Thanks Dick E, I have registered but waiting to find a quiet hour so that I can make the most of my £7.20 worth.
Feel very cheated that I have to pay to look at a bulletin for a known fault for my car. Don't suppose anybody has a copy of LTB00566v6 that they could email me or even publish on this forum. I guess that would breach copyright.

Syptoms :- Fuel gauge drops to zero and range drops rapidly. Engine cuts out or goes into limp mode to protect engine. Sometimes fuel gauge will recover or will reset on re-start.
This is a well-documented issue and many on this forum have had similar troubles. In fact it’s not just the freelander 2, other Land rover models are affected to. The issue was first thought to be bad sender units and these were replaced under warranty. On closer inspection it would appear that the black & blue two wire connector that runs to sender no 2 on the nearside inside the tank is probably the culprit. This connector fails due to fretting corrosion and a poor signal is produced. LTB00566v6 details this issue and recommends cutting out the connector block and making a hard wire crimped repair.
The cost at an indie garage is roughly 4 hours labour totalling to around £300 so not the end of the world but you may have to sign a disclaimer saying that you didn’t want the senders replaced which seems to be the “safer” option.
I fancied having a go myself. I’m not a mechanic, just someone with decent practical knowledge and a good range of tools. I managed by rear differential overhaul in November so thought another day under the car wouldn’t hurt.
1. Try and get the tank as empty as possible, I started with around 60 miles left.
2. Place car on ramps, there is plenty of clearance to get the tank out once dropped. Disconnect battery.
3. Remove 6 propshaft bolts on differential end. I cracked these before it went on the ramps. By jacking up the front and rear wheel on the same side you can spin the prop for better access. Remove the two bearing support brackets and rotate to one side on axle stands. No need to remove front coupling. You should put new bolts back in.
4. Remove exhaust. I was lucky and once I’d loosened the centre joint bracket I was able to twist the exhaust in half and remove. This of course after removing both rubbers on each side at the rear and then using the width of the exhaust as a lever.
5. Disconnect handbrake cables from inside car and then pull through from underneath tucking the cables out of the way.
6. Find access hole under rear offside seat. Remove round rubber disc. Disconnect 6 wire connector and breather hose. Leave fuel lines in place.
7. Undo the jubilee clip on the filler pipe going to fuel tank. Give it a wiggle to loosen. When removing tank ease it off.
8. You may have a haldex wire loom attached to the heat shield, remove this.
9. At this point I removed the little access hatch to reveal the fuel lines from underneath. When I disconnected the supply line, larger of the two, a syphon started. Have a 10 litre container ready and let it flow removing the last bit of fuel. The fuel lines are easy to release by pressing the coloured catch.
10. Four bolts remain that secure the tank strap to the chassis. I supported the front of the tank with a jack and removed all four bolts.
11. A bit of faffing and I managed to get myself under the car with the fuel tank above me. You need to clear the rear tank strap over the propshaft coupling and then it’s free. It was very light and it was man handled to the floor.
12. Tank now in garage. Undo 5 plastic screws and remove foam protector to pump. Take off fuel lines now you have better access.
13. The locking ring comes off anti clockwise. It is torqued to 200nm I’m told. I used a blunt cold chisel and moved it enough to release. Mark ring before removal so you’re sure it’s back on okay. Be careful not to slip and puncture the tank.
14. Raise yellow lid slowly. Just inside and with very poor access there is another breather hose. It comes of the same way as the one you removed from inside the car. Release the 6 pin yellow connector from the underside and also a fuel pipe attached to the pump. Grasp the pump inside and give it a firm ¼ turn anti clockwise. It will come free from its base. The whole assembly can now be removed from the tank.
15. The culprit of all your hard efforts is now in front of you. The blue and black wires that go to the nearside sender. Snip the connector block out and re-join wires. I chose to solder mine and use chemical resistant heat shrink to make a neat repair. Land Rover recommends a crimp.
16. I cleaned the other connectors but none of these need to be repaired. I did a quick resistance check once everything was back in place, you should see around 950ohms from both senders with the tank squarely on the floor.
17. I purchased a new large green o ring for the tank, and placed everything methodically back together. Reversal of taking apart, no real dramas. Replace fuel you syphoned off through normal filler.
18. Last job is to prime the fuel system which needs to be done at the filter under the bonnet. Disconnect fuel in pipe, the larger of the two, coming over the aux belt. I had one of those fuel primers with a short length of 8mm bore tubing on one end. A bit of heat with a gun and it slid over the incoming 10mm fuel connection. I squeezed for about 20 times and drew fuel up to the outlet, a small tub was used. Then I simply plugged the inlet back into the filter.
19. Re connect battery, start car.
I have been driving the car now for three days with no fault. Done about 80 miles. I’m convinced it’s fixed, it did it every day before. Thanks to Chris from 4x4 Adventure in Leeds for some valuable advice and Dick E for the info which confirmed my fix. All in all, 3 hrs to get out, 1 hr to fix, and 2 hrs to get back in. Total cost £3.27 +vat for a fuel tank ‘O’ ring gasket

I'm not a mechanic, happy to be corrected on anything I have said, do your research and hope this helps. It was what I needed to have the confidence to have a go,

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Fantastic diverwally. Many thanks for that. Very helpful.

What a cracking write-up. Well done - that's going to help a lot of people.  Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

Hi my freelander 2 on a 58 . The fuel guage was saying there was no fuel in when there was 1/2 a tank and sometimes started to work as normal again??? But now the car was running perfect until I come to start it this morning and not it won't start??? Any help please

I've had the same problem with fuel gauge on my freelander 2 11/2007 for the last two years. But fortunately this summer after a real off road driving on greek mountains the problem was fixed!!! Lucky me!!!

My advice would be to carry a small resistor toolkit which is explained in previous posts. If it happens again, which is highly likely if it's done it once already, then your ecu may interpret a nil signal as no fuel present and immobilise your engine to protect itself from running dry. By using the resistors you can fool the ecu by simulating a sender signal enabling the engine to still run.

hi, brilliant write up on removing the tank, i am on leave on friday and will be doing the work myself on our drive while the weather is untypically good.

I just hope there isnt too much fuel left in the tank.

I am considering changing the sender whilst the tank is off, does anyone know the part numbers for the sender(s)

is it the same part for all years of the 2.2 diesel, mine is a 2012 with the stop / doesnt start eco (annoying) feature

Diverwally,
Yes this happened to me! I fitted the pair of resistors (used 150 ohms, but it doesn't really matter too much if they are higher - 470 for instance) after having to be rescued by the RAC one evening. Previously, the gauge had always recovered after a while but this time it stubbornly remained on zero. I got about 10 miles of limp mode and then another five miles of running with the engine missing. it finally shut itself down about three miles from home! The RAC man poured two gallons into the tank and that was enough to free the sensor and make it read again. The car then started with no trouble.
The resistor fix kept me going for another month or so, but of course the gauge is fixed and you generally overestimate what fuel you have used so the tank ends up fuller than you think which is a problem when it comes to dropping the tank. Had to have the whole unit of senders/ transfer pump replaced to effect a cure. The old one is still gracing the garage floor!
Colin.

Diverwally,

Pretty nice DIY, congratulations! I also have to remove the fuel tank to fix a sensor problem in my car.
Just one question that showed up, what is the Torx female socket size necessary to remove the screws at differential end?

Diverwally
Fantastic info. I appear to have the same issue. Therefore this will come in very useful.

Where did you get the 'o' ring from to resaeal the tank ?

Pity about the grotty weather at the moment though.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Just been steered to this thread and waiting for the main dealer to come back with their fix for our fuel problems.
Loads of useful comments, so thanks everyone and it gives me potential ammo if they try anything on - they have been good so far.
One interesting thing they raised was that if they drain the fuel tank, they can't reuse the fuel and we lose a tankful of value! Anyone else had this problem?

Most fuel tanks nowadays don`t have a drain plug so they are drained with a "Hurdy Gurdy" type machine that drains most of the fuel out of the tank to a point that it is light enough to manhandle. The machine will have a mix of good fuel and contaminated fuel from previous use and will also include petrol where there has been a misfuelled vehicle being drained. The workshop will not reuse any of that fuel to prevent any engine damage or possible resulting breakdowns. I have seen it been used in some back street garages in a space heater as free fuel. Gives off a rather scary flare at times when there is old petrol in the mix however! Best to have it running on fumes when you take it into the dealers for the tank to come out!

Thanks dondiddy - trouble is we'd been advised by the breakdown assistance to fill the tank and had just done so before it went in to the dealers..........................

......also, to diverwally - I downloaded the technical bulletin online with no probs and saved it as a word document.
Is it possible to post it here - I can't see how unless it's a photo...........?