Freelander 1 Bad engine mounts?

Hi everyone,

Have a problem with my -05 freelander td4. The exhaust is hitting on the subframe right under the seat whenever i do a sharp turn or reverse up a hill. In other words when the front end of the car is pushed down, the "muffler"? under the seat hits the subframe. Just changed vcu and mounts, also changed the rear center diff mount and lower tie bar engine mount with no results. Searched the forum for clues but came up short. Any ideas?

Check the lower tie bar large bush. These are known to fail allowing the engine to rock about.

This is the tie rod i replaced http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVE...R-KKH000070-/321619941077?hash=item4ae20ad6d5
What does the tie bar large bush look like? Thank you!

Forgot to mention its a manual gearbox, but maybe they´re the same.

Just went outside to take a picture on where i think this lower engine tie bar large bush is located, and i found that the tie rod i ordered was placed there. Had it in the workshop a while back to change the clutch+slave and asked if they could change this tie rod as well, so they did. But it looks different then what ive seen here on this forum. Looks like the one in the link i posted above. Did they replace the wrong one or did i just order the wrong one?

Looks right to me.

could it perhaps instead be the upper steady tie bar that needs replacing? theres only about 1,5 cm of play between the muffler thats hitting the subframe and the subframe itself so in my book it wont need much movement to hit it. is it correct that there is a lower tie bar rod, one upper tie bar rod, one engine mount, and one hydramount in total that supports the engine?

I've noticed on the K Series car I've just got, that it looks like the edge of the subframe where the exhaust passed it has been "flattened out". I may be wrong, but I don't recall this on my L Series. I'm wondering if this car had an exhaust hitting the frame and its been "massaged" with "Tool No. 1" to give more space.

Made a short film of the exhaust hitting the subframe ->
Cant see any modifications on the subframe like you have GrumpyGel, but then it is kind of muddy under there (as it should)
Have also been inspecting the upper tie rod mount, hydramount and the RHS engine mount, cant see any extreme wear but its hard to say unless i take it apart..
Im guessing theres 2 options, either the exhaust is mounted the wrong way or one of the engine mounts is too soft. Question is which one.. the most probable one would be the lower engine tie rod since it stops the engine rocking back and forth, the other ones are just holding the engine up i presume? But since ive just replace the lower one with no effect more than smoother gear changes its gotta be one of the upper/middle one. Cant say i want to change them all and cross my fingers. Has anybody else had this problem and found a solution? Also here is a pic of the muffler close to the subframe, its the first one just before the cat.

Anyone had this problem before?

GrumpyGel said:

I've noticed on the K Series car I've just got, that it looks like the edge of the subframe where the exhaust passed it has been "flattened out". I may be wrong, but I don't recall this on my L Series. I'm wondering if this car had an exhaust hitting the frame and its been "massaged" with "Tool No. 1" to give more space.

Click to expand...

K series subframe has an indentation for the exhaust down pipe.

im a bit late here but i had a similar problem after putting my engine back in after a clutch change.

I replaced my turbo when the engine was out so i had to take the down pipe off the back of it, when i put it back on it wasn't aligned properly making the exhaust hit on the rear sub frame. The coupling between the turbo and the down pipe is kind of a ball and socket connection so with enough force it can move and stay in its new position bringing the exhaust closer to a sub frame or the underbody. When i fixed mine i put every socket extension i had together with a deep wall 15mm socket on the end and loosened the exhaust nut off the turbo through the hole in the passenger side wheel arch. Then i got under the back of the car and pushed the exhaust into its proper position and then tightened the nut back up again.

This did the trick and i was surprised that it caused so much of a problem but it might be worth checking. Especially if you have been offroad

openfold said:

im a bit late here but i had a similar problem after putting my engine back in after a clutch change.

I replaced my turbo when the engine was out so i had to take the down pipe off the back of it, when i put it back on it wasn't aligned properly making the exhaust hit on the rear sub frame. The coupling between the turbo and the down pipe is kind of a ball and socket connection so with enough force it can move and stay in its new position bringing the exhaust closer to a sub frame or the underbody. When i fixed mine i put every socket extension i had together with a deep wall 15mm socket on the end and loosened the exhaust nut off the turbo through the hole in the passenger side wheel arch. Then i got under the back of the car and pushed the exhaust into its proper position and then tightened the nut back up again.

This did the trick and i was surprised that it caused so much of a problem but it might be worth checking. Especially if you have been offroad

Click to expand...

Sound like something i definately should look into! Thank you, ill let you know what i find when i get a chance to fix it.