im wanting to buy a freelander

[-jacob-]

Morning friends....

Im new to this fourm after ive decided to try to hunt down a freelander diseal

so any way i found one down the road at this car yard its a green 98 model with 190 000km on it he wants $6 999 for it after inspecting the car i personaly recon its only worth about 4k because of the condition of the paint (all peeling off on bonnet and roof ) and also no sevice history and interior needs a major steam clean gear stick looked worn), he also recons for it to pass rego he will be putting in front shocks over all very dirty car

what i wanted to know is what things MUST i look for for a car with this amout of km's on it, is there anything imparticular i should look out for ?????
any thing eletrical
anything mechanical
what about the 4wd system (how would i test that???)



any help much appreciated

regards Jacob.

[mjm295]

98 model had dodgy IRD ratio's which lead to the Viscous Coupling failing regularly.

mind you at 190k this may (or may not) have been fixed???

[Mockery]

Look underneath the car and see if it actually has a prop-shaft going to the rear diff.
If not, the VCU has failed and been removed, and the IRD is probably not up for 4WD.
If there is a propshaft, it may have had a failed IRD and been renewed, listen hard for whining noises in the driveline especially under engine braking.
Or possibly nothing has been removed or replaced and the VCU is seized or due to go, and driving on it is shagging the IRD output bearings...

Motor-wise, I believe the L-series diesels are very reliable and durable but yes, before 2000, be suspicious of the VCU and IRD. Plenty of info on this if you google for it.

*edit: Quick way to test the VCU if it's there: put the car in reverse and turn at full lock. The difference in wheel speeds should make the VCU grip and the engine will labour slightly. If it's locked solid however, the engine will have real trouble and probably almost stall.

[ADMIRAL]

sorry...would not touch one. I know a tech at a local LR agent. They have rebuilt gearboxes to cycle through the early Freelanders. Buyer beware I reckon

[Scouse]

sorry...would not touch one. I know a tech at a local LR agent. They have rebuilt gearboxes to cycle through the early Freelanders. Buyer beware I reckon:eek:
Sorry, the early Freelander diesel would be my pick of the bunch. I've been involved with them out here since dot & the gearbox is not the achilles heel.

Check the tyres. If they are brand new, I'd be suspicious. If they are bady feathered, it needs an IRD and/or VCU. Front/rear doesn't matter as you don't know if it's had a tyre rotation.

[-jacob-]

what is ird?? lol sorry

[-jacob-]

how much is it to replace vcu and ird???

thanks for that boys ill go down and have another look most likely

is that all worth cheaking regarding major faults

[Scouse]

what is ird?? lol sorryIntermediate Reduction Drive.
Basically a transfer case to direct drive to all 4 wheels.

LR designed a slight ratio difference between front & rear to overcome wind up issues but went a bit too far in the difference. Later cars had the F/R difference reduced.

A lot of early cars have had the IRD replaced, either under warranty or outside but I'm sure there are a few floating around that haven't.

[-jacob-]

so to test the vcu
u go in reverse on full lock and if it feels like the hand brake is on that means its gone, is that how it to detect a seized vcu?

[-jacob-]

is there anyway to test ird
such as whinning noises???

regards jacob

[101RRS]

sorry...would not touch one. I know a tech at a local LR agent. They have rebuilt gearboxes to cycle through the early Freelanders. Buyer beware I reckon

There is nothing wrong with the gearboxes in early freelanders .

Jacob - I have the same as you are looking at - bought at 170,000km and now has 260,000km.

As`mentioned the main issue is that there is a difference between the diff ratios in the front and the back and over time this causes the viscous coupling unit on the propshaft to fail due to over work. This in turn causes transmission windup which in turn causes the IRD to fail.

So in looking at yours you need to be assured the VCU is OK. See here to test http://www.aulro.com/afvb/freelander/82406-testing-freelander-vcu.htm
However any easy test is to simply put the car into reverse, on full steering lock and reverse - if the engine labours or stalls you need to look at the VCU. There should be a little binding as the VCU will bind but not be real tight.

As`others have mentioned - at 190,000 the VCU has either been replaced 2 or three times or the IRD has been replaced (all new replacement IRD's have had the diff difference problem fixed so this is not an issue). One of the easiest ways to check is take the car for a drive - approx 3000 rpm at 100kph and you have an older IRD, 3000 rpm at about 115kph then you have a later replacement.

A Freelander will drive quite well in front wheel drive without any of the rear drivetrain being in place. Where the IRD has failed but not damaged the front drive components like the diff, it can still be driven so some people then remove the tailshaft and VCU rather than spend a couple of thousand fixing it.

So make sure the tailshaft extra is all there - on AULRO member recently bought a Freelander and it was all missing.

The rest of the car is generally pretty good - the engine is great - oil leaks - some but not too bad, brakes are good, gearbox is good - rear window always leaks and fills the tool box area under the rear floor.

You do not say whether the car is an XeDi or a Di - if it has hill decent make sure it works as the switch on the gearstick has a design faul and the wires get ripped out.

Hope this helps

Garry

[-jacob-]

sorry buddy 1 last question how to tell if its xedi or just di???

chassis number???
log books??

regard jacob

[101RRS]

The XeDi is the top of the range model so comes with everthing - 15" alloy wheels, twin airbags, ABS, Traction control, Hill Decent. The Di had steel 15" wheels, MAY NOT HAVE a passenger airbag, will not have Hill Decent, and may not have traction control. However - a Di can be optioned up to XEDI standard.

Check the books - but if it definitely has original steel wheels and no Hill Decent it is a Di.

Garry

[-jacob-]

it has hill decent

but anyway one other last thing how much is it for front shocks ????
cause he said he was going to replace them i just wanted to know if i could get him down on price and do them my self???

regards jacob

[101RRS]

The freelander has struts all around and I don't think the shockie is separate to the strut (I could be wrong) so you will need to buy a complete strut.

British 4wds has them for $260 a side British Four Wheel Drive - Land Rover & Range Rover Parts Specialist :: FREELANDER :: SUSPENSION :: FRONT SUSPENSION to VIN: YA999999 (http://www.british4wd.com/xcart/home.php?cat=241)

Garry

[-jacob-]

just wondering what the alloy wheels on the xedi's look like compared to the di, tried to find out but am still unsure what the alloys look like compared to the steel rims

any pics for comparison??.

[Scouse]

Genuine alloys on this car:
1998 LAND ROVER FREELANDER XEI Private Cars For Sale in NSW - carsales.com.au (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=6969550&__sid=121C9555EA5D&__Qpb=true&Cr=4&__Ns=pCar_PriceSort_Decimal%7c0%7c%7cpCar_RankSort _Int32%7c1%7c%7cpCar_Make_String%7c0%7c%7cpCar_Mod el_String%7c0&keywords=&__N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282%204294965541% 204294964642&seot=1&tsrc=allcarhome&__Nne=15&trecs=161&silo=1011)

Steels on this one:
1998 LAND ROVER FREELANDER DI Private Cars For Sale in VIC - carsales.com.au (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=7066088&__sid=121C9555EA5D&__Qpb=true&Cr=5&__Ns=pCar_PriceSort_Decimal%7c0%7c%7cpCar_RankSort _Int32%7c1%7c%7cpCar_Make_String%7c0%7c%7cpCar_Mod el_String%7c0&keywords=&__N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282%204294965541% 204294964642&seot=1&tsrc=allcarhome&__Nne=15&trecs=161&silo=1011)

[-jacob-]

thanks for all your help so far guys

im sure to think of some more questions tomorow.....

[Junosi]

This page shows you all the standard options for the different Freelander models

Equipment - Parker's (http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/equipment/Summary.aspx'model=420)

Clark

[101RRS]

This page shows you all the standard options for the different Freelander models

Equipment - Parker's (http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/equipment/Summary.aspx'model=420)

Clark

Unfortunately that is a UK list - Australian specs were different.

https://www.mynrma.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/mynrma/hs.xsl/land_rover_freelander_1998_car_review.htm

Land Rover Freelander (http://www.4wdonline.com/LandRover/CB40/Freelander.html)

[whyatts]

the freelander diesel is quite a good little engine. mine has 230,000klms on the clock and goes well... we service one with 400,000klms and the engine/gearbox has not been rebuilt.
As for condition... if it is really rough (understanding at 10 years old there should be some wear and tear) $6990 might be a bit high... but the diesels do fetch more money then the petrols...
why not make an offer? the dealer may be willing to do a deal at 5 or 5.5k

[RMB3218]

Hi All,

Any opinions/thoughts on this 2003 manual diesel would be appreciated


2003 LAND ROVER FREELANDER SE TD4 MY2002 Private Cars For Sale in VIC - carsales.com.au (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=7402987&ref=RecentItem&__Nne=15&__Ns=pCar_PriceSort_Decimal%7c0%7c%7cpCar_RankSort _Int32%7c1%7c%7cpCar_Make_String%7c0%7c%7cpCar_Mod el_String%7c0&__N=1216%201247%201282%201252%204294965541%2042948 68460%20937)