I've been away from the forum for a while. In "short",....I sold both cats, and got sidetracked with several different projects.

As some of you know, I drive 06 Range Rover as my DD, have 02 S430 as a back up, wife wanted a Jeep Cherokee (old style), and the daughter drives Jeep Liberty (we have other vehicles too, but that's not important here).

I bought Jeep Cherokee for the wife (CLEAN, LOW miles, from the government agency - maintained to the "T"). Wife wanted a small lift kit, spacers, all fluids replaced, tranny serviced,.......it took about a week!Then the daughter went off roading, hit the front crossmember on the rock (unrepairable), and needs another car. So the Jeep Cherokee went to her. Wife says she wants a Land Rover, but not "as big as mine". Wants the same color (kinda like "his and hers"), but smaller, to "fit her" (she is a little thing). Fell in love with a Freelander ("Hippo")! Found one in mint condition, one owner (75 year old guy), well maintained, but the timing belt broke, and the valves are toast. How bad can it be!?
Right?

Wrong! These POS' are designed by highschool dropouts. It's a BAD design. I could not find anyone (besides the dealers!) that was qualified enough to rebuild the top end, and time it! Dealers want way more money to do that, than the car is worth. So,..... I bought ANOTHER ONE (wife did not want to scrap the first car, and move on), in not so good cosmetical condition, but with a running engine.

Now I'm swapping the engines, mounting the bad engine on the stand, and I WILL rebuild it myself ("no can do" is not in MY vocabulary). The rest of the donor car will be parted out, and the rebuild spare engine will be ready when needed (it WILL be needed!). These Freelanders are nice crossovers, but engines have way bigger problems than the early X308s.

That's why I've been away from the forum. Researching EVERYTHING on Freelanders, sourcing parts,.....the works. In the middle of all this, fuel pump on my BMW K1200RS (motorcycle) gave out, and that took TWO weeks to fix! (it's a one day job, but as you know, I don't pay dealer's prices!). One day to tear the bike down, parts EVERYWHERE, Ebay seller sold me the faulty pump,.....shipping back, haggling over refund, buying another one off of Ebay,......waiting for it,.....and two weeks went by! (pump is inside the tank BTW, just like X308, so the whole bike needs to be torn apart!). PROJECTS GALORE!

And some of you sent PMs asking me where did I disappear. Now you know. Sill kicking, and dreaming of wrenching on the Jaguars, which is EASY compared to this nightmare. Jaguar's top end can be rebuilt in situ,......Freelander engine needs to come out (unless you are a contortionist!). And get this,.......the engine CAN NOT come out with the "cherry picker" from the top! You need to drop the whole front end, and take it out from the bottom.

Fun?

Looking forward to have the Freelander in the wife's hands, selling Mercedes, and FINALLY go shopping for the XJR!

 

"How bad can it be!?
Right?"








",......Freelander engine needs to come out (unless you are a contortionist!). And get this,.......the engine CAN NOT come out with the "cherry picker" from the top! You need to drop the whole front end, and take it out from the bottom."

Seems you answered your own question.
See if you can find out the scheduled labor time for the job and double it if you don't have the proper facilities.
I'd run from that thing unless it were free and maybe even then. Good luck.


I've done a sideways Saab engine that was supposed to come out from the bottom. Nightmare doesn't begin to describe it. Got it done ONLY because of a very stubborn friend who was helping and perceived it as challenge. I was ready to put a match to it. In retrospect I should have, car was a S-box all the way.

 

I wished you asked. My first LR was a 02 Freelander for an old wife (ex, dead, forgotten, as well as old). What a POS.

LR 3 would be better for wife, or a nonSC Sport. I loved every LR product but that FreeLander. LR2's are being given away here in VA; much better product. FreeLanders were a GM/Rover design that BMW tried to fix . . . LR2 (FL2 in UK) are Ford and LR design.

 

Good to hear your still alive and kicking!! You will have another Jag Im sure sooner than you think.

Chris

 

"A stubborn friend, who percieved it as a challenge".

Well, that's me,......all the way. I really ENJOY that kind of challenge.

It all comes down to money, and time. I make money to spend. And I made a lot in my lifetime. Ideally,.....I'd like to be broke on my deathbed. Time? This abstract happens to be the most precious commodity we (humans) have, and waste so freely. But what can one do with his "free" time? Play golf? Not me. Watch the tube? Again, not me. I can hop on my horse, and ride up the mountain, or on my bike and ride it to the ocean. But I don't want to do THAT every day.

My mechanic said "you'll have WAY more money in this car than it's worth". And I said "so what?" I'm not restoring it to "make money". I'm restoring it because my wife likes it, and there are VERY few of them left running out there. She feels like it's kinda "unique" (especially now, when most cars look alike). I didn't want to tell her that her 'Hippo" looks just like ANY OTHER crossover! She thinks it's little, it's a Land Rover, and it's cute. And I love her. Enough said.

I've never seen an engine designed so poorly. Not a bad little car overall, but the engine is a true POS. IF she wants to drive it for more than a year (she likes to look at the different dashboard after about a year on average!), I'll rebuild the extra engine I have, or......I might even get a diesel unit from the UK, and convert it. We'll see.

For now,......she is all excited (like all little girls get) and waiting for her Hippo to come out of the shop. It should be done by Monday. I could do it earlier, but THIS weekend I DO want to ride my horses and my bikes, so Hippo will wait a little longer.

And when it's all said and done, and put in the right perspective,.... she gets bored with it, I sell it.......the whole deal will "set me back" couple grand. CHEAP for all the entertainment I got out of it, and making her happy for a while. Don't you think?

 

Do I hear "ENGINE SWAP!" ?

-evil grin-

 

Come again? I don't know what you meant? I AM swapping engines on the Freelander, is that a problem? Can you share something about that operation that I overlooked? I'm puzzled.

I think I have it cornered. Old (bad) engine is out, and the replacement will go in tonight (to be finished by Monday afternoon). What am I missing?

 

I think what he meant is pulling out a low horsepower engine and throwing in a built V8 or something.

Chris

 

I am a LR owner and some forums member for the last 6 years and can tell that Freelander is a trouble source. The petrol engines had a lot of head and gasket trouble, the non BMW diesel engines have automatic gearbox trouble. I don't understand these cars creators, it's something like X type.
A guy from the local forum, said that after 4 gasket swaps he sold it finally and made a big party after. But that was not the last shape model.
I am sure you will sell it soon. Glad you are OK!

 

Yes, that! Or at least something that would be easier to work on and more reliable.

But,...if you can have the original fixed and back in quickly, there is a high value to calling it "done"

Enjoy!

 

Freelander....Run Forest, Run

 

Every Freelander in the US has a bad engine. LR2 is much better...Mostly Volvo in Rover clothing. Cooling fan controlers fail and have to be replaced as an assy but not a bad rig.

 

Thank you all for well wishing. Like I said,.....I missed this forum. Other forums I frequent don't have as many knowledgeable/friendly people. This REALLY IS a COMMUNITY. Now,........

Don't think for a moment that I didn't inform myself about the little LR before hand. As soon as wifey announced that she would like one of them, I started the research. I am well aware of the problems. However,.....there are some that the engine gave out between 80K-100K, and there are some that boast 150+K on the clock. So what's the difference here?

One word: MAINTENANCE.

Just like early X308s we are dealing with inherited design flaws (tensioners, thermostat towers, gearboxes, water pumps). All CAN (and should be) sorted out. Once that's done, early X308 is a sweetheart. Right?

Freelander timing belts (they should be CHAINS!) NEED to be replaced at about 60-70K. Since the V6 is a (MORONIC!) 90 degree design (MANY hours to do it!), dealers want between 1700-2000 USD to do it. And,.......since the cams are INSIDE the heads, timing the thing is not something the local garage can do (the one I am fixing had that faith,......previous owner 75 years old retiree, wanted to "save money" and had the belts replacement done at the local shop,...the car was timed wrongly, belt snapped,........). Majority of the owners didn't change the belts as recommended (because of the cost), or attempted the maintenance themselves.

Head gasket,.........they fail for ONE reason ONLY. Overheating (and the natural stretching of the head bolts, overheating or not!). The cooling system HAS TO be flushed once a year, radiator cleaned, and water pump inspected/replaced if needed, or........one has to watch the temp gauge like a hawk, and NEVER (in like "never-ever") let it go up. Adittional ("real gauge") should be installed, and the temp monitored closely. Head bolt torque should be checked at the same time.

Most of these issues sound just like X308 issues, don't they? Since X308 has chains, cams above the heads, and the engine is turned the "right way", it's easy/cheap to work on. The Freelander is a CHALLENGE. But doable. I did explore the possibility of changing the drive train, but there is only one option, where the car needs to be converted to rear wheel drive, viscous coupling abandoned (no more all wheel drive), and becomes Chevy at heart. I don't like conversions! Jags with Chev engines are not for me (or Chevys in general!)

So I decided to go for it. I think if I keep the car cool, and retorque heads once a year, I will not have a head gasket problem. I'll stick a set of belts (basically same as X308 timing chains,.....one primary belt, and two secondaries) in it now, and they should be good for 60-70K (wife WILL get bored with it long before that!).

There is another "little trick" on Land Rovers (works on other vehicles too, namely my BMW K1200RS). Some of them like to run hot. One can take the thermostat out, in which case the engine will never reach the operating temp, and that will wreak havoc on oxygen sensors and ECM (not a good idea!!), but.......hold your breath,.....one can drill 1mm hole in the thermostat body, remap the fuel management, and the ECM will not be any wiser! IF one hole is not enough,......drill another one on the opposite side! Since we are all car enthusiasts here, I think I don't have to explain you what that does, right?

And that's it. I'm sorry I "hijacked" this forum with a post about the Land Rover, but I wanted to explain what I've been up to lately, and why. Hopefully,.....my S430 will sell soon, and I'll be back on the market for the XJR. Too many vehicles on this ranch (too much wrenching for me). Time to "thin the herd".

 

Have you thought about ARP studs to fix the bolt stretch issue?

 

Good man, anyone can buy a brand new car... I would rather own $80K cars from the late 90's or early 2000's myself and have them run better than new...

 

I have to look into it.