Freelander 1 VCU poll

Hi all, I'm just about to enter the world of Freelander ownership and having glanced through some of the threads on the forum it appears that there can be issues with the VCU, I invite you to take part in my poll, purely optional of course but I thought I'd try and gauge the approximate percentage of posters who've had VCU problems on their vehicle, I've gathered from here that '03 model year onwards is slightly less prone to problems in this area but hopefully the poll will show this.
Cheers.
Go easy on me...it's my first poll! Lol

D'oh!, thanks for pointing that out, Mods can delete thread if needed.

The other is a distance poll which is a little different to this. It might yield some interesting info

let it run it may tie it down to a model year of duff vcu's i suppose

Ok thanks, yeah I was trying to gauge how likely my Td4 was to have VCU problems based the experience of other owners, the other poll did show some interesting results, like some vehicles went over 130,000 and still going! Exception rather than the rule I'm sure.

the conclusion i've drawn from my research is that if the vcu has regulary been subjected to actual use i,e the front wheels have lost grip and the vcu has had to work

the longer it will last

FL's that never drive off road or on mud/snow and only get use on sealed surfaces tend to cause problems.

give your vcu a workout and get your FL to lose grip regular

Given the weather we've had and the impact of that on roads local to me that shouldn't be a problem! ound:

Mine's a 2002 with 89k on it's original VCU and no issues yet.

As far as I know the car's never been off road but I do live up a dirt track which gets quite slippery when it rains - whether this is a factor or not I don't know.

Keeping an eye on this as I'm currently looking to buy 2005/6 TD4. Might help ease my mind on what I'm getting myself into.

I bought my 02 td4 es at 114000 miles and it still had the original vcu on as it had 02 stamped on it so I take it must be the original. I have changed it now after doing the one wheel up test to be on the safe side.

My vcu started to show signs of failing at 35k miles.
2001 v6.

In what way is it failing?

freelance said:

In what way is it failing?

Click to expand...

Getting stiffer sooner when trying to turn it. One wheel up test taking more time. Bench test taking more time. Feeling of the drive when fitted becoming different to normal. Especially cornering.

Hippo said:

My vcu started to show signs of failing at 35k miles.
2001 v6.

Click to expand...

Mine was beginning to stiffen up at a similar mileage. Same model, same year, same colour too!!
The mother in law now has the Freelander but I still have the VCU. I should bench test it really. Maybe even replace the fluid, which appears to be flavour of the month.