Finally got round to buying some silicon intercooler hoses. Will get them fitted in the near future. Pretty used to removing the front bumper now. 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)

The black paint was starting to flake off the end of the exhaust tip and being stainless steel I decided to just remove it all, quick rub with wire wool and it's all nice and shiny. Wonder if the entire back box would scrub up in the same way?
 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)

Looks good 👍 good idea on backbox, I have used up a can of UHTemp black matt paint on mine and still comes off. Let us know how it goes if you do decide to.
Great idea, I hate scabby looking tailpipes.

Just sitting in a carpark I noticed a Freelander parked opposite me with flakier exhaust paint than mine. Looks like the back box is the same stainless steel as the tail pipe. Might just remove the paint from it altogether if it can be made shiny 😁
 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)

Ooh looking at that paint peel makes my teeth itch. As it's stainless could look better bare, but I suppose the black 'hides' the backbox when in proper unflaked condition.
Have just read your whole thread Bobupndown, very enjoyable. Good writing and info!

Thanks Thrud, just my ramblings and a record of my ownership. 👍 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)

A little blip again. "Gearbox fault - traction reduced" ⚠️ warning message on display. Accompanied by a lack of 4 wheeldriveyness.
Just in time for the first snow and ice of the year!
Guess it's time for another haldex service. I've definitely changed the oil but thinking back it's over 3 years and probably about 40000 miles since I changed the filter. Service kit ordered.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175091499843?mk...media=COPY

Just realised that this is from a company called Autofaultfinder who we've previously used to repair the haldex control unit on my wife's Tiguan. Nothing to do with me but excellent service previously and I'd recommend them.

I see on other recent posts a few haldex related faults so I'll do a photo guide on my haldex removal and servicing when I'm doing this, might help someone else in future. 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)

Hi bobupndown,
Looking forward to your pics of the removal of the haldex unit as I will be doing mine just after xmas.
I had a look underneath the beast the other day (2014 model with the BIG flange.Bell engineering said that they take them off and throw them away as I asked them about the smaller flange to put back on.)
An pretty new to the FL2 but have been a LR tragic for years. ( D1 x 2, disco TD5, L322 bmw 3.0ltr)

Kind regards
littlecub

Haldex serviced again.
Did a 'how to' guide with plenty of photos to describe how I tackle it.

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic39607.html 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)

Well its been 6 months since I last posted on this thread and the Freelander keeps on doing its job reliably. It's just about to click over 121000 miles.
The front grille and trim has been starting to look a bit shabby, it's a common problem on a lot of Freelanders but I kept putting off doing something about it. But with a long weekend off and nice warm weather it seemed like the ideal time to do it. The next decision was what colour to paint it. Mine is Orkney grey and the grill was a similar shade only matt finish. I fancied a slightly different look but didn't think the gloss black surround would really suit it very well. I had recently picked up a spare set of alloys for my wife's Fiat 500 which are a nice dark grey. They'll need refurbished so I decided to buy a grey metallic paint to match them which I could use on the outer grill trim as well. I already had a silver wheel aerosol so I decided to use that for the central grill portion. An etch grey primer, gloss lacquer aerosols along with various grades of wet and dry and masking tape duly purchased from a local motor factors.


Took bumper off, I'm well versed in this replacing intercooler hoses so can have it off in about 15 minutes. Sanded using 400 then 600 grit paper. Degreased and masked off the rest of the bumper.



Grey etch primed.



Silver middle section painted, 4 coats of silver.



I'll let that dry overnight then mask off the centre and paint the surround tomorrow.

While the bumper was off I thought I'd upgrade the external music, ie. the horns, a set of twin air horns bolted on in place of the standard twin tone horns. The existing mounting bracket was ideally placed, only needing one additional hole drilled to mount the compressor. I'll do the wiring for these tomorrow as well. Quite pleased with today's work.


 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)

Grey paint on the external surround.



5 coats of clear lacquer and all bolted back together.



Really pleased with how this has turned out. Managed to not have any runs in the paint or lacquer. Preparation and not rushing definitely paid off.
I don't think I'll even bother with the Powerfuluk surround. 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)

I’m with you on that one. Mine second failed the day before our travels but a few hard bangs Clarkson style seems to have resolved it for now 😂

So another tailgate switch fitted, thats the 3rd one now, they are basically a service consumable I should change them every time I do an oil change. 🤔
While I was doing it I checked the number platelights which I've changed to led 501 bulbs and noticed one of them flickering. Went and got a new one from the garage and while fitting it both went off. Assumed a fuse blown. Had a look in the handbook to find no fuse listed for rear lights, or front lights for that matter either! Something in the back of my mind recalled a similar issue years ago where I removed and replaced what look to be a fuse 'block' little square cube shaped things with 30, 40 etc on them inside the engine fuse box. There are 7 of them, orange and green colour. Sure enough once I'd removed and replaced them all power to the number plate lights was restored. I'm guessing they are basically a resettable fuse?
 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)