Freelander 1 TD4 Vibration

An observation today!! If I lock the car into 4th with the selector then there is no vibration at any speed or any hill.

Does the TC lock with a clutch in gears other than 5th? If so then it isn't the TC clutch. If it only locks in 5th then it defo is!!
Hard to tell if locked in 4th as any gentle acceleration increases revs faster than the rise in road speed.
Anyone know the answer please??

The TC will lock in all gears I believe, under certain circumstances. I'm not sure if holding the gear in 4th locks the TC or not, but it's probably pretty easy to tell, simply by increasing engine power slightly, and seeing if the RPM increases independently of the road speed.

Thanks. From what I can see it appears not to lock in 4. Hard to tell.
Will be fitting my Pscan which has lots of gearbox data and see if I can determine input and output speeds.

Rave says....

The lock-up control is provided by the EAT ECU which operates the lock-up solenoid valve. The EAT ECU controls
lock-up clutch engagement and release according to the lock-up schedule programmed into the ECU and the vehicle
speed and throttle angle.
The lock-up mechanism operates with the gearbox in 'D' (normal mode 4th and 5th gears) and in manual 4th and 5th
gears. In an emergency condition when high fluid temperatures are reached, the EAT ECU can also operate the lock-up
mechanism in 2nd and 3rd gears to help reduce fluid temperatures.

So, looks like I have a problem with 5th gear only !

Nodge68 said:

The TC will lock in all gears I believe, under certain circumstances. I'm not sure if holding the gear in 4th locks the TC or not, but it's probably pretty easy to tell, simply by increasing engine power slightly, and seeing if the RPM increases independently of the road speed.

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Hi, I know on the auto D2 it will lock the TC in D or sport mode to aid economy, on an auto D2 yeah right , but as you say it depends on throttle/load conditions but there's no mention of if you're in 1,2 or 3 in the w/shop manual.

I had an idea. Which is always a risk!!

Before ripping the auto box out and replacing the TC I figured that if I could eliminate just the TC clutch and show that the vibration was gone, it would be a dead cert.
Had a look at the way in which the Jatco works, there is a lock up duty solenoid which allows fluid to lock the clutch in the TC somehow!!
So circuit diagram for the Auto Transmission ECU shows that the lock up duty solenoid is controlled by output pin 16, blue wire.
Carefully opened the plug on the ecu and with a pointed tool released pin 16 connector and the blue wire from the 54 pin plug.
Refitted plug and took for a drive. All the way into 5th and hills, no vibration!

So defo the TC clutch. Apart from using a bit more fuel and heating the fluid in the auto can anyone see a problem with running it like this pending a new TC?

I might put a switch in the lock up line as when not on hills, e.g. On motorway, lock up is vibration free and it would then give the TC a rest at speed.
Bit chuffed with that finding.
Anyone got a spare good TC??

andyfreelandy said:

I might put a switch in the lock up line as when not on hills

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You can put a switch to lock the TC yourself.
However you'll need to put a diode in the TC lock wire from the TCM, so you can't back feed battery voltage to the TCM, or it'll flag an error, and may even put the transmission is F4 mode.
It'll need to be a beefy diode too, one with 10 Amp rating should do the trick.

I was thinking a simple switch in the control wire so that I can kill the clutch when on long grinding hills and let the AT ECU control it when switch is on for motorway runs??
Is feeding an open circuit from the output of the ECU a problem?

andyfreelandy said:

I was thinking a simple switch in the control wire so that I can kill the clutch when on long grinding hills and let the AT ECU control it when switch is on for motorway runs??

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Ah, so you don't want to activate the TC clutch individually of the TCM.

andyfreelandy said:

Is feeding an open circuit from the output of the ECU a problem?

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It might flag a lock up clutch solenoid issue, if you've disconnected it with a switch.

A fault is OK, just worried about the output driver circuitry. Guess it will be OK for a short while.
Will be ordering a replacement TC and then to decide whether to take box out, engine out or both together!!

Car is a bit weird to drive like this, have to gently accelerate otherwise the revs goes up unnecessarily high.
So, proved the point, TC clutch is indeed past it's best and responsible for the vibration.
Have ordered a replacement TC.
Getting up strength to remove the auto box.
All manuals state to drop it out the bottom, does anyone know if it would fit out of the top??
Tempted to drop the engine and box and then have the luxury of being able to get at bolts !!

Any views?

andyfreelandy said:

All manuals state to drop it out the bottom, does anyone know if it would fit out of the top??

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If it did, it would be a very tight fit.

andyfreelandy said:

Tempted to drop the engine and box and then have the luxury of being able to get at bolts !!

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You've a 2 poster, so dropping it out the bottom is by far the easiest option.
Just put pallets under the subframe, and drop the whole lot out the bottom, then lift the car out the way.