About To Pickup My 1998 Frontera

Hey guys,

just about to buy the following;

Frontera Sport
2.0l
1998 (R plate)
81k miles
1 year MOT (just waiting on the rubber stamp, i've seen the failure list)
Very new tyres, new rear pads, new rear brake pipes

The weather in Scotland at the mo is crazy, and I'm in need of a 4x4 to help me get around. ALL 4x4s are getting snapped up very quickly here. This one is going for £995. I got in first and there literally was a que of people waiting to look/buy it. The frontera was up on the ramp having the MOT fails addressed and so I got a really good look underneath, only problem was that whilst I could start it, I couldn't drive it! Decided to bite the bullet and put down a deposit pending the MOT being issued. Hopefully i'll be heading up to get it tomorrow (weather dependent).

Just wondering if there's any advice here before I completely commit. Chassis looks sound, it's had a bit of welding done to the rear of the sill on the drivers side and looks like a really good job, failed on rear brakes binding, corroded brake pipe, rear brake pads and silly things like bulbs, etc and all fixed/replaced. The back box was blowing, and i don't get why that wasn't mentioned on the MOT list. I've seen on e-bay that you can get a back box for like £40? So no big bother, unless I'm wrong!!!

The back seats have been taken out which suits me down to the ground as I'll be using it to carry stuff around in. General cosmetic nick is good, some small instances of rust on the paintwork, but nothing mad.

Any suggestions, what to check, etc would be really really appreciated. Just using this as a winter runner as I have a rear wheel drive german car! :oh yer:

Thanks in advance,

Tony

Hi Tony, your going to enjoy yourself

Have a look through this link, some good advice on how to us the 4wd system

http://www.fronteraowners.co.uk/wiki/in ... _FAQ/Guide

Thanks for that,

So what kind of 4wd system/diff does the fronty have.

From memory, in the cab the 2nd gearstick had the options 4h and 4l. Do I drive in 4h all the time and only in 4l when say going up a massive hill with rubbish traction? Sounds like 4l should be driven slowly (what max speed) and in a straight line?

Maybe I'm talking rubbish!!

Its a part time system that should only be used in 4wd when the surface is slippy, otherwise you can suffer with wind up, this is explained in the link above.

For normal driving you use 2h and this gives you 2wd from the rear wheels.

For snowy/icey roads in this country 4wh will be more than enough with 4wl being for when you are stuck or a very high chance you may get stuck or even descending a very steep slippy slope.

aye your paying too much for an R plate

Cool, so there should be a 2h 4h and 4l. Should i be stationery to switch between these?

Any problems in general with the jeep that I should be looking for?

I'm sure ur right pal, but ATM they're all hiking the prices up, another fronty pretty much exactly the same
Machine is going for £2k!!!!

I'm a musician and have a gig in Inverness on Saturday, so needs must I'm afraid!! Any advice on what common problems I should be looking out for would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

TG

TG welcome - don't be too upset at the price, its what the car is worth to you. The price you have paid should give you good mobility through the winter. Also, if you were buying a brand new car, £1000 could be spent just on metallic paint and a radio upgrade. Many other car owners think nothing of taking a £8000 hit on depreciation every couple of year,so, sit back, enjoy and have a comfortable smile to yourself as you pass the others by in the snow!!! David. :dance:

When the conditions are slippy enough put the lever into 4h and use your gears then as normal, keep your speed down to around 40mph, if the conditions warrant 4 wheel drive you shouldnt really be going that fast as a rule of thumb :wink:

the sport will get you about, check the sills for rust as this is a weak point simple weldd n fixwith a plate, the tank guard corrodes aswell and they can be up to 60 quid, check for whining noises.Check tyre condition including spare as it is the winter just cause it mot`d you dont know if they mates. The sun roof might leakand the window might stick, the passenger lock is sometimes ceased aswell due to lack of use. The alarm and imobliser is a fun and games to work out at first.

If you happy then fine but tell you this the sport aint fast of the mark the mpg is somewhere between 23-28mpg. It will get you where you want to go it is cheap to maintain.It starts no bother at -6 degrees. If you look after it will last you well i have used mine on and offroad this year and its not missed a beat. The Frontera is a hate or love thing .

Do the usual vehicle checks an see what the advisories show up , there is plenty kicking about for less than yer paying and you are buying a motor that worth 400 quid any other time.im not trying to pee on your parade and if it gets motd then fine you got a years ticket if you going to keep it but if it for the winter then sell after then you may not get the same ££ back.
Other than that you mot pending you have bought a very reliable fun wee 4x4 that has alot of potential on and off road and welcome to the world of frontera`s everything you need to know is here.

If they selling for a grand hmm nah cant do it cant sell mine i would miss it to much

Cheers for that guys,

yeah, it has had a weld on the sill behind the drivers door, looks like a good repair. Tyres have plenty of tred and the spare is literally brand spanking new. Sounds like the only real thing left for me to do is give it a drive and check for any crazy noises! Pity about the price, but at the mo that's just the going rate here.

I reckon i'll run her about and probably give her a service at the turn of the year. If she seems reliable enough then I can see me tarting it up a bit. It's currently lime green which ain't my thing, so a cheap wrap might be on the cards, might also tart up the interior, new stereo, etc, but that's for the summer! Just want something that can run me around for a couple of months. I've got a BMW 7 series which is stuck at the bottom of a hill at the moment and will probably not move for a while! They're just horrific in the snow!

Hope to be chatting with you all in the coming weeks/months!

Thanks so much once again,

Tony

I would have thought £900 was about right for an R plate.

Also check the breather on top of the rear diff. Due to the stupid location of if they get blocked up, this creates preassure in the diff blowing a seal, causing the fluid to drain, resulting in the need for a new axel if not caught early enough. This happened mine and the parents fronty, luckily i caught it in time, they didnt.

I hope this help's.

That's great man, thanks so much. So just to clarify then;

I can go from 2h to 4h whilst driving 'at any vehicle speed' but probably best to do this slowly? When doing this, the only thing I do is move the transfer shift, no need to operate the clutch.

When going from 4h to 4l, fronty should be stationary. Again, no clutch required, this being the case is the hubs are in the unlocked position.

If the hubs are locked then i can shift from 4h to 4l whilst moving at the printed max speeds for each given gear?

What are the advantages/disadvantages to having the hubs locked or free. To be honest, I don't know what that part means, but am just about to google it!!

Hopefully I'll get the fronty tomorrow, weather is crap here and the MOT guy hasn't been able to get in to rubber stamp the things that they've fixed. Come on!!!!!

Locking Hubs - is this right?

Need to be locked in order for 4wd to happen.

Advantage of unlocking is that it reduces wear and improves fuel economy

What do you guys do?

Hi.

I have a 1993 2.4 petrol with auto locking hubs. I put it into 4wd hi and go in reverse to lock the hubs for a metre
then when I go back to 2wd,I drive forward to unlock the hubs. 2H is for normal driving conditions,when it isnt slippy i.e icy/snowing. I hope this helps abit more.

This is from my Vauxhall Frontera driver's manual:-

Automatic locking hubs:-
To lock the automatic free-wheeling front hubs into the drive position,stop the vehicle and
shift the transfer case lever to 4H or 4L or 2H. When the vehicle is started again the hubs will lock
automatically.

Note:-
Once the hubs have been locked,they will remain locked even if the transfer case shift lever is shifted
from 4H or 4L or 2H whilst the vehicle travels in the same direction. To unlock the hubs,stop the vehicle
and shift the transfer case lever to 2H,then drive the vehicle slowly in the opposite direction to which it had
previously been used for approximately one metre.

Note:-
When the vehicle is in 4H or 4L,hubs will temporarily free and re-engage when vehicle changes direction.

if the hubs are locked you can switch between 2wd an 4wd H while on the move going into4wd lo will result in some crunching i switched without issue