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Should I change to a freelander Diesel 2.0l


Mark Adams

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Hi,

I currently own a Freelander 1 1.8 Petrol and a Discovery 1 2.5 TD. I would like to sell both of these cars and get one car that will do the job of them both. I currently need a general fairly economic runabout as well as a car that will tow a small trailer (with about 12 straw bales in)

The Discovery will tow most things no problem but is not great on fuel and the freelander has less pulling power than a slug.

I was hoping that a 2.0l diesel freelander 1 would be suitable for both tasks but has never driven one.

I have always liked the look of the freelander so it wins on that point and it is fairly comfortable but it needs more power.

Any opinions?

Mark.

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we have a 2003 td4 ( 83k on the clock ) and if i was to be totally honest if i knew then what i know now i would steer well clear !!

Since we have had ours its had x2 rear window mechanism's ( both went within in 10 minutes of each other ! )

Its needed a complete sunroof including motor ( at a cost of over £700 paid by the dealer we bought it from thank god !! ) and after the new one being in situ for 3 months the mechanism on that one is going rusty !! even with a liberal coat of PTFE spray and grease

Its needed a new handle on the back door as the old one pulled off in the wifes hands ! AND THAT WAS ALL IN THE FIRST 3 MONTHS !!

I know all cars have their problems but the build quality and quality in general if im honest leaves alot to be desired considering its a Land Rover, not to mention things like the IRD if that goes wrong its a pain in the arse, having to change both tyres on the same axle at the same time is exspensive ( we have to do the front 2 and have been qouted £205 and thats the cheapest ) servicing even if you do it yourself isnt cheap ( fully synthetic oil ! ) and ontop of that if the crank case breather filter hasnt been changed again if there is any damage its gonna be costly to change the turbo.

On the MPG side of things i havent done any sums but on a full tank of diesel we can only get around 450 miles at a push, not to mention the air con/heater is pants ( common on all LR as far as i know )

I had a 10 year history with MOD series 3 and land rover wolf's and i would rate one of those over a freelander any day, i would prefer a 90 or 110 any day of the week, not as luxurious by any means but far less problemmatic.

If anyone offered me £3500 for my car i would snap their hand off and go and buy a diesel family estate ( volvo v40 )

Im in no doubt there are many of you that love their freelanders but in the short time we have had ours and have had to sort out so many problems i would be glad to see the back of it !

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Hi,

I'd go for the Td4. Well, actually I have, twice. I had a 2005 model which was bloody great, but I had to sell it to fund other stuff. I then drove round for a year in a series of crapmobiles (Clio/Corsa/Civic - apparently only dull hatchbacks beginning with a C were considered that year... :hysterical: ) then I decided enough was enough and I needed another FL. I bought a 2001 Td4 for comfortably less than £2k, and have been using it pretty hard for about 6 months now. It's just as good to drive as the '05 (which I bought at 2 years old (the car, not me) from a main dealer :ph34r: ) and although I'm not much of a fan of the pre-facelift look, the owning experience isn't really any different. I still get 440 miles from a tank of fuel (about £80-85 quid), still love the driving position and ride/handling combination (yes, I've had better but for what it is it's not bad at all) and still get annoyed at the small boot and cheapo plastics on the dash.

Yes, stuff can go wrong but if you have one already you'll know that, and nothing is really that bad (if you have a healthy credit card and a healthier sense of humour). For the question you pose, ie. do you change a petrol FL and a Disco 1 for a diesel freelander, I would say yes, it is probably the ideal compromise. They aren't perfect, but what else would you buy for the money they sell for now? A normal estate car is a possibility, but it's just not a Land Rover and besides, any car can go wrong (just ask my neighbour who swapped a lovely '95 Defender 90 for an Audi A6 tdi estate, a car that is probably best described as 'reassuringly expensive')

Out of interest, my father in law ran a '98 L-series diesel for about 5 years, and it was OK but nowhere near as good for towing as the Td4, as it had lots less torque and just felt a lot 'flatter' to drive in general.

All just an opinion. Buy the best you can and enjoy!

Cheers, Matt

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My opinion and experience is similar to Carls. I tried a TD4 freelander for about 9 months. Loads of things went wrong, i absolutley hated the car and am now happy with the disco that replaced it. I lost a bit of money on that freelander (probably paid to much for it too), but just had to get rid of it as i disliked it so much. The ONLY good thing it had going for it IMO was the fuel economy. We regulalry got 38mpg out of it (when it was working that was).

I'd sell your freelander and stick with your disco. As its a tdi, you could consider using a proportion of SVO in it in the summer months and save 40ppl over diesel. I run my 200tdi 110 on about 30% svo in the warmer months without any issues.

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There were lots of TD4's on eBay for <£2k last time I looked a few months ago - as with all LR's they have a few common faults, all of which have been done to death on this forum, search back for "buying advice", lots of threads.

IMHO either is a fine vehicle, the 2.0 is unglamarous but solid, the TD4 is more pokey but more pricey to buy & marginally more complex. As long as you EXPECT it to be like owning any other Land Rover product and not a Mondeo you'll be fine, look out for the issues, budget accordingly. I still love my TD4, that said I loved the 1.8 before it, if it's working OK I wouldn't really bother swapping TBH.

Aircons often leak gas and lose efficiency, had mine re-gassed and then drove to Bosnia where it was 45deg and it kept us cool enough. The diesels struggle to get warm enough in winter, some have Webasto diesel-fired heaters fitted, well worth it if you can find one.

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If pulling twelve bales on trailer is what you have to do a td4 will eat it !! I towed my P38 with a td4 auto when its becm caught a cold , did it well . Dont expect it to tow 54ton like my V8 110 but then it does nearly 3 times the MPG . Had to replace 1 window lift on one of my freelanders , and gearbox solenoid on both , nice ride , good heater (FBH ) Handle the snow quite well . You can get lemons like any car , a lot is down to how p/o treated them . TD4 is only choice not V6 or 1.8 JMHO

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Well is seems like the TD4 is the one to go for.

I would have thought that the 1.8 petrol would tow a small trailer with only a modest amount of weight but it struggles to get just me up the hills most of the time.

I initally thought the car had a fault but everything has been checked and is fine so I can only assume the the car is generally underpowered (never driven one before this one).

I am not concerned about doing work of the car as I have a workshop well stocked with tools and I have always done my own maintenance.

Mark.

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Great comments, I would love to know where you got a Freelander TD4 2001 for under 2K from I can't find them for less than 3K. I do like the Disco as it will just go anywhere and I dont need to worry about it getting scratched or getting stuck.

Mark.

Gumtree is full of them?

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I'd sell the FL and keep the Disco,work out how much fuel the sale of your FL will buy along with the extra tax /ins etc. But saying that if you do sell both and want a diesel FL I would look for the earlier L series diesel rather than the TD4.Yes,the TD4 has slightly more power,but are more complex and less reliable than the L series which is possibly the most reliable engine LR have ever used - and are capable of huge mileages.

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That is an interesting opinion, Ally V8, is seems that you are going against everyone else with that opinion.

In my experience any of the FL engines are more reliable than the rest of the car, it seems that most of the problems are with the transmission and 4x4 system which has not changed in any of them.

Which would you say has better MPG the L series or the TD4?

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My opinion is from the view of being a LR independant and fixing them ! Lets just say I have never taken an L series apart,the worst problem I have dealt with on one is a fractured injector pipe... The TD4 engine itself is OK - better it seems than its bigger TD6 brother.But its all the stuff that serves it,injectors,Mafs,common rail pressure sensors,cam sensors,intercooler hoses,high pressure fuel pumps and LOTS of low pressure electric fuel pumps.All expensive to repair.

The TD4 also uses a an expensive dual mass flywheel and stupid concentric slave cylinder.I dont think for the extra bit of performance they are worth the extra cost of running in terms of repairs.

I only fix them and test drive them so I'm not the right person to give an opinion on MPG.My wife has run a 1.8K FL1 for nearly six years now and the only bad thing about it has been two failed rotor arms and 27mpg.... BUT - we are continually amazed at how good it is on snow and ice.

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I do not take the FL on the snow as the prop was removed before I purchased it, I have the prop and was told it was only taken off to get extra MPG but I don't trust that it, I do not want to reconnect it and then completly break the IRD. Do you know any way of testing the VCU, IRD and Bearings?

The main reason I want to change the FL 1.8 is because it just seems very under powered, I have spend quite a while testing everything, compression, fuel pressure, spark, etc and have a scope and SP ACR4 fault code reader and have checked live data for MAP Lambda etc and all seem OK but it still struggles to get up some of the welsh hills just carrying me (and I am not over weight before anyone says anything ^_^ ) If I could solve this then I may keep it. I do not know if all the 1.8 FL are under powered or just mine.

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TD4 onwards had more reliable drivetrain - different dif ratios to reduce stress/drag on the VCU & IRD and larger diff pinion bearings. Agree the L series is a bomb-proof engine but the M47 is a very good lump, plenty of them in BMW's, Rover 75's and Freebies.

IRD/VCU issues have been covered many times, have a search back. VCU bearings are just bearings, if you spin them & they grumble or stick, change them (I strongly recommend only using GENUINE ones).

I found my 1800 quite peppy, didn't do heavy hauling but it never struggled even when loaded. Reckon it's on a par with the TD4 power-wise, if slightly sportier to drive.

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I think the trouble is with the K series engine is that it thrives on revs,its a total opposite to say the old 2 1/4 in LR series cars. Saying that it should get a move on even fully loaded if you are prepared to use the revs rather than expect it to lug.

What readings do you get from the Map sensor at idle and again from a wide open throttle ? Does the oxygen sensor switch up to 0.8v under wide throttle openings / heavy loads ?

One thing I did notice several years ago is that there was a large difference between how individual ecu's would behave on the same engine when swopping for testing purposes.Some didnt seem to want to make much power when an identical ecu made the car go well.

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My opinion is from the view of being a LR independant and fixing them ! Lets just say I have never taken an L series apart,the worst problem I have dealt with on one is a fractured injector pipe... The TD4 engine itself is OK - better it seems than its bigger TD6 brother.But its all the stuff that serves it,injectors,Mafs,common rail pressure sensors,cam sensors,intercooler hoses,high pressure fuel pumps and LOTS of low pressure electric fuel pumps.All expensive to repair.

The TD4 also uses a an expensive dual mass flywheel and stupid concentric slave cylinder.I dont think for the extra bit of performance they are worth the extra cost of running in terms of repairs.

I only fix them and test drive them so I'm not the right person to give an opinion on MPG.My wife has run a 1.8K FL1 for nearly six years now and the only bad thing about it has been two failed rotor arms and 27mpg.... BUT - we are continually amazed at how good it is on snow and ice.

I've had a timing belt snap on an L series and it ain't cheap to fix. Most of the followers smashed and they cost a fortune. Granted tho, the M47 is a more sophisticated engine and therefore more likely to have components fail. Freelanders aren't without faults and I wouldn't recommend to anyone that deoesn't like getting their hands dirty, but that makes it better for the rest of us that like Freelanders cos most of the problems are cheap easy fixes :)

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