Freelander 2 Power steering whine.

My 09 Freelander 2 is 6 weeks out of warranty and about a week ago the power steering pump suddenly started whining quite badly. I feared an expensive repair. The car and I are in SW France for 6 months and so I phoned my original dealer in UK. They were very helpful and suggested that it was likely to be the valve in the reservoir which had failed and suggested I replace the reservoir first. They also said leaving it too long would damage the rack. The fluid in the reservoir was bubbling when the engine was running which had also concerned me. Managed to get a new reservoir from French dealer for 15 euros and replaced it in 20 mins. All well, and no more whine. UK dealer suggested this is not an uncommon failure so is well worth a try before going straight for a new pump. Hope this helps anyone else.

good call

Flush the system is my recommendation.

There is a gauze in the bottom of the reservoir , if that gets blocked, it causes a lack of oil to the pump. This then causes that horrible whine when you turn the steering with above idle revs.

If there is enough crap in there to block the gauze then i would definately change the PAS oil.

You can do it by removing the return pipe (from rack to reservoir) and aiming that at a container. Then just rotate the steering from lock to lock (without the engine running) as you keep the reservoir topped up with clean oil. Alot easier to do with the front wheels jacked up.

I had same problem but had extended warranty - Dealer fixed it same way - it is a design fault & LR know about it

I was talking to a steering rack recon man the other day,he said a lot of the problem was due to the original manufacture of the rack not cleaning it out properly before installing the internals. I am not usually on freelander forum but with daughter getting one,who knows

Tottot the contamination that you are refering to does originate from inside the steering rack. It is this contaminate that is causing the blockage in the reservoir gauze and from that the excessive strain on the pump causing the whine.

Hi guys, I am thinking of buying a 59 plate Freelander but I am concerned about the steering problems which seems to be a known fault. Have these now been addressed by Land Rover? Would a 59 plate be okay do you think?

Thanks.

My '59' Freelander 2 developed a whine a week after its 3 yr warranty expired and from what I have read above it sounds like the same fault.

So it may not have been fixed by LR up to and including cars made up to Mar 2010.

Thanks to this thread I can now go to my Independent LR shop and get it seen to.

Help, I am the new owner of a 2007 Freelander 2 HSE, wichi had a full service history. Last week the engine started whinning at me, and sure enough power steering is starting to fail. I took it to my Dealer who qouted me £1595 to replace the rack and reseviour and judging by previous comments, this may not even resolve the issue.

Can any one else give any idea as to how they paid for this work, and what would be a good price etc.???

Sounds like there is a specific fault with the FL2 but I have cured faults with power steering whining and/or being weak and juddering on several older vehicles by replacing the fluid and flushing the system with clean fluid. These have included Vauxhall, Volvo, Jags and my 300TDi disco. My sister had a 10 year old/ 130K mile Volvo V70 for which dealer quoted circa £1,700 for new steering pump and rack to cure whining noise and juddering when manoeuvring, £20 of ATF sorted it out...

You may be able to solve it by replacing the reservoir and flushing, but yes it's a known fault on early models where swarf was left in the rack. TBH if that's the problem it's more than likely to have been fixed by now, so you are likely just to have the blocked filter problem already referred to. If it's an early car (07,08) and the rack is at fault, LR customer Service have been known to offer a contribution, especially if the car is fully dealer serviced. If you have LR extended warranty it's covered.

I have a 2013 Freelander 2, bought new and I've done less than 8k. Horrible whining noise developed from the front, but steering, braking and drive seemingly unaffected. Dealership advised a Roadside Assistance call out to home as it's 40 miles to the garage. The problem was loss of power steering fluid. Res. Tank was below minimum and clip joint directly below reservoir was 'greasy'. No sign of fluid loss elsewhere. Car had first service at purchase dealership 3 months ago. Fluid then was allegedly OK. It wasn't something I'd checked at the time, so I don't know.

Land Rover technician filled up the reservoir and all's ok now. But it's something to watch and at next service, or earlier if there's any loss before, I'll be asking for a full check of the fluid system. Either dealership missed a fundamental check, which is poor, or there's a seal problem somewhere. Point is, it can happen to new, well maintained models too.

hello can some one tell me the correct fluid to use in 06 freelancer pas

i believe is green , local garage doing mot work have used different…..

I have the same problem with whining in my 08 22k miles. Main dealer wants to change the pump at a cost of nearly £700, but I've asked them just to flush out and replace the reservoir at a cost of £150. Fingers crossed this will cure it, if not I think I will be exploring an alternative to the main dealer. I've never seen so many people working in a dealership, no wonder they have to charge so much.

Hello all,
I would like to thank you all for your posts above. Not only I have saved a lot of money by NOT replacing costly pump, but you have helped me to identify the problem, and then indicate myself to the LR official importer (!) In Romania both the problem and the solution, after two visits in the service without finding the source of the whine.

The car is manufactured end of 2009 and mileage is 110k km. Whining disappeared after replacing the fluid and the resevoir... total cost around 120 GBP, while the ps pump only would cost ~650 GBP.

Please keep posting such useful info!

Thanks again
Viorel, Bucharest

Late to this post, but worth an update for our FL2 Auto HSE. 80k... Full LR Service History.
A month after purchasing it developed the same whining noise as other seem to have experienced?
Initial thoughts were PS Pump or Rack! But when I checked PS Fluid it was almost at the bottom of the Reservoir :-(
Went to Land Rover here in Cupar, Scotland, very helpful £10.29 inc. VAT (Halfords £14.99) and LR PAS Fluid (branded Bottle) "Pentosin CHF 202" LAnd Rover PArt No: LR003401 - topped up and bingo silent Power Steering! also no clonks, buzzing or whining.....

Footnote is that I had a slight leak from one of the pipes at the bottom of the reservoir, 2 new clips - perfect...... worth checking as I was quoted over £1,000 to fix by a local garage (non Landy)

I also had a similar issue with our FL1 (TD4 03 130k) Drained and refilled with Dexron 3 (Comma) as LR do not stock anymore...
No Whine, PAS back to normal, so not just the newer FL2's that seem to suffer from this fault....