'06 D90 TD5 Vibration when accelerating Hard and over 50mph.

So I bought a new Defender to replace my 1996 300tdi that was nicked and arson'd on Sept 1st.

Everything is great on it apart from two issues. When travelling over 50mph there is a rumble, not sure it's safe to say it's a vibration as I can't feel it in the pedals or really in the steering wheel but I can hear it very noticeably.

The other issue is that when braking hard I can feel the smallest of pulsation through the pedal. I guess one of my brake rotors is warped.

For the rumbling this is what I was thinking to do to help diagnose it.

1) Put the transfer box in neutral and throttle hard as if I am accelerating.
If I can hear the noise again it means it's engine, flywheel or gearbox and I should begin crying now. If not I should move on.

2) Drop the transfer box into High and Diff Locked, remove the front propshaft and accelerate hard.
If the noise is gone, prop shaft to be replaced. If present, reinstall prop shaft and repeat with rear propshaft.
If still present could be transfer box or additional components further down.

3) Have wheels checked for balancing,

Then after that I guess get the warped rotor looked at and see if that makes any difference.

Any thoughts?

Have you tried, just laying underneath it and giving each UJ a darn good pulling about.

Also a good grease of the Uj's is never a bad idea, you can even do one a ta time to see if greasing one gives an improvement.

Cheers

Pulsing often = warped discs
Vibration -
Worn prop UJs - ~£25 per end (only use GKN) quite easy to do
Panhard rod bushes - cheap and easy to replace
Worn damper bushes - cheap & easy
Worn damper - ~£50 - east
Worn drop arm ball joint - Little more £, pain in the ass
Worn swivel pins - pretty easy if you have some mechanical skill, but doable diy, more time consuming and methodical
Worn swivel pin bearings - as above

Im pretty sure they are the most common causes, work through the list and try tk narrow it down.

May also be worth your while jacking the front end up and checking the wheels to see if they wobble in a way they should not.

If they do then as @bankz5152 said, it can be either swivel pins / bearings ( up/ down), or it could be wheel bearings( up / down / left / right).

Cheers

Thats true, check wheel bearings. Thats pretty easy, jack up a wheel and rock it, up down/left right, if it moves on the hub time for new bearings, or at least adjustment. Again Timken only.

You can usually tell if front wheel bearings have failed/failing if you get spongy/deminished braking or the feeling that the brakes arnt doing anything...

Some interesting thoughts here, the swivel pin housings were renewed last week and it was mot'd so I would imagine shot pins and bearings would be at the lower end of my list assuming the grease monkey picked it up.

I haven't given the prop a hard tug yet. Did look at the front one but couldn't really say definitively it was wear or backlash I was seeing.

Jin said:

Some interesting thoughts here, the swivel pin housings were renewed last week and it was mot'd so I would imagine shot pins and bearings would be at the lower end of my list assuming the grease monkey picked it up.

I haven't given the prop a hard tug yet. Did look at the front one but couldn't really say definitively it was wear or backlash I was seeing.

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I wouldn't make any assumptions about MOT. There is a lot of stuff on a landrover to cover in an MOT appointment, and not all testers are experienced with old landies.

Propshafts would be my first point of call. Backlash is normal, being able to move it side to side isn't.
Don't forget the sliding joints, if they are dry, partially seized, or worn, they can cause issues.
Have they been regularly and thoroughly greased?

+1

Jin said:

Some interesting thoughts here, the swivel pin housings were renewed last week and it was mot'd so I would imagine shot pins and bearings would be at the lower end of my list assuming the grease monkey picked it up.

I haven't given the prop a hard tug yet. Did look at the front one but couldn't really say definitively it was wear or backlash I was seeing.

Click to expand...

Even if the swivel pins where replaced that does not mean the bearings are good. So do not rule them out until properly checked.

Prop UJ ware is quite easy to tell, look t each UJ shake the proper about and see if they move around.

Also double check the panhard rod bolta are tight.

Yes, panhard rod bolts/bushes are often a good shout as well.

UPDATE:

So, front discs were replaced which has removed the pulsating brake pedal.

A new knock has been discovered which turns out is the rear prop on the splines. New one of those is on order from paddocks.

The previously mentioned vibration I have worked out to be engine related as I seem to get the same when stationary. However I noticed on the motorway that as soon as I back off the power the noise stops!


My description of vibration may be a bit incorrect, I would describe it as a resonance.

Am I right in thinking if it was a cracked DMF it would be a lot more pronounced with an actual vibration?

I am now starting to thing that either something has a hole in it, or something is loose or worn...?

Engine mounts maybe?
or something in the exhaust system?