Replacement Propshaft Headache

Hi,

Hi, new to forum. Bought my first (2001) Freelander 2.0 Td4 ES in June and spent a fair bit fixing it up, sailed it's MOT, all has been great until I decided to install a propshaft. Previous owner removed entire propshaft, fittings and all associated parts.

After all I have replaced mechanically I thought, what's the point in having a 2wd Land Rover so I purchased another freelander (this LR isauto my LR is a manual) from a family member with an engine failure to return it to what it should be, a 4x4. Anyway propshaft had no issues and worked a treat however once it was fitted to my freelander my first problem was the dash is lighting up like Blackpool. TC, ABS downward tilt and brake light now on. Reset error codes came back on after 5 seconds, think problem is with rear hub sensor however my main concern is the noises and fuel increase. Weekly fuel bill nearly doubled for the same usage.

When accelerating its making a high pitched noise (been told sounds like bearing noise) more noticeable at higher revs, calms down in 5th gear, noise goes away when foot is off the accelerator. In the last week it has start making what I can only describe as a rumbling/shuddering noise at rear when going round roundabouts although its feint its still noticeable.

The guy that looks after my cars suggested changing the oil in rear diff and gearbox (cheapest option) but not sure if that will help. It had been suggested to try joining a Land Rover site for assistance, so here I am, any help would be greatly appreciated, Cheers.

Sounds like the original prop was removed to hide an underlying problem with the IRD or rear diff, maybe both.
It's also possible that the VCU you have fitted is buggered. I'd be taking the IRD off your spare FL and the rear diff too.
You must stop using it, or it'll go bang in a big way.
The lights are a different issue. A diagnostic will pinpoint that problem. You may have the parts to repair it on your spares FL.

Endgame said:

Hi,

Hi, new to forum. Bought my first (2001) Freelander 2.0 Td4 ES in June and spent a fair bit fixing it up, sailed it's MOT, all has been great until I decided to install a propshaft. Previous owner removed entire propshaft, fittings and all associated parts.

After all I have replaced mechanically I thought, what's the point in having a 2wd Land Rover so I purchased another freelander (this LR isauto my LR is a manual) from a family member with an engine failure to return it to what it should be, a 4x4. Anyway propshaft had no issues and worked a treat however once it was fitted to my freelander my first problem was the dash is lighting up like Blackpool. TC, ABS downward tilt and brake light now on. Reset error codes came back on after 5 seconds, think problem is with rear hub sensor however my main concern is the noises and fuel increase. Weekly fuel bill nearly doubled for the same usage.

When accelerating its making a high pitched noise (been told sounds like bearing noise) more noticeable at higher revs, calms down in 5th gear, noise goes away when foot is off the accelerator. In the last week it has start making what I can only describe as a rumbling/shuddering noise at rear when going round roundabouts although its feint its still noticeable.

The guy that looks after my cars suggested changing the oil in rear diff and gearbox (cheapest option) but not sure if that will help. It had been suggested to try joining a Land Rover site for assistance, so here I am, any help would be greatly appreciated, Cheers.

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Noise that reduces on over-run - from the rear - is almost certainly Differential (rear).
I would suspect that both the IRD and Rear Diff are actually 'buggered' - they NEVER remove a prop shaft for no reason. - what ever excuse is made.
As nodge says, the VCU is also suspect. however, the VCU may well be fine and simply the damage was done to the transmission WAY before you bought it.
Budget for (or remove and fit) the IRD. a rear diff, and regardless of anything else - get a new recon VCU and bearings.
Don;t waste time with any 'tests' on the VCU with levers etc. In this case, it will tell you jack.. just replace it.

And no, unfortunately - changing the diff oil will do nothing in this case I am sure.

Thanks Nodge, gutted.com springs to mind. I have another car so will take your advice and stop using the it until the fault has been pinpointed, cheers.

Thanks for the response Joe... Will update what the problem is when I have pinpointed it..

Endgame said:

Thanks for the response Joe... Will update what the problem is when I have pinpointed it..

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No worries EG, it will be fine - at least you have a donor vehicle for the parts ! - just get a new VCU whatever happens. Cheap as chips when you consider what havoc it can wreak .....

lol - I like your comment that the new propshaft "had no issues and worked a treat"... as if a solid lump of steel could have to many faults... but there's plenty of complex bits it puts stress through that obviously aren't happy!

The only thing that can be said with any level of surety is that the VCU you installed is buggered - the reason I say that is because your fuel bill has increased - its the only thing that can do that and for you to notice the fuel usage increase it must be very buggered. So your first job will be to confirm that. You can confirm this by reversing on full lock - if the car feels like it is braking thats the VCU being to stiff and winding up your transmission. You can also confirm it doing the 1 wheel up test...



A 32mm socket on the wheel, 1.2m bar and 5kg weight should give a time between 30 and 60 seconds - anything over 120 seconds is a whip the props off immediately! Given that you don't know if there are any issues with your rear diff - the 1WUT is probably at its most unreliable - but it should be good enough to confirm a seriously buggered VCU (it definitely won't give you a false positive).

Given how bad your VCU appears to be - I would be very caution of the reverse on full lock - it may be enough to bust your IRD or diff - do it slowly!

Your second job will be to learn how the Freelander's transmission works. Given your post, you obviously don't know to much about how it works and implications of bits not working properly (eg the VCU). So you need to Google Freelander Transmission or VCU or IRD and work out how it works - it won't take very long - its quite simple in principle.... and costly if you don't make a few simple checks.

For example, you have not said anything about your tyres. You need to have 4 matching tyres on Freelander - and that's exactly the same make and model - and they must be pumped to exactly the same pressure. If they are different the front and rear axles turn at different rates which lights up the VCU... which creates wind-up... which needs to disipate and on a high grip surface like tarmac that will be by busting your transmission rather than tyres slipping.

You need to know what each of the bits do (ie IRD, VCU and rear diff), you need to know how the tyres impact this and what happens when the VCU gets to stiff.

As I say, it doesn't take long to find out how it works - if you have any questions about it, there's heaps of people on here that have a wealth of experience and can put a real world spin on on the "fact".

One thing I'd add is to be very careful of parting with your hard earned cash with so called "Land Rover specialists". There are plenty out there who claim to be specialists and will happily take your money without really knowing what they are talking about in relation to Freelander's transmission. To be fair to your mechanic, it sounds like he is not claiming to be specialist in Freelander and to be honest although his suggestions are probably very worthy of doing, they're not going to solve your problems and should only be done after you've resolve the problems (assuming the diff and IRD are serviceable on your car).

Good luck.

To add to the above - if your tyres are not right, this gives the effect of a faulty VCU. So check those first. They can also give false positives and negatives when doing the reverse full lock tests - so apologies - your first step is to check the tyres, then the VCU.