available from BMW, not LandRover.

EGR needs to be cleaned out and de-activated at least - or better still by-passed.

Turbo Hoses - at the age of your car they will probably be porous to some degree and may well have splits which only open up under power - check well for splits that look like cuts made with a Stanley knife - especially on the 90degree bend one on the right, as you look at the engine, and on the back of the long one on the left where it may rub on a screw-head. Replace with Silicone ones.

After that - if you are still not happy with the performance - get a Synergy2a - as it will transform the car completely - being adjustable for torque and power.

If you are unfamiliar with some of the items I listed - do a search and read up on them. Come back for more info if you need.

At the moment you are missing out on the full potential of a very capable vehicle. It may never have the performance of your SAAB but it shouldn't be that far behind.

Good luck,

Singvogel.

take it back donald and complain

As mentioned, get all the bits that wear out or clog up checked, it's amazing how much difference things like old turbo hoses, clogged EGR valves, ageing MAFS and clogged filters can make to the TD4 engine.

If you want LOTS of power then take a look at a couple of MG ZT / Rover 75 forums, there are two or three diesel Rover owners running both a remap and tuning box, they claim around 170 bhp at the wheels

There are concerns that a tuning box might cause injector problems, on the Rover / MG owner's sites injecctor failure is uncommon, even with users of tuning boxes