Freelander 1 vibration

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
T

Tomster

Member
Posts
63
Location
Uk
Hi all.
As a new member with no idea about mechanics, could anyone advise why I am getting vibration when I ease off the gas to hold at a constant speed?
For example, if I ease off from 50mph down to 40mph and hold it there, I can feel a definite vibration.( stops when I accelerate) Inherited the car from family member and have had 4 new tyres with balancing, two track rod ends with tracking done a new battery and new fuel tank cradle.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
 
I'd be checking the VCU as a matter of course. A stiffening VCU can cause vibration issues, as it puts the whole drive train under load. Presumably the new tyres are matching? So you need to look at other drive line components, particularly the VCU and it's rubber suspended bearings.
The lower engine tie bar is a favourite for vibration too, although that's normally under acceleration, not overrun, so this again would point to VCU or its mounts.
 
" U-Joint "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_joint
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

go here :
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/freelander-2001my-workshop-manual-pdf.363984/

open the .pdf file ..
see page 51-1 ..
diagram top left of page ..
under heading "Differential assembly"

page 47-12
diagram on right ..
under the heading " Propeller shaft - front /rear - overhaul "

those are U-joints

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
important :
take note of comments re : the VCU unit / device on the prop-shaft
{ do a site search 'n gather info. regarding the VCU }
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
 
hd3 said:
" U-Joint "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_joint
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

go here :
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/freelander-2001my-workshop-manual-pdf.363984/

open the .pdf file ..
see page 51-1 ..
diagram top left of page ..
under heading "Differential assembly"

page 47-12
diagram on right ..
under the heading " Propeller shaft - front /rear - overhaul "

those are U-joints

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
important :
take note of comments re : the VCU unit / device on the prop-shaft
{ do a site search 'n gather info. regarding the VCU }
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Click to expand...
Thank you, I will mention this to mechanic when it go’s in for service. By the way, the car is a Freelander TD4 56 plate with 109k on the clock. (Face lift I believe). All tyres are new and same all at 32psi does this pressure seem ok?as when I had tyres fitted the pressure was nearer 40psi when I checked them after fitting.
 
Tomster said:
All tyres are new and same all at 32psi does this pressure seem ok?as when I had tyres fitted the pressure was nearer 40psi when I checked them after fitting.
Click to expand...
Depends on what tyres they are. 32psi would be appropriate for most tyres, but I run GT Radial MaxMilers which are basically van tyres and they are supposed to be pumped to 40psi - I run just under that, about 38psi. Go by manufacturer's spec.
 
have a read thru this :

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/tests-new-freelander-1-owners-should-do-on-their-car.312863/

it'll show the reason why all 4 tyres need to be same make / model ..

and :

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/what-to-lock-for-on-freelanders.163164/#post-1620217

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
as for psi. owners manual states 30 psi ..
now't wrong with 32 psi ..
just remember tyre pressure will reduce when ambient temps drop
[ about 1 psi per 7c temp . that's aprox. :- ]
and visa versa ..
see :
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/tyre-pressures-chalk-test.274005/
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
 
Tomster said:
Thank you, I will mention this to mechanic when it go’s in for service. By the way, the car is a Freelander TD4 56 plate with 109k on the clock. (Face lift I believe). All tyres are new and same all at 32psi does this pressure seem ok?as when I had tyres fitted the pressure was nearer 40psi when I checked them after fitting.
Click to expand...

With 109K miles, the engine lower tie bar will be slack.
Tyre pressure depends on tyre size and make, but I found the my 235/55/18 Cooper tyres were happy at 32Psi. The standard 215/65/16 tyres seem to prefer 31Psi, but it's a case of trying slightly different pressures, to see what works the best. ;)
 
Just noticed when stood directly in front of the car with wheels straight, when one appears perfectly straight the other side appears to be veering slightly outward.
Could this be the cause of vibrations on deceleration? What would cause this? Recently had track rod ends replaced and tracking done about 7 weeks ago. Could tracking need checking again?
Thanks for everyone’s help.
The vibration thing isn’t constant it can come and go.
It could be just my dodgy eyes (pic attached)
6D48EB75-B26C-4239-A4E1-D06D826EE38C.jpeg
 
is the nearside tyre photo'd dead centre ? [ looks a tad wide to be so :-]
hard to see its' angle ..
[ + the angle is usually distorted somewhat with m.phone cameras ]

`````````````````
so .. re. initial post ..
vibes thru steering wheel ?

if so.. .. had similar ..
caused by wheel nuts not being torqued to spec. .. at the time ..
they were not 'loose' .. just a small amount below spec.
torqued to spec. the vibes thru steering wheel stopped
[ although mine were not constrained to 'slowing-down' .. ]

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
 
hd3 said:
is the nearside tyre photo'd dead centre ? [ looks a tad wide to be so :-]
hard to see its' angle ..
[ + the angle is usually distorted somewhat with m.phone cameras ]

`````````````````
so .. re. initial post ..
vibes thru steering wheel ?

if so.. .. had similar ..
caused by wheel nuts not being torqued to spec. .. at the time ..
they were not 'loose' .. just a small amount below spec.
torqued to spec. the vibes thru steering wheel stopped
[ although mine were not constrained to 'slowing-down' .. ]

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Click to expand...
It doesn’t vibe through steering wheel it just kind of judders and feels sluggish. A bit like driving slow in too high a gear ( mine is auto). Now you mention the torq, when I had track rod ends done the mech told me to call back in a week to have the wheels re-torqued and I forgot all about it, could be worth calling to see him to have them checked.
 
the mech told me to call back in a week to have the wheels re-torqued
Click to expand...
that ...
and ..
it just kind of judders and feels sluggish. A bit like driving slow in too high a gear
Click to expand...
do get the VCU checked .. or removed if uncertain .. .. see post no.3 ..
```````````````````````````````````````````
you might want find out if the VCU has ever been replaced ..
how many miles currently on the vehicle ??
PS .. it's big £££ should a knackered VCU damage the front-diff. [ i.e. the 'IRD' ]
and / or the rear diff.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
 
Last edited:
Tomster said:
Just noticed when stood directly in front of the car with wheels straight, when one appears perfectly straight the other side appears to be veering slightly outward.
Could this be the cause of vibrations on deceleration? What would cause this? Recently had track rod ends replaced and tracking done about 7 weeks ago. Could tracking need checking again?
Thanks for everyone’s help.
The vibration thing isn’t constant it can come and go.
It could be just my dodgy eyes (pic attached)View attachment 220919
Click to expand...

Has it had a replacement spring or strut of the wrong specification, i.e. from a 1.8 K series, on a TD4?
 
Tomster said:
Hi all.
As a new member with no idea about mechanics, could anyone advise why I am getting vibration when I ease off the gas to hold at a constant speed?
For example, if I ease off from 50mph down to 40mph and hold it there, I can feel a definite vibration.( stops when I accelerate) Inherited the car from family member and have had 4 new tyres with balancing, two track rod ends with tracking done a new battery and new fuel tank cradle.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hi, on mine when the VCU hanger bearings started to fail I noticed if you rested your hand on the handbrake lever you could feel the vibration but only below 50 m.p.h (it seemed to smooth out above this) but like others have said defo check that VCU to see if it's tightening up.
 
If your mechanic can't sort it then get another mechanic.
And has already been mentioned CHECK YOUR VCU!!!
Sorry for shouting but very few mechanics are aware of the damage VCU's can cause if overly tight and merely joke about failing drive trains. I had a time served mechanic ask me in a scoffing manner if my transfer box had devoured itself yet? He was talking about the IRD but when I told him mine was OK because the VCU had been sorted he went quiet. He didn't even know what I was talking about or how a faulty VCU would kill an IRD.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
vibration under load.
Replies
1
Views
203
andyfreelandy
andyfreelandy
S
Freelander 2 (LR2) Vibration when coasting
Replies
0
Views
127
simonkukkucaruana
S
W
Freelander 1 TD4 rumble from..?
Replies
7
Views
1K
Nodge68
Nodge68
V
Freelander 1 KV6 Vibration
Replies
3
Views
588
Nodge68
Nodge68
M
Vibration
Replies
12
Views
1K
mike56
M
Back
Top