[b] freelander vcu help [/b]

Hi everyone.

I'm about to purchase a freelander 1 SE facelift. On a 54 plate with fsh and 90k on the clock. The car drives lovely, I think. Couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary on the test drive anyway.
I've been looking through a couple of different forums now and noticed people talking about the vcu alot of the time! I've phoned about 6 LR dealerships now and everyone has said they don't need changing, only if they go wrong and they also said they're not known to go wrong. The injectors on the td4 are more likely than the vcu apparently!

I just wana no if I'm buying a decent reliable & capable 4x4. I can't help but worry reading some of the forums and some people saying they go and then other say just enjoy it then font need changing especially the on the facelift models. I don't know what to think if I'm honest, just a bit curious!!

Please can you shed some light on this?!
Thank you!!

Td4 im hoping to get btw.

What type of dealership did you ring, main dealer (franchised) or independent specialist?

They do go wrong and when it happens it can cause (expensive) damage to other parts (if not sorted in time) and while I replaced the one on my wife's 2006 TD4 a couple of months ago at just over 60K miles there are plenty of vehicles out there that have been running them for over 100K miles without issues.

I know its a big concern buying the right motor with all the things that can go wrong
reading everything on here and on the internet you will never buy 1
I was the same and in the end took the plunge and have never looked back
I bought a 52 plate td4 of ebay without looking at it cos it was to far to view and ive had a few little niggles with it and I ve changed the vcu for my own peace of mind
but that's the only major thing ive done to it apart from a few cosmetics and egr oil filter etc and its the best motor I ve ever had and believe me
I ve had a few

josh12365 said:

Hi everyone.



I'm about to purchase a freelander 1 SE facelift. On a 54 plate with fsh and 90k on the clock. The car drives lovely, I think. Couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary on the test drive anyway.

I've been looking through a couple of different forums now and noticed people talking about the vcu alot of the time! I've phoned about 6 LR dealerships now and everyone has said they don't need changing, only if they go wrong and they also said they're not known to go wrong. The injectors on the td4 are more likely than the vcu apparently!



I just wana no if I'm buying a decent reliable & capable 4x4. I can't help but worry reading some of the forums and some people saying they go and then other say just enjoy it then font need changing especially the on the facelift models. I don't know what to think if I'm honest, just a bit curious!!



Please can you shed some light on this?!

Thank you!!

Click to expand...

Look at www.bellengineering.co.uk.

Their website is very useful.

I have a TD4 on an '06 plate.

Check out my car thread for what I have had to have done (as well as what mods I have done)

Bell Engineering replaced my VCU at 114,000 miles approx for peace of mind.

Well I. Rang 4 franchise dealerships and 2 specialists. I've heard that people can go over the top about it and it's just a money making thing. I'm just really worried, didn't even no anything really about it. Just thought lovely, td4 no cambelt. Sorted!! But I think I'm maybe wrong "/. Paying out £500+ to get a new vcu fitted kills me!?

josh12365 said:

Well I. Rang 4 franchise dealerships and 2 specialists. I've heard that people can go over the top about it and it's just a money making thing. I'm just really worried, didn't even no anything really about it. Just thought lovely, td4 no cambelt. Sorted!! But I think I'm maybe wrong "/. Paying out £500+ to get a new vcu fitted kills me!?

Click to expand...

Like I said ring Bell Engineering. A lot less.

If you had a Haldex equipped car you would rip their arm off to have it replaced for £500

No need to pay that.

A couple of months ago I bought a recon VCU from Ken at Bell for £175 (normally £200 but I went over there with the old VCU so he could test it), a pair of GKN bearings were about £80 and fitting was easy DIY.

You should really take a mechanic or someone who's mechanically minded with you if you don't know what you're buying or looking at!

The number of people who post up saying they've bought a car and its a lemon is unreal, then of course they blame the car, not the fact they bought it without looking at it properly

Ok thanks alot. I will probably ring bell. I live in norfolk, I'll have to drive there I take it to get it fitted. Hopefully not too far.

Bell are West of Birmingham, depending on where you are in Norfolk it will be a 3 to 4 hour drive.

The issue with the VCU is it doesn't tend to fail suddenly and render the car un-drivable, they tend to "tighten up" with age and mileage and this puts extra strain on the rear diff and transfer gearbox which can cause them to fail early. This situation is often considerably accelerated if tyre selection and fitting advice has been ignored.

At that mileage the VCU might be okay - do the "wheel-up" test on this site/YouTube and if the result is a cause of concern - plan a trip to Bell as they have devised a means of bench testing them.

I'm sure someone has said this already but make sure you check the VCU is actually still there - many dealers have removed them to mask damaged transmissions and claimed it is to improve economy - which is nonesense.

If you really are worried then budget £300 or so to get Bell to change the VCU and look forward to Freelander ownership...

No need to drive to Ken, he will post and then you can either fit it yourself (easy DIY) or get a local garage to do it (about an hours labour). Likewise you can post him yours and he will test it FOC so all you have paid for is the postage but then have piece of mind.

Don't get hung up on the VCU, they DO give problems but it is not a certain thing that yours will be faulty or need replacing.
One of the more likely things is that the fuel-tank cradle will need replacing and if it does, there is no way out of it (MOT failure). New cradles are over £300 and again about an hour(ish) labour at the local garage.

On a side note, regarding calling dealers and getting info on VCU's. Don't think you will find any, that will say "yes, you need to replace the VCU every 70.000 miles" (maybe you don't have to, but it seems the common perception around the internet)...

I wrote GKN this summer, they make the VCU's, and I asked them different questions about the lifespan, and all I got was that "the VCU is maintenance-free and designed for vehicle life (150,000 miles+)".

Read up in here regarding known Freelander issues especially transmission related ones and make sure the tyres are matched and of equal wear and inflated correctly.

Well done litch! It's just actually failed it's Mot on the fuel cradle lol but the dealership is obviously rectifying it as I'm now buying it. Still thinking about the vcu tho, just want to enjoy the freelander and it's capabilities anyone not changed there's and left it? LR insist to leave it but hey ho they can't always be right.

josh12365 said:

ThomasDK that's good to hear and that's what I've been told, good for the life of the vehicle around 150k a bit like a cam chain, which just needs adjusting looking at around 150k as well.

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Well, even if this was what I was told by GKN, I DID change mine for peace of mind...

Think the old one was completely okay, although the new one isn't at all as tight on full wheel lock and reverse (often this will be the description of a good way to test the VCU). Have read a lot about VCU's, they don't go bang!, they just gets more and more sticky with age/miles, putting force on diff and IRD, so do the test once a while. And, follow the advices from others to have same size/age tyres all around (and on the spare too!), same tyre pressure and look for worn edges etc.

How much did it cost you? Fitted with decent bearings?

Got it and GKN bearings from Island 4x4:

1 x Viscous Coupling New (Genuine) TOR000010 (TOR000010) = £289.99
2 x Propshaft Bearing FL1 TOQ000040 98-06 (GKN) TOQ000040GKN (TOQ000040GKN) = £99.98
2 x Viscous Coupling To Propshaft Bolt TYG100510 (TYG100510) = £1.66

I was trying to write "don't panic" as I maybe did, search for VCU test on here, there are different ways to check. I asked a local dealer (LR) if they could test the old one, but they told me they had no way to do this, and that they never did. Hope this is a help!

+ vat... Fitted in a LR shop will take a couple of hours, I think.