I will cycle back to an introduction but for now...

Well, glow plugs and gaskets on the way and not a moment too soon. It has been below 0 degC for most of the week here in the morning and poor old Phoebe has not enjoyed starting cold.

But once started she's a peach, with a little under 135k miles on the clock she is still capable of posting 40mpg over an hours worth of mixed driving. Not bad for an ageing lady, not bad at all.

Go Phoebe

Hi and welcome. With winter on its way Phoebe will thank you for a bit of tlc in the starting department. Is your battery in decent order too?, it takes a lot of strain at this time of year too. 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)

Hello and thanks for the welcome.

Her battery is only 12 months old and working a bit hard than it should be to get her started at the moment The good news is the glow plugs and inlet manifold seals arrived today. It is a pity I did not do this job whilst doing the timing belt and full service. Would have been much easier (more logical) to have done it whilst changing the fuel filter. But hey-ho...

Now to wait for a decent day or so to do the swap. Thankfully Miffy the Defender passed her MOT the other day so if it takes two afternoons then I will not be stranded in the boondocks for too long.

What can I say... I am a sucker for a Green Oval and I deserve all that I get for it. This is the journey Phoebe has put me on in the last month... gaud love her

However, this is Phoebe my 2009 Freelander 2 HSE. I have owned her for 3 years or so now and she has been incredible. Reliable. Fuel efficient. Comfortable. A delight to own...









But, in the life of every Green Oval there comes a day when stuff must be repaired, it's inevitable... In this case cruising back from a nice drive to Nottingham, just about to roll on to the drive and Boost... MIL lamp comes on... Ha... and ... Next morning I have a good look around and find a split hose to the intake manifold. Meh... It was bound to happen at some point.

And down the rabbit hole we go... Being a second hand car I have no idea whether the timing belt has been replaced and given her progressing age and mileage now is the time to do it because to get to the intake hose stuff needs to be removed and you might as well remove a few more things and do all the jobs at the same time.

So the jobs that needed doing are:

Silicone intake/turbo/intercooler hoses as all of them are soft and hellish oily.
Timing belt, tensioners and water pump
Might as well flush the coolant system then...
Replace the auxiliary belt too...
Engine acoustic cover sound proofing disintegrated, might as well fix that too...
Starter motor has to come off, been on there a while, might as well refurb that too...
Oh look the front brake pads and discs are almost ready to replace, add it to the list...
it might as well do a full service as it has been a year now..
and chuck in the haldex oil and filter too.
That should do it for now...

Plenty of maintenance there, it will be all the better for it. Great being able to do your own mechanicing. I'd hate to pay garage labour. What age is the Defender? would love one but stupid prices 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)

Tell me about it. I am sure there are some excellent garages out there and I have used one or two, but I just do not trust someone else to do the job like I want the job done. Been burnt too often. So I maintain my own vehicle the best I can.

Ah there is nothing quite like a Defender to sink your time, money, heart and soul in to My Defender is a 2003 TD5 110 called Myfanwy, Miffy for short. We have been travelling this World for a little over 12 years now and she has covered a little over 9 times around the equator coming to think of it.

To be honest a Freelander and a Defender make a great pairing.

Click image to enlarge

Jealous 😃. Did the Td5 thing with the Discovery 2 for 11 years and still miss it 4 years later. The Freelander although a brilliant 4x4 just doesn't have the same soul. It doesn't need the spanners out just as much though..... 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)

Too true, less in the way of spannering but still a LR at its heart with all the foibles that go with that...

Better the devil you know and all...

Well that was not much fun. Driving home from the station this afternoon. Pull out from some lights, down the road, put foot down and....


...Nothing... No acceleration at all. Foot to the floor, change gear and nothing.

Managed to roll slowly under power in to a nearby carpark thankfully. When I pulled up and stopped the idle was ridiculously lumpy, barely keeping the engine going. Revs would die then pick up to keep the engine going. Eventually there was quite a lot of exhaust fumes blowing back under the vehicle. Showing to me that the ECU was dumping fuel in to the engine to keep it going. No MIL lamp.

First thought was balls, I have the dogs with me and am miles from home. Best call someone to get us home.

Turned engine off.

Sat down.

Took a drink of water...

...MAF... Wonder if unplugging it would help. Sorted. Engine started perfectly and ran beautifully.

So, the MAF in a Freelander 2 TD4 has a huge part to play in the governance of the engine it would appear.



Not really heard of it happening often, Is the Freelander 2 known for its MAF failure?!



Oh and yes we got home safe and sound. Will take a lookout the sensor tomorrow.

Anecdotally MAF Sensor never seems to get mentioned much, Crank sensor seems to be the most common one. 
Hung like Einstein, smart as a horse.

Todays Freelander jobs began with the arrival of a new battery charger, previous one would not charge AGM batteries. Anyway, it has taken over 6 hours to recondition and charge the battery. I really do not drive enough... :rofl:

The second job of the day is the air box modification I have had planned for months now. Like many many Freelander's I bought mine with the common problem whereby someone has been over enthusiastic with the screwing down of the air box lid retaining screws. The short version is that the screws stripped out the plastic material in the base of the air box and the lid could not be tightened down sufficiently.



For the last year I have used the excellent cable tie hack to reduce the internal diameter of the screw holes. This has worked extremely well and a great hack.



So today I modified the air box to fit a set of four M6 wood to metal threaded dowels, washers and nuts. Job done. Super secure air box lid. Cost: £3 +/-.

Method

Drill out air box base holes to 6mm. Use two nuts on the dowels to turn them in to the air box base. Wood screw down. Slow and easy.
Drill out air box lid to 6.5mm.
Place lid in position, washer, spring washer and nut. Tighten down to seal.

NB: When drilling out plastic work up through the drill bit sizes to avoid the bit snatching or over heating the plastic.


Super easy modification. A real 1 Spanner DIY job.

Simple but effective mod 👌
Where did you get the little bolts?
BTW, what front discs did you use? Had similar Britpart ones on my Discovery and found them very good. 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)

Thanks, yes, simple but effective. The best kind of mod.

The screws were an eBay special https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114307043198 but supplemented with some stainless nuts and washers.

The discs are indeed Britpart and they are fantastic. Paired with a set of Brembo pads and serviced calipers the braking is phenomenal. Makes the TC and HDC incredibly effective.

But now to the gearbox oils...

Yes, that is a good mod/improvement. I do a lot of my own servicing/maintenance where I can on both my FL2 and my wife's Fiat 500. That is why forums such as this are a good resource. Keep up the good work

Thanks Neil, keep spinning them spanners