VCU and Torsional Damper

I know this has been mentioned on a few other posts, but I can't find any detail.
The Rave manual says only the 1.8 K series has a torsional damper on the VCU.
I have a L Series 2L diesel and it definitely has one. Because I was travelling on
a badly corrugated road today and all of a sudden had this horrible clanking coming
from under the car. I've just replaced the radiator after developing a leak in that and thought "What now !!! "
Looked under the car and there it was - the rubber membrane that sits between the outer
ring and the inner hub seems to have failed and the outer ring has slipped
off the back of the inner hub and is clanking about the output shaft.
I pushed it back on and was able to drive home, but it still seems to be slipping backwards.
If the other models don't have it, is it necessary, and could I remove the ring and be OK.
Having just forked out for a radiator, I really don't have the $$$ for this right now and I have
to drive 400k's to Perth (Australia) and back, in the next couple of weeks.

Any thoughts....??

Derek

This link shows the damper fitted to the 1.8 petrol and diesel L series rover diesel, being the same part number TOR000010

TOR000010 FREELANDER VISCOUS COUPLING ASSEMBLY | shop | www.lrseries.com | L. R. Series

This link is for the v6. No photo, but part no is TOR000040. From having a v6, I know they don't have the damper fitted.

TOR000040 VISCOUS COUPLING ASSY. V6 | shop | www.lrseries.com | L. R. Series

The rave disk 2001 states: Torsional damper (1.8 K series only) next to the vcu/propshafts diagram.

rave 2001: "On models with 1.8 K Series engines, a torsional damper is bolted to a flange on the output shaft."

Microcat 2009 Feb edition shows the following as vcu options: see pics attached

The confusion over the rover L series diesel not having the damper may be due to the 2001 rave saying only the 1.8 k series has it. This will be because the L series diesel had been replaced by the bmw td4 diesel, at the time of print in 2001, when rave said this. Hence the confusion as most owners use 2001 or later rave disk. I'm not sure if there's one for earlier models. LR Series seem to be selling the same vcu with damper, for both the 1.8 and L series rover diesel. Hence if this is correct, then it's only the v6 and bmw td4 models that don't have the damper.

The vcu damper must have been fitted for a reason. It's an additional cost, which they would have questionned if it was worth it.

Thanks Hippo - with the reading I've done in the interim that's the conculsion I came to
- that the Rave manual doesn't have the L-Series in it, therefore, doesn't mention it.
Mine definitely has one. I looked up price of a new VCU - over AU$500 then postage to Aus.
- then I found that I could replace the damper only for a fraction of that - phew.

My real question, though, considering that the TD4 and V6 don't have it, will it do any real harm in the short-term
if I took the outer ring out until I can get a replacement.
Probably better than leaving it in there, loose, although it seems to stay
in place while I'm on tar. If it had to slip off while I'm doing 110kph - that shaft is rotating at a few hundred rpm
- would probably do more than clunk. I was only doing around 10 - 15 kph on a dirt road when it came loose.

plenty of people in your situation have just cut them off and not reported any noticeable difference.

Just to throw a spanner in the works.....My 2005 td4 sport has a damper on it

Could be peeps swapping them over, fitting one wiff a damper as thats all they had in stock? Have you owned your td4 from new? Has the vcu ever been replaced?

Do we need a poll to work this out, and see if there's a trend?

1.8 wiff
1.8 wiff out
L series wiff
L series wiff out
td4 wiff
td4 wiff out
v6 wif
v6 wiff out

Hi Hippo,

Yep had it from new and I've not changed it yet..., and its definetley on there the whole prop/vcu assembly is on my garage floor. I was going to put it back on yesterday.... but then I found the source of my knocking sound I decided I would have a party instead.

Aaah.. mj and now the knocking is in your head...

Chaser - I must assume that by the statement "plenty of people in your situation"
that this is fairly common. How long would these suckers be expected to last?

If they are interchangeable - and based on Hippo's post above from LRSeries - I can
see why some newer ones have ended up with the older style VCU on them - £504 for older (new) and £834 for new (new).

Ashcroft Transmissions web site quote 2 versons of the dampers were used. They can only supply one of them. Others sell just the damper on it's own, it you want to fit another:

DA2352 FREELANDER DAMPER KIT | shop | www.lrseries.com | L. R. Series

OK so here's what I did - and this is what is known as "Boer Maak 'n Plan"
or literally translated to "Farmer makes a plan" - when you're out there in
the middle of knowhere with limited resources you have to think of something.
I needed to drive the car straight away. I was nervous about that outer
ring coming adrift. I don't have anything with me to "cut it off", and didn't
have the time to f.. about taking the whole shaft out to remove the ring.

So.
My stands and ramps are still in transit - so first a nice big fat beam 8' - bit of jarrah
(usually used for railway sleepers) - cut diagonally - makeshift ramps.



Then back her on... so I can get underneath...



Here she is - you can see where the outer ring has slipped back a bit - and also where
it has "cleaned" the shaft when it was clanking around.



Next cut 2 bits of wood the same length as the diameter of the outer ring and add 2 bolts.



Drill a few holes and....



Then tighten those around the shaft behind the damper so the outer ring can't slide backwards.
and voila



same on both sides - nicely balanced - then drove 110ks round trip and it didn't budge a mm.
Is that high tech engineering or what.
Now It'll sit there nicely while I do that bank job and get a new damper
sent from the UK.

Couldn't you just hacksaw it off?
Your a braver man than me driving around with that given the speed it's turning and it's proximity to your arse.

All my tools are in a container 400kms away. I had to make do with what I had. That looks big
from that angle, but actually none of it sticks out beyond the radius of the outer ring.
And, if you look at it directly side on there's plenty of room around it, and it is very tight on there.
It's not going anywhere. All equal on both sides so balanced. Where's
it going? Does the job until I can fix it properly.

And my arse is well protected with it's own padding. (not made of wood )

I have been know to manufacture other tools for one-off jobs out of
wood - wonderful stuff - and does the job in certain circumstances.
Had to pull a CV joint off a shaft recently on another car without
taking the whole shaft out. Simply made a jig out of wood. Behaves
perfectly well in tension.