Another freelander noise

I have a 99 freelander 2.0 diesel. I have a really annoying noise which seems to be coming from above the rear offside wheel, but actually inside the bodywork. Every time I go forward after reversing( especially out of my drive) there is quite a loud "tap". I can even make it "tap " when I am driving by letting off and putting on the gas with the accelerator quite quickly. I have put the freelander on ramps and have found nothing underneath. I have taken off the rear offside boot panel with hope of something loose in there , but nothing I could see. It really is getting on my nerves.
About six months ago I had new rear diff bearings fitted, so the noise is not them. My children sit in the back and even they say that the noise is coming from the side of the car just behind the seat within the body. I have thought about removing the wheel arch covers , but I cant think of anything which would be loose in there.
When I am changing down gears coming up to a junction it sound like something is loose and hanging down as it taps quite a few times. It really does sound like metal to metal. I want to sell the car in six months time so I really want to get this mystery fixed, before I pull out the rest of my hair!! cheers!
p.s. I have new brake shoes on rear and new pads on front.

I am having the same problem - driving me nuts. The noise stared after fitting a new rear exhaust box but it sounds like mtal tapping at near side wheel

Hi, Took the side panel off this afternoon to see if there was anything loose in there. I could`nt see anything loose or out of place. So I got my 8 year old son to sit in the boot while I reversed and when forward a few times. He seemed to pinpoint the noise which seems to be coming from the suspension area. I don`t know what the problem could be , at a guess it could be a broken spring .
Anyway I am taking it to a garage tomorrow(mon) to see if they have any ideas. I will post another reply to let you kow how it went.

i had a funny noise comin from the rear end,turned out to be the captive nut inside the chassis section what the rear sub frame bolts to (l/r wanted £2000 to fix it)chassis somtimes crack to around this area

Had same problem with mine, found out there was a bolt sheared on the rear crossmember, new bolt no noise .

It's not uncommon for the chassis to crack where the subframe bolts on, this will cause a "crack" type noise when pulling away, usually after reversing, you can also get it to do it when changing gear and rapidly on and off the throttle.

To see the crack, you need to drop the subframe down, no need to take it right off, just undo all the bolts that hold it to the body and let it hang (make sure the wheels are off the ground first!), then with a torch, examine all the bolt holes and surrounding metal, the chassis usually cracks around the drivers side front mounting hole. It's a tricky area to repair and you have to cut into the chassis from inside the car (under the back seat) and weld it up from inside, then weld the floor back up afterwards.

I have taken the right side cover off from inside the boot and the noise is coming directly from the suspension area????????????

i had a 99 2.0 xdi with something much the same. Since sold it and the guy who bought it told me that he changed some bushes and the noise stopped. Might be worth checking

Going into the garage a week on mon (the 14th) will let you all know what the problem was .

I was thinking about this today and I've seen another cause for it on other freelanders, not as drastic as a cracked chassis though!

disconnect the prop from the diff, undo the pinion nut, pull the flange off and rotate 90 degrees and refit, refit the nut, put the prop back on.

Don't ask me how it stops the noise cos I aint got a clue!! But it cures the sort of noise you're getting on freelanders and defenders

The thing is though, the noise is coming directly from the suspension area. When my son is sitting in the boot he can actually feel the tapping through the steel of the inner side panel which is immediately below the top three suspension mounting bolts. Confusing I know.

cracked chassis - not uncommon.

The Mad Hat Man said:

cracked chassis - not uncommon.

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yes mate, see a few, normally on police vehicles which are driven hard but I've also seen it on a few family runarounds, there is a bulliten on it and if I remember correctly, it affects vehicles upto 2001 my.

There is also a bulliten on the rear subframe itself where you have to weld the rear tube into the frame, there is a hole in the frame, you can see the tube passing through and you have to plug weld it, apparently the tube can move inside the frame causing a clicking or cracking noise, on the same bulliten there are other mods to be made to the frame mountings to the body, never seen one causing a problem but have welded some to eliminate possible causes of noises.

Just to let everyone know ,I took the landy to the garage and it looks like the problem lies in the subframe where it bolts on to the chassis. They are going to cut away behind the back wheel and weld the problem area ,and then weld back up . They reckon in all probabilities there is a nut within the chassis which is probably tacked to a plate which is then spot welded to the chassis itself. It is this plate which has come loose and therefore making a tapping noise(hope they are right!!) If it is something different again! I will post another thread..

told ya

best place to get to it is from the inside

Would it be better to tackle it from the inside of the vehicle or as my mechanic says, from behind the rear wheel and cut a hole directly horizontal across from there????

do a search on here - someone has posted how it is done - normally from the inside.

The Mad Hat Man said:

do a search on here - someone has posted how it is done - normally from the inside.

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SEARCH !!! FFS !

He dunt have to search far ,

The previous post by scottybug telt him the answer if he could be arsed to read it