Bearing noise but not bearings...

Hello.

I have been trying to sort this out for a while, time to ask the professionals...

We have had the freelander (2006 TD4 FL1) for about 8 months now. There seems to be a grinding noise that keeps getting louder the more we have had it. Its def louder when it is cold and kind of hard to ignore now!

I would describe it as a bearing noise, but coming from the middle of the FL, kind of where the VCU is. I checked the actual bearings and they were fine.

DLS did a VCU health check a couple of months ago and said it was fine, but the IRD was a bit noisy. Whatever that means!

I just took it to another garage for their opinion and they couldn't work out what was causing it, but thought it could be the VCU (most customers take off the prop and leave it as 2WD apparently, I said no thanks!).

Are there any parts that are known to cause the grinding noise? Any ideas what to try now?

Hi, my 2001 td4 had a bearing noise that sounded like the prop bearings. Turned out to be the rear diff bearings, common problem apparently? Might be worth checking, hope this helps, regards, dean

deangermouse said:

Hi, my 2001 td4 had a bearing noise that sounded like the prop bearings. Turned out to be the rear diff bearings, common problem apparently? Might be worth checking, hope this helps, regards, dean

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Cheers Dean, that does sound likely actually, kind of in the right place.

Wonder what the best way to check that is, remove the prop and see if makes the noise still maybe?

I had it on mine a while back......I was getting an occasional knock at above 30 mph from the rear which we couldn't place.....it took about 6 months before it started to whine and we traced it to one of the rear diff carrier bearings.

Could it also be the VCU bearings?

It could be the vcu bearings..........thought these had been checked?.
Simply find somthing to support the vcu and undo the bearings, then drop the vcu enough so that you can spin the bearings to check for noise.
When tightening the bearings back up make sure you put them back parallel to the vcu( just measure both sides of the bearing back to the vcu so they are the same distance)

The front/rear wheels effectively fight each other a bit on a Freelander 1 as the front turn faster than the rears. That creates a certain amount of transmission stress which is taken out, or betterer put as reduced buy the vcu. So taking the prop oft will remove the transmission stress and therefore sounds/noises may disappear or alter.

edit: front

Hippo said:

The front/rear wheels effectively fight each other a bit on a Freelander 1 as the rears turn faster than the front. That creates a certain amount of transmission stress which is taken out, or betterer put as reduced buy the vcu. So taking the prop oft will remove the transmission stress and therefore sounds/noises may disappear or alter.

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fronts turn slightly faster not rears

jamesmartin said:

fronts turn slightly faster not rears

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Yep. I've gone back and edited it.

I sometimes read what I would have put, as opposed to read what I did put.

Hippo said:

Yep. I've gone back and edited it.

I sometimes read what I would have put, as opposed to read what I did put.

Click to expand...

ditto

Your OP does suggest you checked the VCU bearings.....or " actual bearings" as you had put it. It sounds quite likely that these are the source of your noise. Hopefully it will be as they are straight forward to change and relatively cheap.

Thanks for all of the help guys, it was the VCU carrier bearings. I put some WD40 on them and the sound temporarily went away.

Got it booked in with DLS on Thurs, £160 inc. VAT.

I could do them myself, but it's cold and I don't fancy lying under the freelander for a few hours.

Sorry, by actual bearings I meant wheel bearings...