Well, that was unexpected. On the way out this afternoon and I noticed that the nearside front door moulding was not sitting flush against the door. Quick look and it was only being held on by a few clips. Glad I saw it before it fell off whilst driving.

Two things sprung to mind when I removed the moulding. 1) amazing how filthy it was behind the panel and, 2) Huh... this has been off before and repaired as evidenced by the two blobs of silicone. Goes to show you never really know with a second hand vehicle...














So the question is...

I suspect those trim clips have worn and need replacing, how do you get the yellow part out of the door?

Well the leak-off o-rings have arrived so looking forward to that job... Fiddly little aged plastic clips, what could possibly go wrong...

In other news some of the door moulding mounting plinths/positions for the white fixings had perished and separated from the moulding on one edge. I am beginning to think that the previous owner didn't completely disclose everything to the buyer... Hey-ho, buyer beware and all that.





The good news is that this sort of plastic repairs really easily with the tip of a soldering iron. All it takes is a little redistribution of material and let it set. Job done all the mounts are as solid as they were when LR fitted them. Just waiting on the new clips to arrive.

Well a little investigation work this afternoon shows that there is no damage to the door at all. Thought there might be something nasty hiding under those blobs of silicone, but no, all that was under there were the yellow fasteners that should be there.

So... what I think happened is that the PO somehow kicked the moulding off, low wall, bollard or something. Broke a few of the fastening plinths in the process, didn't fix them and when he tried to refit the moulding found that it didn't sit quite right so broke out the No More Nails...




Good news... So when the new fasteners arrive all should just clip back in to place...

I found a huge amount of dirt, essentially mud, behind my trims. I waxoyled the door before I put the trim back.

Also I saw in youtube that you can use black cable ties as filler when welding plastic with a soldering iron - worked for me. Jules

Yup the cable ties as building material is a good one i have used it before but completely forgot about it Must be getting old... Thanks for the reminder I think I will go and add some plastic buttresses

You are not wrong about the dirt. Crikey, so much. No rust though, just grime...

Was it having starting problems with the dead glow plugs? Are ge new ones making a lot of difference? Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Quote:

Was it having starting problems with the dead glow plugs? Are ge new ones making a lot of difference?

It is difficult to say whether the improved starting and cold idle is as a result of the glow plugs working or the EGR blanking plate or the de-coked inlet manifold or all of them. Sorry, I did all that work at the same time.

But...


It hasn't been above 5 degC here for the last week or so and the engine starts as well as it did in the summer when the glow plugs didn't work. I expect that this is due to the working glow plugs.

The smoother idle is likely to be a combination of all the fixes. Having been through the inlet manifold and glow plug refresh I do think it was worth it if anything because I have now seen with my own eyes that everything is A-OK, so I can tick that off the list so to speak.

It is worth saying that the glow plugs are only half the equation, the other half is a full and healthy battery. Both need to be A1 for Winter starting joy...

Worth adding that corroded connections to starter motor and battery and bad earths can completely negate having a brand new battery and starter - I found that out whilst restoring a series 3 this year - continuity tester says all is good but the high resistance due to corrosion prevents a high enough current to turn it over fast enough to get it started.
5 mins with wet and dry solved the issue totally and would have saved me from removing and rebuilding the starter. Jules

Has anyone ever tried checking the connections for abnormal warmth if having starting problems.

I am curious as the 'lost' energy must be going somewhere, and I was wondering if this may be a quick and easy way of checking.

A voltage drop across a poor connection is a certain way of checking whilst cranking but it is not always possible to find easy points to check because of insulation.

What do those in the motoring trade think. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

I am sure if you had a thermal camera you'd see high resistance connectors glow warmer.

Not Phoebe but her stable mate Miffy passed her MOT, 20 year old and still gong strong.

Click image to enlarge

Evening Geobloke, nice to see you on here; I’m a fan of Miffys over on Def2 (Co1 over there). Just put a deposit on a 2007 Freelander 2 that I’m going to see next week (it’s to ride me over while the new 90 gets built!). Is there anything I should be looking out for before I hand over the cash?

Oh no I thought this was a Col-free forum Great to see you here.

Soooooo Freelander 2s... The first thing I would say is there are many many of them out there and to take a good look at a few before settling on one. The usually thing right.

Physical things to looks for:

1) Wheel arch trim: These are inevitably missing or hanging off. If they are present have a good look for rust forming underneath. The panel is thin here and open to all the mud and road dirt.
2) Rear sub-frame and tow brackets: Again rust is the problem. These hide quite high up behind the bumper and do suffer badly from rust. Bear in mind that almost no Freelander is every waxoyled or lanoguarded.
3) Wheel bearings: These are press fit and are a common item that wears. I do not need to tell you how to test them. Nothing wrong with taking a mat and a jack with you.
4) Rear diff: The diff itself is pretty robust, but the input bearing is a known item that can whine. The repair is a replacement diff for this.
5) Haldex: On the rear diff is the Haldex pump that engages drive to the rear diff. It is a phenomenal bit of kit, but can fail due to lack of servicing. On a 2007 it should be a Gen3 Haldex which I believe are easier to deal with than the Gen4. But do not quote me on that.
6) Bushes: The usual, take a pry bar with you and give all the ARBs a good shake. They are not difficult to replace but better warned.
7) Front lower control arms: These are known to rust through. Check carefully. They are not usually repaired but replaced.
Springs and shocks: You know what to do.
9) Mileage: Higher mileage os not a problem, but anything over 100k miles needs to have the timing belt replaced. Great if it has already, but if not looks to do it fairly soon. At the same time you will do the water pump and coolant flush/replace.
10) Intake hoses: These are known to perish and split. It is an easy job to replace with silicone items.
11) Intercooler: The joint between the plastic tanks and core is known to leak. That's a bumper off job and can be replaced at the same time as doing the timing belt.
12) Glow plugs: Assume they are dead and will need replacing before next winter. At the same time you will have to take the intake manifold off and that is a good point at which to clean out the EGR deposits and replace the gaskets. It is a good time to put an EGR blanking plate in at this point.
13) Throttle body: It is a common thing for the plastic gear within the throttle body to strip its teeth. It is an easy job to replace. If looking for preventative this is best replaced at the same time as the hoses and glow plugs.
14) Turbo: This is a VGT turbo and it is a superb unit, but it suffers from being gummed up by EGR/Exhaust related build-up. It is a good idea to use some turbo cleaner spray to clean that out. It makes a big difference.
15) Diesel leak rocker cover: This is likely to be the o-rings of the leak-off connectors.
16) Wet drivers carpet: This is a blocked AC hose behind the dash. 5 minutes and it is fixed then it is a case of drying the carpet.
17) ABS/HDC: Not all have HDC but when you take the vehicle for a drive make sure both work. It is a little like diff-lock on a Defender... Use it... or lose it...
1 Water/Rust in spare wheel well: It is a know issue that the high level brake light gasket fails and water finds its way in to the spare wheel well. It is not a difficult job to replace the gasket.
19) Parking sensors: These sometimes fail in heavy rain, but will sort themselves our when they dry out. Make sure you have the parking sensors button on the dash so you can manually turn them off.
20) Battery: There is a small battery drain that only becomes a problem if you are not driving every day. A CTEK charger through the 12S socket to keep everything topped up is the best solution.


Once bought: Budget for a full oil and filter change, it is just best to assume the seller didn't do it recently. The gearbox oils are meant to be sealed off life, but they should be changed no matter what LR say in the manual. It is not an expensive nor difficult task to do. No more or less so than a Defender really.

Desirable bits: HSE model with all the bells and whistles...

If you are looking then I highly recommend finding a Freelander with adaptive HID headlights, heated screen/seats/mirrors, cruise and HDC. I use these all the time and they are superb. I never use the DAB radio or CD player, but a bluetooth transmitter.

Wheels come in 17, 18 and 19" sizes. I have the 19" rims shod with 4 season tyres and they will go almost anywhere Miffy can. If I had the choice or inclination I would find a set of 17" rims for more side wall.

MPG: c.30-40mpg depending on conditions, load and weight of right foot.

I think that is all for now. Stick some photos up of your potentials if you want opinions...

Perfect, very much appreciated.

You're welcome. Although reading back through that list it does sound like Freelander's are likely to be a sack of rusty bolts, but IMHO they really are the unsung hero of the LR line-up. Brilliantly competent vehicle, a real does everything you could ask of it and keeps coming back for more.