ancientcameraman Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Good Afternoon All, I have recently purchased my first Freelander, an 03 TD4 with 130k miles. She does indeed drive and run very well with no knocks or bangs from the drivetrain. The history is pretty good re engine service etc and she appears to have been well cared for and has not been used for towing. Having done some research before buying I am aware that a few items are likely to be reaching their end of life assuming they have been replaced at their usual interval or may be way overdue. It would also appear that for the last couple of years she has been on very gentle duties. My off road aspirations are pretty modest, a set of more aggressive rubber will probably suffice at this stage, I am thinking that before I start to stress any of these components to any great extent I should renew the items most likely to fail with age or sudden stress ! I am thinking : viscous coupling, prop bearing and supports, suspension bushes (all look rather old and perished) with poly ones. Is that the right order to work through my list (not enough budget to hit it all at once plus I will be doing the work myself) and should I have other items in mind ? Secondly I am negotiating for a cosmetically damaged, engine blown 1.8 face lift 04, for the wheels and tyres but I can I assume that most of the mechanicals are the same as my earlier version ? I fancy being able to re-bush the suspension arms ready to install another day. Thank You Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuck Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Welcome to the forum. I'm sure someone will be along to answer your freelander specific questions but I thought I'd post a quick reply to say forget polybushes, stick to genuine LR ones & you won't go far wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dezzie Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Hi ancientcameraman. Welcome to the forum. If you give your Freelander love care and attention, it'll give you good service. Had mine 5 years now, and still love it. A great family vehicle, which is brilliant in bad weather. I look after mine better than I look after the Wife ! Your VCU should have been changed at 70,000. So, in theory, it should be up for renewal again soon. With the Prop bearings ONLY USE GENUINE GKN ! I had mine done, and they fitted some £16.99 pieces of carp which lasted about 6 months. Same as the bushes, just use genuine ones. You'll probably need the rear diff mountings done, as these usually go way before 100k. Keep up the service regime, and only use good quality oil, 10w40 semi synthetic if you can afford it. I try to change my oil roughly every 5000 miles. Check your coolant / antifreeze level at least once a week, and keep some spare in the boot. LR recommend the pink stuff. Only change your tyres either in twos or fours. Never change one tyre, it could knacker up your diff, VCU and ultimately the IRD if your same axle wheels are spinning at different speeds. Try and make sure your spare is roughly about the same as your road wheels With the TD4, it has been known for the fuel injectors to fail once they get over 100k. So yours may have been changed already. Don't worry about the cambelt, it's a chain. Other than the injectors, the TD4 is meant to be fairly bombproof. The forum you're on is brilliant, but I also found this website really useful www.freelanderspecialist.com Like with all vehicles, maintenance is the key. Just try and spend 10 minutes each week checking fluids and tyre pressures etc. Best wishes, and enjoy your Freelander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancientcameraman Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Thanks for the input gentlemen, weather permitting she will be on the ramps next weekend for a proper inspection and a plan of works scheduled ! I also found out today that I will need to budget for that spare set of wheels with more aggressive tyres and a new pressure washer, a very tame trundle along some of the by-ways on Salisbury Plain earlier today( ok there was an excursion or two onto a couple of side tracks) showed the limitations of the road rubber and had me unblocking the drain on the drive by hand ! Sill Smiling Tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Welcome! TD4 is a great motor, mine's just rolled over 220k including some fair off-road use. Order of works I'd suggest (along with what others have said): Do the crank breather (PCV) filter immediately. If the VCU feels stiff, get a recon one. Only use GKN / genuine parts bearings for it and make sure you snug the splash guard up, the front one suffers from muck when off-roaded and they live significantly shorter lives. An EGR blanking kit is well worth it. Check pipes / hoses for splits, rubbing etc. especially the vacuum tube that operates the turbo. If performance is "flat" and MPG struggles to hit 30, suspect the airflow meter. Replace with genuine Bosch. A 5-point torx security bit will make the job easier. The rear diff bushes do go, but it's usually just the front (nose) one. The alternator is down low so suffers off-road especially when wading through murky water - try not to do too much and/or shield the alt and give it a damn good clean/flush with clean water ASAP after getting it mucky, same goes for everything moving especially the VCU bearings, they're a bit more fragile than Defender-type stuff (that said, I've never had to do a wheel bearing in nearly 200k of freelandering). The water pump tell-tale faces up, allowing crud into the bearing. Either block it or make a small breather if you're wading through crud. (I suspect I lost a water pump this way) Learn how the ETC & HDC work (AKA read the manual), when used well they make the FL so capable it's astounding, if you get it wrong you will fail and/or break something. Both are hard on the brakes so keep that in mind, sometimes it's nice to give it a cooling off period between bouts of trying. Also be aware of where you can & can't attach a tow rope, don't allow lead-footed idiots in bigger trucks to try a snatch recovery off the towing eye. Stick to genuine bushes. Some of them are a right PITA to do, and you can buy a complete lump with the bush already in it which makes the job much easier. Front A-arms have ball joint & bush complete in the unit. And if you're in the area, bring it along to Seven Sisters to play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EggNChips Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I'll second everything that FF says, especially the bits about genuine parts. Parts of ebay can be attractive, but the old addage about 'buy cheap, buy twice' is especially true here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Just re-reading the OP, I don't think much from the 1.8 will transfer to the TD4 - prop, VCU, rear end (diff/subframe) if it's the same era but gearbox & (probably) IRD will be different, looking up the part numbers would tell you. Brakes, suspension should be the same, spare arms are handy as you can re-bush them at your leisure before fitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EggNChips Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 The gearbox is definitely different, but I think the IRD box is the same. The only model that uses a different IRD box is the 2.5 V6..........I think (disclamer) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 have the most worn tyres on the front , if fitting new fit as minimum pair , and then to rear . Fuel filter under rear wing , check has been changed , as this quite often gets overlooked, and can cause premature pump failure . When off road just be careful of vulnerability of fuel tank cradles. and their susceptibility to rust. They do surprisingly well , but thinking they can be a "90" will result in damage .HTSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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