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

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 sorry

Intermediate 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