General The workshop Adventures of Phoebe the Freebie...

[Geobloke]

Well a little investigation work this afternoon shows that there is no damage to the door at all. Thought there might be something nasty hiding under those blobs of silicone, but no, all that was under there were the yellow fasteners that should be there.

So... what I think happened is that the PO somehow kicked the moulding off, low wall, bollard or something. Broke a few of the fastening plinths in the process, didn't fix them and when he tried to refit the moulding found that it didn't sit quite right so broke out the No More Nails...



Good news... So when the new fasteners arrive all should just clip back in to place...

 

[Geobloke]

Well if you are going to end the year on a low note it might as well be a flat...

Woke up on the 27th to...



Balls...



Screwed...

On an off chance I dropped PEC tyres on the A5 a message to see if they were open. They weren't but they did say drop it off and they'd do it first thing in the New Year. Fair enough... Miffy was more than willing to take up transportation duties, as always...

Two hours later... Hi, your tyre is ready for pickup... They had an emergency tyre thing with someone or other and they did Phoebe's at the same time

How about that for service...



One plug no waiting. Well done PEC tyres.

If anyone on holiday has a tyre emergency give these guys a call:

Name: P E C Tyres
Address: Druid Garage, Druid, Denbighshire Wales, LL21 9NU
Phone: 01490 460469

 

[Geobloke]

Well a little investigation work this afternoon shows that there is no damage to the door at all. Thought there might be something nasty hiding under those blobs of silicone, but no, all that was under there were the yellow fasteners that should be there.

So... what I think happened is that the PO somehow kicked the moulding off, low wall, bollard or something. Broke a few of the fastening plinths in the process, didn't fix them and when he tried to refit the moulding found that it didn't sit quite right so broke out the No More Nails...

View attachment 303359View attachment 303360

Good news... So when the new fasteners arrive all should just clip back in to place...

Just to close this bit of bodywork off. The clips arrived last Thursday and 10 minutes later the door trip was clipped back in place. Super simple to do Which makes a nice change...



No Phoebe didn't get a full wash, there is no point in Wales between September and April...

 

[Geobloke]

Boot Switch replacement

Well this is the second time I have had to replace the boot switch on Phoebe and for my sins I bought a cheap pattern part and it inevitably died over this winter. But it does allow me to show you guys a tool that every DIYer with a Defender or later vehicle needs to have in their tool box:

Trim Pliers They are not a sexy tool but they are amazing at preventing trim clips from breaking and extracting fir-tree clips. For the price they are brilliant and worth every penny of £7.



Two screws from the internal grab handles out. Insert tool. Squeeze. Pops the clip right out.

To get the switch out it is off with the exterior grab handle (six 10mm nuts) and unplug the internal connector.



Handle off



I chose an OE part this time from LR Direct, not the LR part and what turned up was... the LR Part... for a tenth of the price...



The difference between the cheap OE and the LR part is night and day. The LR part is completely sealed whereas the cheaper one is... not... I took the time to clean the inside of the handle out and noticed that two of the connective struts were broken, so plastic welded them back on again. I also DIY'd a new set of closed foam seals for the bolts and around the top of the handle. All back together and the boot opens once more with a satisfying whirrwr-clunk.

Whilst I was there I had been meaning to replace the foam seal around the high level brake light. Pop the internal panel. Use a flat head screwdriver to press out the light unit. Unplug the bulb and washer jet. This is a known failure point for water to get into the boot lid, then switch and fail....



But... Even though the seal was proper manky, it turns out the light lens itself had cracked and let water in to the boot. It wasn't like that back in October so all I can think of is that during the crazy cold spell before Christmas some ice had formed and cracked the light lens.



The evidence of water dribbling on the inside of the boot panel. A replacement light unit is on the way so for now...



All in all this is an easy DIY job that can be accomplished with the absolute minimum of tools and ability.

 

[Geobloke]

Ok, just to finish this bit off. The replacement high level brake light lens arrived this afternoon along with a pair of new bulbs.

So, the first thing to do is unclip the washer jet from the old lens, two small clips and a flat head will do the job. The o-ring on mine had perished so a new one was fitted. For reference it is a 4mmx1mm o-ring. Slot it in to position.



Refit the washer hose and bulb holder and clip the lens back in to position on the boot lid. Check that everything works, replace the inner trim... Job done... MOT compliant once again...

 

[Geobloke]

There is something wonderful about having the space to push the limits of a vehicle, practice, feel how it behaves in different scenarios. This weekend we received a little over 6 inches of snow...



So what is a Freelander 2 to do, but go out and find some fresh snow to plough through. The first lane was a "simple" fairly deeply rutted track where the front chin was just scraping the surface of the centre. The track included a number of deep drifts. Then up hill to one of my favourite dog walking woodlands where the snow became deeper and fresher.



I have heard that turning DSC off improves snow driving. It does not. It does reduce the amount the engine bogs down but at the expense of increased wheel spin and reduced traction and less forward momentum. But, the power slides weren't boring at all... Switching into snow mode allowed for slow controlled progress and Phoebe just kept plugging onwards. What was surprising, although it really shouldn't be, is that when I pulled up to get the dogs out all four of the brake discs were billowing with steam. So they were being worked hard, constantly to get to where we got to. Impressive as it is I cannot help thinking that it places a lot of stress on the vehicles systems. This goes for all modern SUVs and 4x4s.

The only Whoa that's not good feeling was when I rejoined the main road and built up speed and it honestly felt like Phoebe had square wheels. Well, not quite but all of the rims were full of compressed snow throwing the wheels ever so slightly out of balance. Not a great feeling. Actually the most worrying part of the the ice on the inside of the rims is not the balance but the proximity of the calipers and brake flexi hose leading to the caliper...




For reference Phoebe is completely standard on 19" wheels and shod in Vredstein Quadtrac Pros. Excellent 4 season tyre.

And then today it is absolutely lashing it down and snow is forecast for mid-week... Weird weather this week....

 

[Geobloke]

Honestly not much to report on old Phoebe. She keeps plodding on as she always has done. Stalwart of the fleet

Just been for her annual prod and tickle by the keepers of vehicle safety and she passed with just a few minor advisories to keep an eye on, but are not at all critical. She is just short of 150k miles and there are a few ball joints with a very slight play in them.

1. The inner steering rack joint
2. OS rear ARB ball joint
3. OS rear brake pad thinner than others.

Looks like the calliper sliders are a bit sticky. Might only need new pads.

Have no idea about the steering rack yet or whether it is DIY'able or not. Not critical though.

 

[Geobloke]

Honestly not much to report on old Phoebe. She keeps plodding on as she always has done. Stalwart of the fleet

Just been for her annual prod and tickle by the keepers of vehicle safety and she passed with just a few minor advisories to keep an eye on, but are not at all critical. She is just short of 150k miles and there are a few ball joints with a very slight play in them.

1. The inner steering rack joint
2. OS rear ARB ball joint
3. OS rear brake pad thinner than others.

Looks like the calliper sliders are a bit sticky. Might only need new pads.

Have no idea about the steering rack yet or whether it is DIY'able or not. Not critical though.

And the MOT advisories are being ticked off... The other night Phoebe, who has just turned 150k miles old, had her rear calipers over-hauled, new LR brake pads, new anti roll bar (ARB) mounting bushes, a pair of ARB linkages and a wash-scrub-Lanoguard...

Wow... what a difference in braking and cornering The pads had a good 25% left on them so the improvement in braking was a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one.

The ARB bushes were absolutely... "bushed"... and as for the linkages only one of the ball joints was loose, but not like stirring a wooden spoon in a saucepan. The process was fairly straight forward, the only two things that needed doing were to drop the exhaust back box for space and the four ARB mounting bolts were a little stiff in the captive nuts. The up side was access for washing, scrubbing and lanoguarding.

But what a difference in the ride quality. Next on the Lise are the front lower control arms and ARB furniture. Phoebe deserves it...

 

[greenchips]

Did you dye the lanoguard in the end? Love the stuff (hate the applicator tools)

 

[Geobloke]

Did you dye the lanoguard in the end? Love the stuff (hate the applicator tools)

No I completely forgot to give it a go in the heat of the moment... Next time... The hand sprayers aren't that bad. They have upgraded the chassis lance which is much better than the orignial. Still it is much better getting splattered by Lanoguard than hot waxoyl

 

[greenchips]

They did upgrade the bottle between my purchases. I see they have extended options now on pump etc. I've had a few kits and ,,, 25 litre? container. Have lost a lance in the chassis rail of mrs toyota. Sometimes there are bits in it that clog the pick up. What I find most annoying is constantly cleaning the gun nozzle as it blocks and does not spray. I haven't been tempted to crack out the compressor with it ever though. Love the grease too, will be getting more of that someday.

 

[Geobloke]

They did upgrade the bottle between my purchases. I see they have extended options now on pump etc. I've had a few kits and ,,, 25 litre? container. Have lost a lance in the chassis rail of mrs toyota. Sometimes there are bits in it that clog the pick up. What I find most annoying is constantly cleaning the gun nozzle as it blocks and does not spray. I haven't been tempted to crack out the compressor with it ever though. Love the grease too, will be getting more of that someday.

Yes that grease goes a long long way. Just smeared a bit on Phoebes tow ball as it happens. I know what you mean about the blockages, it appears to be some sort of mould growing in the fluid. It looks filamentous anyway. I think I ended up running the remains of a container through an old tea towel to filter out the debris before using the last litre or so of the previous bottle. It doesn't say, but I wonder if this stuff should be kept in the dark and cool when not in use?!

 

[andy63]

My sprayers.. That's the bottle and the one that can attach to the container on a long pipe are both temperamental.. In fact don't really work now unless you prime them .. A messy process.. One of non return functions has stopped working on the hand held bottle.. It keeps loosing suction Not sure if it was damaged when I was clearing the fibrous material from the strainer at the bottom of the dip tube..
I have a old pump dispenser that came with some waxoil cans more years ago than I care to remember that still works fine... Great quality..

The grease is a very similar consistency to one I used to get years ago from a local oil supplier on the Tyne.. I always remember it's name for some reason... Tynos 186.. But it would have been petroleum based..
All the lads at work used it to underseal their cars by melting it and painting it on..
That along with filling sills and hollow body panels with old oil.. And after a while driving to the local landfill and removing the bungs and draining it
Can you imagine trying that now

 

[greenchips]

Probably for another thread but I've wondered how many fleece does it take to harvest a litre of lanolin? I now shepherds get next to nothing for the wool. Is it boiled in water and lanoline floats to the top for collection? It is pricey stuff considering.

 

[Geobloke]

Well... You know how it is... You get up and head out to the car to load the dogs in the back and...



I knew a while ago that this may happen so I have bought the proper number plate inserts and some screws. A fun 20 minutes first thing on a Sunday before breakfast

 

[Geobloke]

Camping in style..

Long live the Freelander 2 and the OzTent RV4. Love both these bits of kit...

 

[Geobloke]

Balls...


Just ripped the front left outer CV boot...

Balls, balls, balls, balls.

And on the Bank holiday too...


BALLS....

If you didn't laugh you'd cry, right??

 

[Geobloke]

Well love it or hate it, Amazon to the rescue on a bank holiday sunday. At around 1600 on saturday I ordered a universal CV boot, CV grease and CV bands and tool and they arrived before midday which is miraculous as I live in the middle of nowhere north Wales.

So, had to do a few new things to fix this slip up, removed the drive shaft as somehow I had managed to decouple the inner CV joint att he same time as ripping the outer CV boot. It was a marvellous moment DIY life people...

Anyway if this ever happens to you then this CV boot works perfectly with the outer CV.



Anyway going back to the beginning this is definitely a 5 spanner DIY job. If only because the job requires compressing the spring and damper to align the bolt holes with the new stiff bushes. Added complications are you need a 21mm ring spanner, kong with an 13, 15, 18 and 22mm socket. Plus the usual Land Rover special tools...

So as the bushes were quite worn after 150k miles and I decided to replace the whole lower control arm and ball joint, along with the anti roll bar bushes and links as well. Surprisingly all the bolts came loose with no problem at all and the bushes were well past their best






What was surprising was that the ball joint had absolutely no grease at all in it, so if you do this job check this and if necessary fill with some CV grease.



The drivers side went nice a smoothly but the passenger side I slipped and the thread of the ball joint shredded the CV boot... Grease everywhere... Balls...



As I said above, Amazon to the rescue and a universal CV boot worked a treat. So once the inner drive CV was removed from the gearbox. At this point I realised that during the CV boot shredding the inner CV managed to pull apart as well so pulling it out allowed for fitting back together again with fresh grease. The hardest part of this is all the grease, it takes quite a bit to clean up all the CV grease. The CV joint just pops off so the boot can be replaced. The universal boot needs to be cut down a little bit at the wide end but is a snug fit on the CV joint.

It is great to have a vice at hand for this job. All back together again.

After a lot of messing around and frustrating manoeuvring the front bolt finally slotted home and everything went back together again. A good dose of lanoguard should protect this lot over the winter.

And whilst I am in the region it seemed like a good opportunity to stick the battery on a recon charge as Phoebe is not driven vast distances every day.

Oh and replaced the bonnet gas struts as well, the originals were just getting a bit weak. What I need to do next is check the oil levels as there was a little leakage from the gearbox when the inner Cv shaft popped out, only 30ml or so, but it needs to be replaced.

What a marathon on my dirty gravel driveway...

 

[Geobloke]

And just to finish that last section off. A short test drive and all appears to be as it should.

Plus Phoebe has got a new fuel filter, air filter and pollen filter. The latter was packed with grime.

If anyone is wondering if they actually need the fuel filter priming bulb, the answer is it does make it much much easier and has the added benefit of being able to recover the fuel from within the old filter

 

[Geobloke]

Back on four wheels... both of them