New freelander owner with a vcu question

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Iceash

New Member
Posts
89
Hi everyone.

I've just purchased a 53 plate 1.8 freelander. It's in great condition just had it serviced and very pleased with it.

Asked the mechanic to check Vcu, said its fine. Even gave it a few mile spin then did the hand check which to find it was stone cold.

So my question is should I replace it anyway or just keep an eye on it and replace when I notice it binding at full lock?

Thanks advance for the input,
Ash
 
How many miles on the clock ? anywhere over 70,000 you pays your money and change it or not the choice is yours. For the sake of £250 ish from Bells engineering against a new diff and or VDU and lots more £'s its up to you . Or Take it to Bells and have them test it for you and peace of mind
 
TBH - I'm not so sure 70K miles is anything to go by - I think that's a LR "Get out of jail free" card. If the VCU's going or gone - replace it, if its working fine, then leave it alone. Its a bit like saying you should change your tyres every 20K miles. There's plenty that do many more miles than 70K - and plenty that do less!

I would just lift a back wheel and see if you can turn it by hand - if you can the IRD's been switch to a 2WD one!
 
Hi all, car has done 129 thou. I had the garage do the test they said all running fine, no reason to doubt. It was more the thought of replace before fails? I've no history of it being replaced as some of the service history has been lost. So it may well be a new one under there, it does look quite new oddly. On the service it did have the damper thingy replaced.
 
I think as long as I keep n eye on it, drop the prop if it starts causing issues n replace with a recon I shouldn't damage the idr unit/rear diff.

I can't wait for winter :)
 
If the VCU is cold after a run this would indicate to me that it's locked up and not slipping, I would change it for a Bells recon unit.
 
Well I've driven to work. Aprox 11 miles and it's slightly warm so seems to be working very well. Also on full lock in reverse 1st and 2nd no dragging or fighting. It also has four matched tyres :)
 
I know where your going, but I also been pondering by the time the vcu does fail might just as well recon the rear diff and transfer box so and get huge piece of mind. These parts seem to need refreshing as well at some point soon?
 
GrumpyGel said:
TBH - I'm not so sure 70K miles is anything to go by - I think that's a LR "Get out of jail free" card. If the VCU's going or gone - replace it, if its working fine, then leave it alone. Its a bit like saying you should change your tyres every 20K miles. There's plenty that do many more miles than 70K - and plenty that do less!

I would just lift a back wheel and see if you can turn it by hand - if you can the IRD's been switch to a 2WD one!
Click to expand...

+1 :)

You seem to know the warning signs so save your money till they show up.

On Level ground, one rear wheel jacked up, the other chocked and brakes off and out of gear - the jacked wheel should turn by hand with a bit of effort.

do this once a month or so - you will soon get to know it and notice if it feels easier or harder to turn over time - if it changes then you can worry ...;)
 
Just for rough reference point, i fitted a brand new GKN vcu and bearings just over a year ago. I check it every few weeks after the same route and it is warm to the touch. It always drags slightly on full lock.
 
Brack said:
+1 :)

You seem to know the warning signs so save your money till they show up.

On Level ground, one rear wheel jacked up, the other chocked and brakes off and out of gear - the jacked wheel should turn by hand with a bit of effort.

do this once a month or so - you will soon get to know it and notice if it feels easier or harder to turn over time - if it changes then you can worry ...;)
Click to expand...

Haha great answer :)
 
Iceash said:
I know where your going, but I also been pondering by the time the vcu does fail might just as well recon the rear diff and transfer box so and get huge piece of mind. These parts seem to need refreshing as well at some point soon?
Click to expand...

If the VCU is functional and not stressing the IRD and diff, these components do last quite high mileages. They are not week but don't take kindly to the VCU going stiff.
 
Nodge68 said:
If the VCU is functional and not stressing the IRD and diff, these components do last quite high mileages. They are not week but don't take kindly to the VCU going stiff.
Click to expand...

What kinda typical mileage would you hope to see then? It has been used for towing and will also be continued to be towed with :)
 
Brack said:
One wheel up test is well documented on here bud ...were all learning all the time ;) you sound like a responsible Freelander owner..welcome :)
Click to expand...

Thank you,

I'll have to get a trolley jack, be easier to do the test then.

The FL is a great car, I believe if well looked after will continue to be lovely to drive.
 
Lots of Freelanders achieve very high milage without transmission problems. I'm sure a lot of IRD, and lesser rear diff, meltdowns are due to owner/driver error with mismatched tyres or incorrect pressures. Mine melted down on 80K miles - so you'd think that's a good measure to renew at 70K - but it was my own fault running an underinflated tyre over a long distance. I could feel the car wasn't right - but was too interested in showing friends visiting around NZ to worry enough about the slightly odd feel to the car! I didn't know much about Freelanders then and paid the price.

So 600KMs over 2 days was enough to blow what I think was a perfectly healthy system. If I'd replaced the VCU at 70K - it would still have happened - I'm sure.

Obviously if a VCU 'goes stiff' it will do the same as running bad tyres. But with bad tyres every turn of the wheels grinds down the IRD that little bit - where as when the VCU stiffens up its basically only on left/right turns that it happens - especially with the 1:1 ratio IRDs. So long as you check it regularly - you get a lot longer before catastrophic problems occur so can replace it when you notice the VCU starting to go.

You talk about reconning the IRD & rear diff as well. If you've got bottomless pockets that's fine - but it does cost a lot of money that does not need to be spent if the system is looked after and monitored. 300 for a VCU is a lot less than 1,500 for all the bits!
 
GrumpyGel said:
Lots of Freelanders achieve very high milage without transmission problems. I'm sure a lot of IRD, and lesser rear diff, meltdowns are due to owner/driver error with mismatched tyres or incorrect pressures. Mine melted down on 80K miles - so you'd think that's a good measure to renew at 70K - but it was my own fault running an underinflated tyre over a long distance. I could feel the car wasn't right - but was too interested in showing friends visiting around NZ to worry enough about the slightly odd feel to the car! I didn't know much about Freelanders then and paid the price.

So 600KMs over 2 days was enough to blow what I think was a perfectly healthy system. If I'd replaced the VCU at 70K - it would still have happened - I'm sure.

Obviously if a VCU 'goes stiff' it will do the same as running bad tyres. But with bad tyres every turn of the wheels grinds down the IRD that little bit - where as when the VCU stiffens up its basically only on left/right turns that it happens - especially with the 1:1 ratio IRDs. So long as you check it regularly - you get a lot longer before catastrophic problems occur so can replace it when you notice the VCU starting to go.

You talk about reconning the IRD & rear diff as well. If you've got bottomless pockets that's fine - but it does cost a lot of money that does not need to be spent if the system is looked after and monitored. 300 for a VCU is a lot less than 1,500 for all the bits!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply's, used to refreshing gearbox's after running vw's lol.

I'm happy replacing the vcu if it's going to instantly destroy the rest of the transmission however if it's something you can spot before then it's worth getting your monies worth so to speak :)
 
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