td4 feels like its pulling somthing ?

hi guys....

i got an 05 plate td4...... never towed, only done 4k in a year ,roughly half on road, half off road...farms tracks and fields etc....
just over six months ago, i had the transfer box completly overhauled and a brandnew vcu put on it... the work was totally unneccesarry as i sooned learned the "brakes on full lock when revesing etc.." is,as landrover say, a "charactoristic of the vehicle" and is considered normal....anyhoo, my inexperience with the car coupled with some vauge info on the matter i read online, led me to having the ird and vcu done..... and yes, it felt just the same after all the work....!!! (my own stupid fault)

anyhoo, six months or so down the line and its seems to have a slight oil leak... i planned on getting it checked out but cos it was small, thought it could wait...

on a couple of recent journeys, after driving for 40 mins or so, the car began to feel a tad reluctant.... it felt like i was pulling somthing....
there was no noise, smell etc etc... it just felt heavy and like i was towing somthing...
my thoughts were that the oil had leaked from the ird and it was running hot and tightneing up... so i got it back to the garage who did the work....

called them today..... they said the ird oil level was perfectly fine.... and the slighest of leaks was coming from between the gearbox and the ird... but nothing to be alarmed about....
they said they left it ticking over for and hour to get hot, then took it out for test drive for a good while, testing the vcu etc....
they said it drove perfectly and could find no problem with the ird,gearbox or vcu...........???
they suggested maybe an issue with the breaks ?

if anyone has any other ideas, please let me know.......

(sorry for long post, i wanted to give as much info as poss...)

thanks
mat

are your brakes binding at all? I had a jag once where the back brake was binding, the wheel was red hot after a long journey. worth a check next time you take it out.

Check the usual suspects, air & fuel filters, crankcase breather, check the intercooler hoses, use plenty of injector cleaner, check the turbo variable vane vacuum solenoid/filter/mechanism, check your MAF aint dying, check your low pressure fuel pump is ok, check your injector harness isn't starting to corrode.

air, fuel and crank case filters/breathers where renewed on service around 3k ago...
ill get the things looked at..
the problem doesnt put itself across as being a power loss as such... more it feels like im having to "drive" it harder as it feels like im trying to push something down the road ahead of me...... theres no noise, smell of heat/burning...just resistance......

ill check the brakes when i get the car back.... but if i jack the rear up the wheels are'nt gonna spin anyway are they ? they hard to turn what with the prop and vcu etc...right ? ?
how will i check the brakes arnt binding if this is the case ?

sorry if i seem a bit usless.... this car is different to any ive owned before...

If any of the brakes are binding, then that wheel will feel hotter than the others, so just feel each one in turn. The two front should be a little warmer than the two rear but you'll notice right away if any are warmer than they should be.

chromiumuk said:

If any of the brakes are binding, then that wheel will feel hotter than the others, so just feel each one in turn. The two front should be a little warmer than the two rear but you'll notice right away if any are warmer than they should be.

Click to expand...

but BE CAREFUL - tiz easy to burn yoself on brake calipers etc.

Yep, I've had the calipers and drums seize on occassionally and you sure couldn't go near them they were so hot

It would feel exactly how you descibe when driving

thanks for the advice guys....
is the only way of me checking the brakes to do it by looking for exessive heat ? as i say, jacking it up and trying to spin wheels aint goona happen is it ?
also..... the origional problem when i first got it ....tight on full lock and in reverse on full lock.... would the breaks affect this in any way, because as i said, we did the ird,vcu,propshaft bearings etc and it still feels rather tight.......slightly tighter then a few others ive drove to try and compare....
just a thought.....

just a quick one if it is going tight on full lock check the flexi brake hoses on the front are not crimped or twisted if not then it might be a collapsed hose you can check for that by taking the front wheels turning the wheels on full lock and slowly push the caliper back if any resistance possibly the hose just a thought and something to try

You can turn the wheels provided both rears are off the ground. You will feel some slight resistance due to turning the diff but you should be able to distinguish between this and a binding handbrake. Apply the handbrake a notch at a time and then turn wheel so you'll get the feel of the brake coming on and releasing.

Front wheels can be turned in the same way also but with similar resistance.

VCU could feel tighter if you have more tread on front tyres than on rear tyres. If so change them around asap.

i would certainly check the back brakes,mines started doing the same as yours was,felt like i was towing something,checked the back wheels/drums one side was very hot,once cooled down i took of wheel and drum,hand brake at that side wasnt releasing due to siezed arm where cable connects to shoe.cleaned up and got moving again and drives fine now,hope that helps,think its common problem

Drive car on straightish roads (i.e. not driving round and round in circles), then crawl under car and touch the vcu, if its warm then tyres are mismatched and will cause this tughtening you describe after its been driven for a while, and will slow the car down.
Obviously could be brakes binding as described.

If car slowly loses power have you read this:-
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/td4-lack-power-70mph-fixed-77147.html

guys, some great advice there....ive got the car back and im told all is fine.....

ill have plenty to do over the weekend thats for sure, im sure ill get to the bottom of it...

interestingly enought, id imagine all the things the garage (gearbox centre) checked, including the brakes, did not involve at test at speed going up hill, which incidently, now you mention it, is where the problem seemed to present itself.... ill do the turbo solinoid tests first i think...
cheers guys... id be buggered without you advice..