Hello all you lovely people - it's been a while so I thought that I would post an update.

Following what appeared to be another blown head gasket just east of Paris on the A1 a couple of years ago. Freedeux was recovered back to our safe haven. The image is from the previous breakdown at almost the same place, going in the opposite direction... Note for the future Emma avoid Paris at all costs!! It's quite spooky and a foretaste of what was going to happen is that the two wooden crates on the front of the trailer are the new engine and gearbox... Doo, doo, doo doo!

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Blimey! Well done!

Keep the old girls on the road, say I!

Tim Tim

Freelander 2 HSE i6 Stornoway Grey with Alpaca & Tundra interior
Driven many miles in:
2 FL2s
1 Range Rover P38
4 Range Rover Classics
Many military LWB & 1/2 ton Lightweight Series IIA & III

Impressive work there.  DAVE.

Emma, great to hear from you again! There are a lot of people who wish that they could do what you’ve done. If you’ve got the means, do what you want to!

Good morning,

thank you Tim, Dave and Bob, it's nice to have your support and it does help to feel that I'm not, (completely) mental!

At this moment I'm putting together a shopping list of things the workshop manual and I think will be needed. Obviously I don't have the proper JLR engine/transmission lift;





but I think that I can get fairly close?
I have a Sealey high lift gearbox stand, the gearbox plate and more recently managed to get hold of the proper sealey engine support platform, (just the black top plate, not the two level jack itself). The only thing that I am not sure about, is whether the latter will sit on the gearbox jack and support the weight of the combined engine and Gearbox? The jack has a weight limit of 500kg








I suppose the question is, what is the combined weight of the engine and gearbox"? The lift itself will be on firm, concrete, ground and the vehicle will be lifted off the powertrain, and I could use a 2 tonne engine hoist and balance bar, once clear, or even an engine cradle to then swap over the bits from the original engine?









it would be a good opportunity to refurbish the components that deteriorate. Although the car was in the hot and dry from her early life, I have no doubt that she spent some weekends climbing sand dunes and out in the desert. So new shocks and refurbished diffs, Haldex and drive shafts?

the radiators, fans, steering pump, ac compressor, engine loom and rubber coolant hoses were all replaced when the head was done, as were pullys and timing chain but the new engne has these last two anyway. Interesting that the gearbox comes with a new torque convertor, which is a plus!




The, 'book/manual' says that the subframe bolts and engine mount bolts need to be replaced, if I can't get them all, does anyone have any thoughts to reuse the original ones? I could clean up the threads with a tap and die and maybe use some loctite? Blue or red??

Emma 2009 Jaguar XF 3.0
2011 Jaguar XF 3.0
2007 LR2 i6 3.2 HSE
1980 Moto Guzzi 850 T3 California

Wow such effort and expense to keep an old Landrover on the road! I am in awe of your determination and resilience. I think I'd have just replaced it and sold it off as spares or repair.
Hope it all goes well 👍 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)

Great to see you posting again, Emma.
Ive enjoyed reading about your trials and tribulations - always in awe.

Keep up the good work. Jules

Sorry, I am unable to answer your questions directly, but I know a man who - probably - can!

Trigger Royce-Rogers is a mine of really helpful mechanic information and assistance on our i6s. He posts on the 'Land Rover Freelander 2 I6' Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2285091651669005/ Tim

Freelander 2 HSE i6 Stornoway Grey with Alpaca & Tundra interior
Driven many miles in:
2 FL2s
1 Range Rover P38
4 Range Rover Classics
Many military LWB & 1/2 ton Lightweight Series IIA & III

Hiya Bob, I guess that selling for parts and scrapping isn't unreasonable.

Over the years we have had some wonderful vehicles, of course we have also had some dragons too... Many of them from new, either lease or contract but also ones we purchased. As I get older though, (OMG 70 next birthday...) and retired, it's harder to justify the expense of a new vehicle. The most recent is a Peugeot 5008 and it has everything, adaptive cruise control, lane holding, self parking, crash mitigation, even massage seats and yes, I guess much more reliable... But it isn't a Land Rover and Freedeux is!

With all the new bits and care she will be good for me. The Jaguars were wonderful and a real pleasure to drive on smooth, bendy, French roads but not as convenient for two dogs, luggage and a raft of other things that an SUV can carry. The truth is that I can't afford a newer JLR vehicle and when the Peugeot lease ends I will need a replacement. As I drive the long roads, I see other vehicles being thrashed and aggresively driven and that is a major factor in either having new or, in this case rebuilding with new. I confess that it was utterley unplanned and just good fortune on my part that the new kit was offered to me at an incredibly good price.

The other thing is all the tools and apparatus that I have been able to assemble. Much of it has come through eBay and many have been genuine bargains. One other factor is that, many vehicle experts look at me and treat me as either brain-dead or gullible. Take as an example, one engineer at a main dealer a few years ago that told me that it was quite normal, (and within spec), for the new car I was driving, to use more than a pint of oil every 600 miles . Or when I ordered an engine rebuild on a duratoc engine in a mk 7 transit and specifically asked for the same engine, (as I had already replaced some parts) that they actually replaced it with a similar engine from a Mk6 and I only realised that when the EGR failed again and we tried to order parts and found the engine number removed ... They even replaced the genuine dual mass flywheel that we had done with a fixed one GRRR! Even the Peugeot main dealer looked at me as if I was mental when I questioned him about the fact that the electric tailgate won't open with a trailer attached. They put in the towbar and it is either a software issue or wiring. I was told that it's a safety feature despite there being no contact with the tailgate/trailer/or hitch... For the record, I ordered to 2.0 diesel expressly because I wanted to tow and they knew this when I ordered the towbar on the new car. I get round it by simply unplugging the 13pin when loading the car.

So it became my mission to understand what the black art of vehicle engineering was.

Over the past decade I guess that it has become an addiction
It was many decades ago that I understood that if something is going to be attempted then the right kit or tool is needed. I suspect that a career in the military helped there.

However, the equipment isn't just for the Land Rover, there are a couple of diggers, tractors, an old telehandler and other things that have been 'acquired' over the years. All of which will benefit them. My son will profit from all this, either that or he will fill up ebay with it all when I've gone !!

And, as always apologies for droning on  2009 Jaguar XF 3.0
2011 Jaguar XF 3.0
2007 LR2 i6 3.2 HSE
1980 Moto Guzzi 850 T3 California

Awwww that's nice of you Jules, thank you.

Thanks also to Tim, in all my searches I never realised that there was a section for 3.2 SI6 cars.

Emma 2009 Jaguar XF 3.0
2011 Jaguar XF 3.0
2007 LR2 i6 3.2 HSE
1980 Moto Guzzi 850 T3 California

Blimey that is some serious diy. I know what you mean about value, just doing the insurance and ours is 09 and the insurance company said they would value it at £2300 to £2500 less excess if we was to claim on it. So we know if anything happens we won’t be getting a lot

Hi driver,
I know what you mean and having a low residual value does make it harder to keep something and not just scrap it. The latest model, a few more bells and whistles and a whole world of things that can't be touched or tampered with. I guess the Freelander 2 sits somewhere between, needing the software and being able to work on it.

I have a 1970's Moto Guzzi 850 T3 California and it can be serviced with a knife, fork and spoon!

 2009 Jaguar XF 3.0
2011 Jaguar XF 3.0
2007 LR2 i6 3.2 HSE
1980 Moto Guzzi 850 T3 California

So true. Modern cars are so locked down and you can’t do anything other than change a wheel (if there’s one in the boot). You don’t even get real switchs, just some touch sensitive area on a screen. No feel at all. As for the tools needed for the ‘Guzzi, my Ducati 900GTS was about the same. You could do almost everything with the tool roll under the seat.