One thing I know I'll miss from the van is the load space. The van swallowed everything but the Freelander is a lot smaller and I don't really want to throw stinky rubbish in it.
Almost as soon as I bought it I needed to take an old table and chairs and a mattress to the tip (sorry, "Recycling centre") and the lack of space was immediately apparent.
I set about the table and chairs with screwdriver and spanners (and later hammer...) and shrunk them to fit inside the back, but no way with the mattress so that had to go on the roof.
Luckily it came with the load bars but with no cross bars the mattress had to lay on the roof. Not an issue for this but for future needs I set about getting a proper roof rack.
In my shed I already had a set of Thule feet (757) from when I was going to fit a set of Jeep rails to my van, a quick Google and these were confirmed as suitable for Freelanders too. Just needed to get the bars, so onto eBay and a pair of used Aero Bars (860) were soon making their way to me.
Combined and fitted to the rails - they are just right, not too much overhang and they felt pretty solid during the fitting test.
Now I just need some proper strops, and maybe a small roof box for trips away...
Saturday, 31 May 2014
Hola amigos, amigos?
To paraphrase an old saying, buy in haste, research at leisure.
I bought the Freelander in a bit of a rush, and by my own admission I didn't do a great job of inspecting it. Sure, it had an engine so that's good...
One thing I missed, was the absence of some warning lights on the dashboard. My previous van was so basic it pretty much just had the minimum, but the FL has traction control, abs and hill descent control which all should have lit up as part of the ignition test.
Researching I found that these are known as "The three amigos!", because they all show up at once (usually due to an abs fault which the other systems use). I didn't have these on mine but I didn't get the check sequence either...
A little digging around and I discovered a small fault with the HDC (hill descent control) switch on the gearstick - the wires had snapped off the switch which meant I couldn't enable the system. Common enough, I grabbed my tools and set to work.
Luckily, mine had become disconnected at the switch, so the rest of the wiring was still plugged in. So I unplugged that and removed the switch so I could work in comfort at my bench.
I found some decent cable and soldered this between the switch and plug. Its easy to remove the pins from the plug, just flip up the rear section of the plug and pull them out. They aren't polarised so the pins (and wires) can go back either way around.
Back in place, beefier cable and properly soldered.
Refitting and trying it out I found I had a flashing green HDC light on the dash which changed to a solid light when first or reverse was selected. Perfect.
But those amigos were still hiding.
So I took the instruments out. This is an easy task only requiring removal of the black instrument surround and the upper instrument cowl.
Once removed I popped the Perspex and black guage surround off the instrument pack, and lifted the icon mask expecting to see some black insulation tape covering the lights.
No such luck.
Some Neanderthal had taken a screwdriver to the LEDs, levering each one off the PCB like a thug. I also noticed the same had been done to the handbrake led.
It's been said that if you give a camera to a chimpanzee, they will take photos of their asses.
Give a camera to a Gorilla, and he will carefully unscrew the camera but won't break it.
Give the camera to an Orang-utan and he would delicately take it apart and put it back together.
I like Orangs...
But anyway, give a Freelander to and idiot and they'll lever parts off instead of fixing them.
So faced with this I thought I'd rather see fault lights and know there's work to be done, than have it come to an MOT and fail without warning.
I ordered up some 12v LEDs, (standard ones as I couldn't find surface mount ones) yellow for the amigos and red for the handbrake.
Once they arrived I stripped the instruments out of the car again and started to dismantle the assembly. Unfortunately this is where I got stuck as I couldn't desolder the connectors on the back of the gauges. Faced with this my options was to buy a new set of instruments or soldier on.
I chose the latter, stripping the needles and dials off the front before carefully levering the PCB away from the white enclosure. The soldering was very difficult like this but after some swearing I had all the LEDs back in.
Top tip, a bit of blu-tack helps to hold the LEDs in place...
Reassembling and fitting back into the car, on power on I was greeted by three Amber lights on the left hand side and a red light for the handbrake.
But then the TC and HDC LEDs went off leaving the abs. This is normal as apparently the car needs to go over 7km/h before it senses all of the speed sensors and knows its ok.
So a quick drive later and everything seems as it should.
Boxed everything up and a week on all is still correct. I not sure why the thug levered the LEDs off, I was expecting the abs to play up but it's been fine, even had the TC come on one morning leaving work going over a wet manhole cover.
And the HDC works too, there's no shortage of hills where I live so I gave it a go one morning. HDC on, first gear and feet off doing 5 mph or so downhill with no fuss.
Perfect.
I bought the Freelander in a bit of a rush, and by my own admission I didn't do a great job of inspecting it. Sure, it had an engine so that's good...
One thing I missed, was the absence of some warning lights on the dashboard. My previous van was so basic it pretty much just had the minimum, but the FL has traction control, abs and hill descent control which all should have lit up as part of the ignition test.
Researching I found that these are known as "The three amigos!", because they all show up at once (usually due to an abs fault which the other systems use). I didn't have these on mine but I didn't get the check sequence either...
A little digging around and I discovered a small fault with the HDC (hill descent control) switch on the gearstick - the wires had snapped off the switch which meant I couldn't enable the system. Common enough, I grabbed my tools and set to work.
Luckily, mine had become disconnected at the switch, so the rest of the wiring was still plugged in. So I unplugged that and removed the switch so I could work in comfort at my bench.
I found some decent cable and soldered this between the switch and plug. Its easy to remove the pins from the plug, just flip up the rear section of the plug and pull them out. They aren't polarised so the pins (and wires) can go back either way around.
Back in place, beefier cable and properly soldered.
Refitting and trying it out I found I had a flashing green HDC light on the dash which changed to a solid light when first or reverse was selected. Perfect.
But those amigos were still hiding.
So I took the instruments out. This is an easy task only requiring removal of the black instrument surround and the upper instrument cowl.
Once removed I popped the Perspex and black guage surround off the instrument pack, and lifted the icon mask expecting to see some black insulation tape covering the lights.
No such luck.
Some Neanderthal had taken a screwdriver to the LEDs, levering each one off the PCB like a thug. I also noticed the same had been done to the handbrake led.
It's been said that if you give a camera to a chimpanzee, they will take photos of their asses.
Give a camera to a Gorilla, and he will carefully unscrew the camera but won't break it.
Give the camera to an Orang-utan and he would delicately take it apart and put it back together.
I like Orangs...
But anyway, give a Freelander to and idiot and they'll lever parts off instead of fixing them.
So faced with this I thought I'd rather see fault lights and know there's work to be done, than have it come to an MOT and fail without warning.
I ordered up some 12v LEDs, (standard ones as I couldn't find surface mount ones) yellow for the amigos and red for the handbrake.
Once they arrived I stripped the instruments out of the car again and started to dismantle the assembly. Unfortunately this is where I got stuck as I couldn't desolder the connectors on the back of the gauges. Faced with this my options was to buy a new set of instruments or soldier on.
I chose the latter, stripping the needles and dials off the front before carefully levering the PCB away from the white enclosure. The soldering was very difficult like this but after some swearing I had all the LEDs back in.
Top tip, a bit of blu-tack helps to hold the LEDs in place...
Reassembling and fitting back into the car, on power on I was greeted by three Amber lights on the left hand side and a red light for the handbrake.
But then the TC and HDC LEDs went off leaving the abs. This is normal as apparently the car needs to go over 7km/h before it senses all of the speed sensors and knows its ok.
So a quick drive later and everything seems as it should.
Boxed everything up and a week on all is still correct. I not sure why the thug levered the LEDs off, I was expecting the abs to play up but it's been fine, even had the TC come on one morning leaving work going over a wet manhole cover.
And the HDC works too, there's no shortage of hills where I live so I gave it a go one morning. HDC on, first gear and feet off doing 5 mph or so downhill with no fuss.
Perfect.
Feels wheely good
When I got the car, the first few drives were a little scary due to the seller spraying back to black everywhere including the steering wheel, making it dangerously slippery.
Once worn off it was better but I ordered a steering wheel cover just to be sure. I've fitted these to 2 of my previous cars and they really do help with grip but also look pretty nice. I would even consider fitting one to a new car (should I ever be in a position to buy one).
Being my third cover installation, this one went pretty well. I did get a rogue knot when stitching the longest section because of the length of thread involved, but I've since gone back and restitched that section and it looks better.
It really does make a huge difference to driving and now there's a slight leather smell to the interior.
Once worn off it was better but I ordered a steering wheel cover just to be sure. I've fitted these to 2 of my previous cars and they really do help with grip but also look pretty nice. I would even consider fitting one to a new car (should I ever be in a position to buy one).
Being my third cover installation, this one went pretty well. I did get a rogue knot when stitching the longest section because of the length of thread involved, but I've since gone back and restitched that section and it looks better.
It really does make a huge difference to driving and now there's a slight leather smell to the interior.
Protection
One thing I was always on the look out for with the van was a pair of headlight protectors. They are rarer than rocking horse shit and the people who own them add on the "Rare VW item" tax if they decide to honour you with a sale.
But not for the Freelander, I ordered these from PowewrfulUK (through eBay so I got the Nectar points...) and they were fitted in seconds. Literally seconds as they clip over the bottom of the headlights before a pair of clips secure the top.
Got some rear ones ordered now so they'll match all round. I don't know how effective they will be as they are plastic (the ones for the T4 were steel) but they look the part...
But not for the Freelander, I ordered these from PowewrfulUK (through eBay so I got the Nectar points...) and they were fitted in seconds. Literally seconds as they clip over the bottom of the headlights before a pair of clips secure the top.
Got some rear ones ordered now so they'll match all round. I don't know how effective they will be as they are plastic (the ones for the T4 were steel) but they look the part...
On guard (guard on)
So the dogs love the new car. In fact every time I walk them past it Benny wags his tail and sniffs around the doors.
One of the nice things about the Freelander is the tail glass, which can be fully lowered to get more air in the cabin. But not much good to stop dogs from leaping out.
Land Rover thought of this and made a guard which fits to the tail door. Only trouble is the cost - nearly £100 for some mesh!
I made up a template out of some cardboard, replicating the original.
Looking in my parts (scrap) pile I fount the framing from my parents old swing seat. All 90° bends but the right diameter.
Setting to the job with grinder and blow torch, I cut the frame into 4 smaller pieces, with the aim to save and reuse the bends.
Heating up the bends with the torch made it a bit easier to bend them to the correct angle, then it was on to the welder.
A confession, I'm not a great welder. I don't have a decent welder either, just a Lidl stick welder that is a little finicky to use and has lousy duty cycle.
But still, I can use it to stick metal together.
After some faffing, I got the 4 pieces back together, with only a few blow throughs...
Next its time for some mesh. I had this in my shed already from the load guards I fitted to the old van. Stocks as good as money...
A suitable size piece was cut to size and flattened to match the new guard before being welded in place. The whole thing was painted in black smooth Hammerite.
Next it was time to fit the mounting brackets. These came from eBay - not genuine but neither is my guard!
After much gnashing and wailing of teeth I was convinced I had marked the positions correctly so out came the drill. I own a nutsert tool so these were installed easily, after a little paint was added to the bare metal.
The vapour barrier was already torn, I'm not that much of an animal. Just need to reseal shortly.
And fitted. Looks good, fits correctly, and as I made it to factory dimensions I could always swap out for a genuine one if I find one cheap enough, but as they usually go for £60+ I think I'll be content with my own handiwork for now...
What do you know? The damn thing fits!
An it proved useful later that day taking the dogs to meet my wife for a lunchtime walk.
One of the nice things about the Freelander is the tail glass, which can be fully lowered to get more air in the cabin. But not much good to stop dogs from leaping out.
Land Rover thought of this and made a guard which fits to the tail door. Only trouble is the cost - nearly £100 for some mesh!
I made up a template out of some cardboard, replicating the original.
Looking in my parts (scrap) pile I fount the framing from my parents old swing seat. All 90° bends but the right diameter.
Setting to the job with grinder and blow torch, I cut the frame into 4 smaller pieces, with the aim to save and reuse the bends.
Heating up the bends with the torch made it a bit easier to bend them to the correct angle, then it was on to the welder.
A confession, I'm not a great welder. I don't have a decent welder either, just a Lidl stick welder that is a little finicky to use and has lousy duty cycle.
But still, I can use it to stick metal together.
After some faffing, I got the 4 pieces back together, with only a few blow throughs...
Next its time for some mesh. I had this in my shed already from the load guards I fitted to the old van. Stocks as good as money...
A suitable size piece was cut to size and flattened to match the new guard before being welded in place. The whole thing was painted in black smooth Hammerite.
Next it was time to fit the mounting brackets. These came from eBay - not genuine but neither is my guard!
After much gnashing and wailing of teeth I was convinced I had marked the positions correctly so out came the drill. I own a nutsert tool so these were installed easily, after a little paint was added to the bare metal.
The vapour barrier was already torn, I'm not that much of an animal. Just need to reseal shortly.
And fitted. Looks good, fits correctly, and as I made it to factory dimensions I could always swap out for a genuine one if I find one cheap enough, but as they usually go for £60+ I think I'll be content with my own handiwork for now...
What do you know? The damn thing fits!
An it proved useful later that day taking the dogs to meet my wife for a lunchtime walk.
Saturday, 17 May 2014
Follow the drip
I won some steel wheels on eBay, and when I was waiting for the scrapyard to open I noticed a couple of drips.
First there was a small trace of rainwater on the inside of the passenger door. Something to sort out later...
The other was a drip from the passenger targa roof handle. Nobody likes a wet head to once I had a day free of rain I popped the roof out to seal the screw fittings.
I have some neoprene gasket on order but as it was dry between rainstorms, I did a quick fix.
Masking the outside of the glass and loosening the screws, I applied a little Sikaflex adhesive sealant to the holes.
Not the cleanest job, truth be told.
But once it had cured I cleaned off any excess with a razor blade and it looks much better. And so far no drips.
I've seen a few posts about using silicone sealant for this sort of thing, and really - don't bother. In an automotive environment a domestic sealant isn't going to last. Sikaflex is mad for this purpose, and I can safely say these bolts aren't going to leak for a long time, probably only when the car goes off to the scrapyard in the sky (not for a few years yet please...).
First there was a small trace of rainwater on the inside of the passenger door. Something to sort out later...
The other was a drip from the passenger targa roof handle. Nobody likes a wet head to once I had a day free of rain I popped the roof out to seal the screw fittings.
I have some neoprene gasket on order but as it was dry between rainstorms, I did a quick fix.
Masking the outside of the glass and loosening the screws, I applied a little Sikaflex adhesive sealant to the holes.
Not the cleanest job, truth be told.
But once it had cured I cleaned off any excess with a razor blade and it looks much better. And so far no drips.
I've seen a few posts about using silicone sealant for this sort of thing, and really - don't bother. In an automotive environment a domestic sealant isn't going to last. Sikaflex is mad for this purpose, and I can safely say these bolts aren't going to leak for a long time, probably only when the car goes off to the scrapyard in the sky (not for a few years yet please...).
Battery Clamp Repair
What? No witty post title. Well it's hard to think of one for such a dull post, at least one that isn't tenuous in the extreme.
But anyway, Earlier I wrote about my garage finding a few faults, the battery securing clamp is the easiest and cheapest one for me to fix right now so I set to it.
Luckily for me the clamp had failed open, with the battery loose, so it was easy to remove that and the battery tray.
Once out we can see the culprit:
That's the fella, a brass (I think) threaded insert splined into plastic. Not going to help much when corrosion starts. So out came the grinder and the bolt head was cut off and the remainders removed by flourish of hammer before the dremel flattened the underside ready for the repair.
Unfortunately it started to rain at this point so I hurriedly reassembled the tray to refit in the car, no pictures of the fix.
Basically I already had an M8 nut welded to a piece of flat steel that was going to be used on a wheel carrier for my old van. I cut this out and made it fit the wedge shape that can be seen in the photo above. A snug fit that although being "loose", it wont fall out when undone to remove the battery. Then I greased up a new Stainless Steel M8 flanged bolt, and refitted the battery clamp.
Back in the car and all is secure, and works exactly as the original should have.
After re-applying the battery, I had to recalibrate the tail glass. This is set to lower to the bottom if power is removed and reapplied, forcing the need to recalibrate. No trouble, all I did was use the console switch first to make sure it was at it's lowest point - switch down until it beeps, then all the way up.
Hey presto, job done.
But anyway, Earlier I wrote about my garage finding a few faults, the battery securing clamp is the easiest and cheapest one for me to fix right now so I set to it.
Luckily for me the clamp had failed open, with the battery loose, so it was easy to remove that and the battery tray.
Once out we can see the culprit:
That's the fella, a brass (I think) threaded insert splined into plastic. Not going to help much when corrosion starts. So out came the grinder and the bolt head was cut off and the remainders removed by flourish of hammer before the dremel flattened the underside ready for the repair.
Basically I already had an M8 nut welded to a piece of flat steel that was going to be used on a wheel carrier for my old van. I cut this out and made it fit the wedge shape that can be seen in the photo above. A snug fit that although being "loose", it wont fall out when undone to remove the battery. Then I greased up a new Stainless Steel M8 flanged bolt, and refitted the battery clamp.
Back in the car and all is secure, and works exactly as the original should have.
After re-applying the battery, I had to recalibrate the tail glass. This is set to lower to the bottom if power is removed and reapplied, forcing the need to recalibrate. No trouble, all I did was use the console switch first to make sure it was at it's lowest point - switch down until it beeps, then all the way up.
Hey presto, job done.
Sunday, 4 May 2014
You got me in your clutch again...
Awesome.
Just before my van died I had booked it in for some work on the gearbox. Now I had the Freelander in need of a new clutch, I kept the booking but swapped cars.
So what the seller thought was the clutch master cylinder, "easy fix, it's on the bulkhead" turned out to be the slave cylinder, which is inside the clutch housing.
OK...
While it was in pieces I asked them to fit a new clutch at the same time, made sense so I don't need to worry about getting apart again too soon.
But in the time between buying and getting to the garage it developed a clicking noise on full lock. CV joint, or so I thought. Nope, driveshaft.
So add that to the list, the driveshaft had to e removed to access the clutch, so...Get that done at the same time and save a bit of labour.
Parts ordered and re booked for the work a week later.
On collection, I had a few notes on the bill, things to look at.
First, propshaft is missing a bolt. OK, they noticed it needs new support bearings so I'll get that done at the same time, and I think I'll need a new VCU (Viscous Coupling Unit) as I get a bit of wind up on full lock in reverse. Not too bad, but I'm thinking better safe than sorry because...
Second, swarf in the IRD (Intermediate Reduction Drive). Oh. That's not good, that could be a big, BIG bill to replace that. It seems these are usually knocked out due to a failing VCU, hence the plan to replace it.
Third, battery is loose in the tray. Yup, it's anther Freelander foible. The battery clamp bolt has a habit of corroding and then wont undo. Luckily for me, mine had failed open, and the clamp is still there, so I can get the battery out, and then the tray to fix. A job for this week I feel.
But back to today's efforts, the clutch is much, MUCH better. Light is not the word, and the bite is a few inches off the floor, which is always nice. And no more knocking around corners! It's funny, but after all the sticking plaster repairs on the van, getting this done and dusted feels good, I shouldn't have to revisit these areas for a while.
So, purchase price of £1500 and these repairs of £700. Current total £2200.
It may seem like I've bought a really bad car, and in truth, I have bought one with a few expensive problems, but the engine, gearbox and bodywork are all sound. The three biggest money pit areas seem to be OK, so I'm not too concerned with the running gear repairs. They can be replaced as units, once a new unit is in place, no more worries. Try doing that with the engine, 'box or body for similar expense, not going to happen.
Saturday, 3 May 2014
... Or how I bought my mechanic a new boat.
My previous blog, imaginatively called "The Dog Van" was all about my efforts to convert a VW transporter into something more comfortable. It became quite inspired by off road / expedition vehicles so obviously these vehicles were at the back of my mind when I was looking for a new car.
But after 5 years in an old knackered van I wanted something a bit more comfortable. So scouring autotrader I found a Freelander for sale. A 3 door 2002 TD4 GS, not bad mileage (around 11700 miles). I set up a viewing the next day (which was Good Friday) and rushed around getting enough money out of cash machines to offer cash.
A small caveat before we get going - I should not buy cars. Or at least, I should not inspect them after working nights and getting just 2 hours sleep.
The viewing - well the old girl looked amazing, clean silver paintwork and plastic bumpers / arches soaking in back to black. Even had tyre dressing which I hate but at least that wears off quickly. Inside was a similar story, a few magic trees hanging which the seller put down to the previous owner having a German Shepherd Dog and apparently it smelled quite badly of dog (more on this later).
Engine was good too, clean (obviously the guy loves a spit and polish) and fluids looked good.
All the electrics seemed to work and it started up like a dream. Sounded good too.
Time for a test drive. The seller drove first, taking it through a few local roads before letting me drive. He forewarned me of an issue with the clutch, its heavy and the bite is low - possibly master cylinder. And sure enough, my left leg got a work out on the way back. But in all other respects it drove really well. He also said how the previous owner had fitted off road tyres to the rear, and they've caused a droning sound. True enough, there was a sound like off road tyres coming from the rear (my previous van had these tyres fitted and it did sound similar).
So standing next to it at the end, I was mulling it over. I wanted it but in my tired state working out the math on master cylinder repairs was proving difficult. It may have worked though as I offered £1500 and he took it (alarm bells should have rung).
So now I was a Freelander owner, and on the drive back was really nice. So much more comfortable than the van, the silence was deafening and everything felt tight.
After getting it home I started reading more about Freelanders, and discovered a few faults that I really should have found on the inspection. My fault. Still, I've found they are fairly common to Freelanders so fixes are well documented.
The post title refers to years ago when I was ripped off by a garage. The incompetent Muppet couldn't diagnose a blocked radiator and with the money he conned me out of he bought a boat. Fortunately I'm a bit wiser these days and have found a decent garage to tackle the big jobs I can't manage at home.
But after 5 years in an old knackered van I wanted something a bit more comfortable. So scouring autotrader I found a Freelander for sale. A 3 door 2002 TD4 GS, not bad mileage (around 11700 miles). I set up a viewing the next day (which was Good Friday) and rushed around getting enough money out of cash machines to offer cash.
A small caveat before we get going - I should not buy cars. Or at least, I should not inspect them after working nights and getting just 2 hours sleep.
The viewing - well the old girl looked amazing, clean silver paintwork and plastic bumpers / arches soaking in back to black. Even had tyre dressing which I hate but at least that wears off quickly. Inside was a similar story, a few magic trees hanging which the seller put down to the previous owner having a German Shepherd Dog and apparently it smelled quite badly of dog (more on this later).
Engine was good too, clean (obviously the guy loves a spit and polish) and fluids looked good.
All the electrics seemed to work and it started up like a dream. Sounded good too.
Time for a test drive. The seller drove first, taking it through a few local roads before letting me drive. He forewarned me of an issue with the clutch, its heavy and the bite is low - possibly master cylinder. And sure enough, my left leg got a work out on the way back. But in all other respects it drove really well. He also said how the previous owner had fitted off road tyres to the rear, and they've caused a droning sound. True enough, there was a sound like off road tyres coming from the rear (my previous van had these tyres fitted and it did sound similar).
So standing next to it at the end, I was mulling it over. I wanted it but in my tired state working out the math on master cylinder repairs was proving difficult. It may have worked though as I offered £1500 and he took it (alarm bells should have rung).
So now I was a Freelander owner, and on the drive back was really nice. So much more comfortable than the van, the silence was deafening and everything felt tight.
After getting it home I started reading more about Freelanders, and discovered a few faults that I really should have found on the inspection. My fault. Still, I've found they are fairly common to Freelanders so fixes are well documented.
The post title refers to years ago when I was ripped off by a garage. The incompetent Muppet couldn't diagnose a blocked radiator and with the money he conned me out of he bought a boat. Fortunately I'm a bit wiser these days and have found a decent garage to tackle the big jobs I can't manage at home.
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