Landrover Freelander

[achala]

Hi all can any one tell me what's the going price of a used freelander (65-XXXX)

[Devinda_Z]

price will range anywhere between 2.8 ~3.5 Million

be careful when buying one though as they are Very expensive to maintain and are quite problematic.

find a vehicle which has full service history from either C#l#nial Motors or the agents F#ntier cuz normal garages have been known to make a mess of these when trying to repair them

also have the vehicle throughly checked out by either of the above or a recognized Land rover specialestt/techinician - reasons being these suffer from a number of faults -

anything from IRD & Viscouse coupling failure to chassis cracks at the point where the rear suspension bolts on..

in addition to these which i've seen 1st hand,the following problems have also been know to crop up.. http://www.myfreelander.com/overview.htm

all in all its an excellent vehicle to drive,nice ride and good on fuel, but its know to be problematic - so IF your willing to take the risk of having potentially high repair bills, then go for it

[xXx]

also have the vehicle throughly checked out by either of the above or a recognized Land rover specialestt/techinician - reasons being these suffer from a number of faults -

any recommendations????

Edited June 4, 2007 by xXx

[Devinda_Z]

any recommendations????

i get all my work done @ Colonial Motors on Union place so i'm inclined to recommend them ,but be warned they arent the cheapest around

but having said that for a major repair i dont think there would be much of a difference if say someone like Indika handled the work...

i'm not sure if he does Freelanders but he's said to be brilliant when it comes to Defenders

[nira74]

i get all my work done @ Colonial Motors on Union place so i'm inclined to recommend them ,but be warned they arent the cheapest around

but having said that for a major repair i dont think there would be much of a difference if say someone like Indika handled the work...

i'm not sure if he does Freelanders but he's said to be brilliant when it comes to Defenders

Milroy also does work on Freelanders if I'm not mistaken, as Prestige were the agents for Land Rover as well when he was there. - (There's a Picture of a Freelander on his Business Card)

Been toying with the idea of a Freelander myself cause it's a pretty good vehicle to drive, but the proposition of going on long trips and returning on the back of a recovery truck somehow isn't very appealing....

Edited June 6, 2007 by nira74

[Devinda_Z]

unless your a die hard LR fanatic and are prepared to spend heaps on repairs i wouldn't advise it...

but if you can get one of the face lifted ones on the agent warrenty still intact,then its well worth having...

your right - its very nice drive...so if your adamant go for a TD4

- they won't leave you stranded on the road side and are quite frugal,so well worth paying a premium on the L series diesel

[xXx]

Been toying with the idea of a Freelander myself cause it's a pretty good vehicle to drive, but the proposition of going on long trips and returning on the back of a recovery truck somehow isn't very appealing....

had a diesel freelander many moons ago and had zero trouble. from what i've heard out of all the LR SUV's freelander is the most reliable. to be honest i haven't used any other LR's but everyone who own LR's always say they have major reliability issues.

[lakshank]

Correct ! It is widely accepted by 4WD mechanics that Freelander K-series engines are known to drop the cylinder liners into the block. Because the liners are steel and the block is alloy, the liners being harder, work their way into the block. Because the engine block and cylinder head are composed of different materials they expand at different rates with heat generated during running of the vehicle, causing the head gasket to fail. The bad news is; If the cylinder liners drop too low, the engine needs to be replaced (Be wary there is no economically viable repair procedure) - this is a fact, confirmed by Land Rover in their Technical Advices.

[madmax]

Correct ! It is widely accepted by 4WD mechanics that Freelander K-series engines are known to drop the cylinder liners into the block. Because the liners are steel and the block is alloy, the liners being harder, work their way into the block. Because the engine block and cylinder head are composed of different materials they expand at different rates with heat generated during running of the vehicle, causing the head gasket to fail. The bad news is; If the cylinder liners drop too low, the engine needs to be replaced (Be wary there is no economically viable repair procedure) - this is a fact, confirmed by Land Rover in their Technical Advices.

Why is it that they fail to identify these weaknesses at the design face?

[Devinda_Z]

good point!

but somehow LR have neglected this...the old solution they did offer was not an essential wholehearted cure but rather a fix in terms of a silicon gaskett but as of late interms curing K series woes of at the very least prolonging the life of the engines and to conter this head replacement issue they've designed a Multilayer Shim gaskett

the techincal detials & how it works are as follows :

Multilayered Steel (MLS) Gasket

An interesting development was the new MLS gasket - seen here, pictured to the right. The new gasket set consists of a steel gasket consisting of 5 layers. In the centre is a steel shim with swaged on fire rings - which appears to be very similar to the original gasket designs. This, like the original gasket is encased by two steel layers - rather like a sandwich. However, in contrast to the older gasket design, rather than using bonded-on 'elastomeric' butyl rings to contain the coolant jacket and oil drain spaces, the gasket has an additional two steel layers on either side of the gasket with swaged / raised areas to provide the coolant/oil void sealing (the gloss-black layer just visible in the image bellow).

These layers are there to help prevent any coolant leakage failures - which, on the older gasket design, was frequently due to peel-away of the butyl rings.

The other interesting feature of the new gasket set is the so-called 'sixth layer' or shim. The shim, as shown opposite (left), is inserted between the MLS gasket and the cylinder head, black surface uppermost. The shim is coated on both sides: on the upper side (the head-facing side) with a dry sealant (it has the same black, glossy appearance to the gasket face opposite) and the lower side is coated with an inert matt-grey treatment - and it is this side of the shim that comes into contact with the upper surface of the MLS gasket.

The shim appears to provide two main roles. Firstly it prevents the fire rings on the gasket digging into the cylinder head. When the head is torqued down, the fire rings are crushed between the liners and the cylinder head. The shim prevents the ring from digging into the head, and enables the 'ring to roll over the gasket layer in the manner in which it was designed.

Secondly, and the potential advantage of this system over the original gasket design, it acts as a protective layer to the cylinder head, a layer that comes into its own if the condition of the head is less than perfect. Examples of this is where the cylinder head has gone soft, or where the casting has an imperfection close to the combustion chamber; the shim will help prevent the liners hammering into the head in the fashion demonstrated here (although it has to be said that when the head becomes as damaged as the example shown, the shim will merely delay failure, not prevent it) or aid in sealing the fire walls.

[achala]

unless your a die hard LR fanatic and are prepared to spend heaps on repairs i wouldn't advise it...

but if you can get one of the face lifted ones on the agent warrenty still intact,then its well worth having...

your right - its very nice drive...so if your adamant go for a TD4

- they won't leave you stranded on the road side and are quite frugal,so well worth paying a premium on the L series diesel

correct me if i'm wrong the "K" series engines are the petrol ones (correct?)from Rover. the TD4 type was made by BMW but did they have the TD4 engine on first generation models(65-XXXX) if so do any one know the average price of a TD4 ?

is it an unreliable vehicle as you say(freelander generally)?

[Devinda_Z]

correct me if i'm wrong the "K" series engines are the petrol ones (correct?)from Rover. the TD4 type was made by BMW but did they have the TD4 engine on first generation models(65-XXXX) if so do any one know the average price of a TD4 ?

is it an unreliable vehicle as you say(freelander generally)?

yes the K series is the Rover Petrol unit

TD4's came on the first generation Freelanders from late 2000/early 2001 onwards - so all Freelaners here running Td4's will have WP G_ numbers,never with a 65-,as those no's are pre yr 2000

there are a few TD4 Freelanders on the market right now... given the downturn in the car market, the figures qouted are in the ranges of 3.5-4.2 Million

look thorugh the last 3 weeks sunday papaers and the classifieds will yeild at least 3 results

the TD4's are very good

- but the "L" series (65-xxxx) diesels and Petrols are very messy,so its best to stay clear of those if your adament on getting a freelander... market for those has dropped a bit and will sell from 2.4 upto 3.2 Milllion depending on mileage & condition

all in all the pre faclifted freelanders show massive wear in terms of interiors ,in addition to the already discussed engine issues...so unless you really really want something with a Land Rover badge on it,i would be weary to recommend an older freelander - but if u don't mind spending , a newer facelifted post 2004 model would be awesome - the build quality in much improved and the styling is very suave

[achala]

yes the K series is the Rover Petrol unit

TD4's came on the first generation Freelanders from late 2000/early 2001 onwards - so all Freelaners here running Td4's will have WP G_ numbers,never with a 65-,as those no's are pre yr 2000

there are a few TD4 Freelanders on the market right now... given the downturn in the car market, the figures qouted are in the ranges of 3.5-4.2 Million

look thorugh the last 3 weeks sunday papaers and the classifieds will yeild at least 3 results

the TD4's are very good

- but the "L" series (65-xxxx) diesels and Petrols are very messy,so its best to stay clear of those if your adament on getting a freelander... market for those has dropped a bit and will sell from 2.4 upto 3.2 Milllion depending on mileage & condition

all in all the pre faclifted freelanders show massive wear in terms of interiors ,in addition to the already discussed engine issues...so unless you really really want something with a Land Rover badge on it,i would be weary to recommend an older freelander - but if u don't mind spending , a newer facelifted post 2004 model would be awesome - the build quality in much improved and the styling is very suave

Thanks a lot for the info.

[achala]

yes the K series is the Rover Petrol unit

TD4's came on the first generation Freelanders from late 2000/early 2001 onwards - so all Freelaners here running Td4's will have WP G_ numbers,never with a 65-,as those no's are pre yr 2000

there are a few TD4 Freelanders on the market right now... given the downturn in the car market, the figures qouted are in the ranges of 3.5-4.2 Million

look thorugh the last 3 weeks sunday papaers and the classifieds will yeild at least 3 results

the TD4's are very good

- but the "L" series (65-xxxx) diesels and Petrols are very messy,so its best to stay clear of those if your adament on getting a freelander... market for those has dropped a bit and will sell from 2.4 upto 3.2 Milllion depending on mileage & condition

all in all the pre faclifted freelanders show massive wear in terms of interiors ,in addition to the already discussed engine issues...so unless you really really want something with a Land Rover badge on it,i would be weary to recommend an older freelander - but if u don't mind spending , a newer facelifted post 2004 model would be awesome - the build quality in much improved and the styling is very suave

Just an idea can't we get a 65-XXXX freelander and swap the engine for a TD4 (do we need complete ECU upgrade as well?)

[Devinda_Z]

its not impossible but quite a task...i dunno if anyone here has tried a swap but i've read of it being done...

you need a Td4 unit plus the full wire harness & all other ancilaries - its a lot of work and in the end i doubt you'll be able to justify the cost...

[achala]

its not impossible but quite a task...i dunno if anyone here has tried a swap but i've read of it being done...

you need a Td4 unit plus the full wire harness & all other ancilaries - its a lot of work and in the end i doubt you'll be able to justify the cost...

hmm.. you r right

thanks

[madmax]

I've seen a Freelander running on a 325- plate? Is this a petrol to diesel convert or ex-military?

[Watchman]

i think 325- are converted vehicles. though i too have heard that ex-military vehicles also get those plates, but military freelander, yet to see one of them:)

[Devinda_Z]

definitely not military

its probably a K series petrol which has had a diesel engine propped in...

engine swaps on Freelanders are uncommon to say the least...but i have heard that there has been at least one instance where a Toyota 1.8L unit has been throw in...the success of the whole operation is not quite known,but realistically its not worth all the trouble and the cost , cuz even in the long run i don't see a huge gain or ROI..

[mazdaspeed]

i think 325- are converted vehicles. though i too have heard that ex-military vehicles also get those plates, but military freelander, yet to see one of them:)

YA my friend has a 325 Defender (110) it's an ex-military vehicle but not too sure in the other stuff or the Def.

[maithri]

Hi Guys & Girls,

The freelander with the K series engine will suffer from the same problems that all cars fitted with the K series engine suffer. This I am now aware is as aresult of the low quantity of coolant circulating around the water jackets-so the engine struggles to cool effectively even in the colder UK climate. All of us who repair these heaps of s**t in the uk will not offer warranties on head gaskets as we cannot cure the faults on a poorly designed unit. Buy a diesel that has a much more reliable engine.