Freelander 2 Torque Steer

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
The rear drive is only connected when the TR module requests it. It's fully automatic in use, but can be felt sometimes, for instance when pulling away quickly out of a junction. There is sometimes a slight tightening of the steering, as the Haldex clutch pack locks the drive in, preventing wheel spin on acceleration.

Pulling side to side under acceleration could be odd tyres, incorrect tyre pressure, or worn suspension bushes.
 
I've seen this on a front wheel drive car when the diff in the gearbox intermittently would lock on and take the car in which ever direction the sterring wheel was turned, quite frightling heading kerbside with no control I can tell you

solution was new (2nd hand) gearbox
 
So here is a bit more information on the car.
When I got the car the steering angle sensor was causing an issue switching the advanced programs off. There was also a noise where it would clock under acceleration, not knowing any different I was informed this is because the sensor had deactivated the advanced programs , not knowing any better I was told this is caused by the advanced programs being offline and wheels would spin up at different speeds.
This was all fine no problems until about 3 weeks ago the back end slid out on the car on concrete road, after that I started experiencing the pulling and the noise had stopped on acceleration but I had also sorted the steering angle sensor out as well recently, we also found a loose engine mount on the lower side but this was not the problem. I have been told suspension bushes but there is no play, I have checked tyres, all the same brand tread pattern and pressure and tread wear, there is nothing loose under the car and any play in bushes is so minimal its like they are new.
Now someone said it is more likely the diff needs changing and looking into this there are a pair of splined collars that go into the diff before the drive shaft can go in place. So here is my thinking because the wheels are turning as they should and there seems to be no noise or wrong doing from the diff itself could it be that the splines have stripped from (A) one of the collars (B) one of the drive shafts causing a loss of power to one side in turn causing the pulling to the opposite of the car when accelerating.
 
So here is a bit more information on the car.
When I got the car the steering angle sensor was causing an issue switching the advanced programs off. There was also a noise where it would clock under acceleration, not knowing any different I was informed this is because the sensor had deactivated the advanced programs , not knowing any better I was told this is caused by the advanced programs being offline and wheels would spin up at different speeds.
This was all fine no problems until about 3 weeks ago the back end slid out on the car on concrete road, after that I started experiencing the pulling and the noise had stopped on acceleration but I had also sorted the steering angle sensor out as well recently, we also found a loose engine mount on the lower side but this was not the problem. I have been told suspension bushes but there is no play, I have checked tyres, all the same brand tread pattern and pressure and tread wear, there is nothing loose under the car and any play in bushes is so minimal its like they are new.
Now someone said it is more likely the diff needs changing and looking into this there are a pair of splined collars that go into the diff before the drive shaft can go in place. So here is my thinking because the wheels are turning as they should and there seems to be no noise or wrong doing from the diff itself could it be that the splines have stripped from (A) one of the collars (B) one of the drive shafts causing a loss of power to one side in turn causing the pulling to the opposite of the car when accelerating.
Bit confusing this. You say the back end slipped on concrete when cornering. Was this caused by speed being too high, road surface being wet or you think the car should have corrected this fault but didn't?

The special programs will disable if theres a fault with something it needs, like the abs. Stability control will also disable, like applying the inner brake if sharp cornering. Traction control will also stop. The haldex activates when pulling away automatically, then disconnects. It will only activate if and when needed after that. It all happens without noticing. You can pull the fuse out to stop it activating to rule it out as a possible fault.

You can see the steering angle sensor value in diagnostics. Turn the wheel to see it live update.

Can you give a list of faults it currently has. Tell us if they're permanent or intermittent.
 
Bit confusing this. You say the back end slipped on concrete when cornering. Was this caused by speed being too high, road surface being wet or you think the car should have corrected this fault but didn't?

The special programs will disable if theres a fault with something it needs, like the abs. Stability control will also disable, like applying the inner brake if sharp cornering. Traction control will also stop. The haldex activates when pulling away automatically, then disconnects. It will only activate if and when needed after that. It all happens without noticing. You can pull the fuse out to stop it activating to rule it out as a possible fault.

You can see the steering angle sensor value in diagnostics. Turn the wheel to see it live update.

Can you give a list of faults it currently has. Tell us if they're permanent or intermittent.
So at the time the road was wet when it spun out, wasn't speeding, I was on my way to work so road is very familiar, never ever lost control there though it is by the bus depot and could have had oil or diesel on the road from a leaky bus.

Steering angle sensor was corrected and any faults that it was causing have cleared, its been calibrated and currently has no fault codes.

The fuse seems like a good idea if that's the case I may be able to determine whether the pulling is occurring due to front or rear fault. But I definitely think that its mechanical now as there's no longer any faults flagging up.
Found the nsf drive shaft was loose on the hub took care of that problem persisted. Engine mount problem still there, checked all bushes and mounts and the other hubs, confirmed with my guy we have checked anything I have seen flag up with this issue so far.
Car pulls 9ff in 1st fine 2nd fine 3rd gear and above 30mph accelerate and she pulls heavily to the right release the accelerator and it snaps back to the left, steady consistent speed and acceleration nothing happens or it is very slight.

Driving me nuts because even with the fault with the sensor the car was driving fine until this incident where the back slid out on this corner.
 
So at the time the road was wet when it spun out, wasn't speeding, I was on my way to work so road is very familiar, never ever lost control there though it is by the bus depot and could have had oil or diesel on the road from a leaky bus.

Steering angle sensor was corrected and any faults that it was causing have cleared, its been calibrated and currently has no fault codes.

The fuse seems like a good idea if that's the case I may be able to determine whether the pulling is occurring due to front or rear fault. But I definitely think that its mechanical now as there's no longer any faults flagging up.
Found the nsf drive shaft was loose on the hub took care of that problem persisted. Engine mount problem still there, checked all bushes and mounts and the other hubs, confirmed with my guy we have checked anything I have seen flag up with this issue so far.
Car pulls 9ff in 1st fine 2nd fine 3rd gear and above 30mph accelerate and she pulls heavily to the right release the accelerator and it snaps back to the left, steady consistent speed and acceleration nothing happens or it is very slight.

Driving me nuts because even with the fault with the sensor the car was driving fine until this incident where the back slid out on this corner.
There has been a thread on here where a F2 spun out for no apparent reason, worth a search to see if a reason was found.
 
So at the time the road was wet when it spun out, wasn't speeding, I was on my way to work so road is very familiar, never ever lost control there though it is by the bus depot and could have had oil or diesel on the road from a leaky bus.

Steering angle sensor was corrected and any faults that it was causing have cleared, its been calibrated and currently has no fault codes.

The fuse seems like a good idea if that's the case I may be able to determine whether the pulling is occurring due to front or rear fault. But I definitely think that its mechanical now as there's no longer any faults flagging up.
Found the nsf drive shaft was loose on the hub took care of that problem persisted. Engine mount problem still there, checked all bushes and mounts and the other hubs, confirmed with my guy we have checked anything I have seen flag up with this issue so far.
Car pulls 9ff in 1st fine 2nd fine 3rd gear and above 30mph accelerate and she pulls heavily to the right release the accelerator and it snaps back to the left, steady consistent speed and acceleration nothing happens or it is very slight.

Driving me nuts because even with the fault with the sensor the car was driving fine until this incident where the back slid out on this corner.
If you put it in grass gravel snow mode, on tarmac, then drive forwards and straight, does it do it them? The FL2 will stay in 4x4 in this mode. It shouldn't make a difference to your problem.

In normal driving mode its front wheel drive only until traction is lost, then 4x4 is activated.

How violent does it pull to the right? Is it difficult to keep the steering wheel straight, when it happens? Do you have to really fight it or is it impossible? Does it drive ok at 70mph or can you not go that fast because of the fault... for fear of it happening or something else wrong.
 
Does the Freelander 2 have electric power steering?
Traditional rack and pinion setup. Power steering pump powered by the engine. Fluid reservoir has a fixed mesh filter. Power steering assistance varies with speed. In addition to that the steering wheel has a position sensor signal. That signal feeds into the calculations for things like the stability control and abs braking. Also used to indicate front wheel direction on the dash, when using terrain response.
 
" we also found a loose engine mount on the lower side...." That's a bit odd. Any engine misalignment? Can the rubber mounts become 'unbonded'? Could that cause torque steer?
I admit I don't know, but I have worked on a yacht engine that looked and ran fine until you engaged gear. Only then could you tell 3 out of 4 mounting bushes were no longer bonded to the metal brackets.
 
There are only 2 engine mounts, one at the top on the timing belt end, and the other on the gearbox, around the mid point of the engine block.
There's an upper and a lower tie bar on the RH side of the engine. The upper tie bar is connected to the timing belt end engine mount. The lower tie bar is at the bottom of the engine, at the rear, again on the timing belt end.
The mounts carry the engine/gearbox weight, and the tie bars prevent the assembly from twisting under torque loadings.
 
Last edited:
The back end sliding out... what do we mean by this? I assume we're not talking about the rear sliding out like when yer doing a hand brake turn.
 
If it's overseer then is the rear diff working correct? Like inducing skid by welding the diff of rwd cars. As lukbenphi says same thing happening to front wheel drive car.
As long as the suspension is ok and camber angles ok they are quite stable on the road.
 
Had a pretty bad torque steer on my 2008 Freelander 2. In a period of two weeks it went so bad that I didn't even want to drive the car since on bumps or accelelration the car would just start to steer in one direction. When first noticing a slight torque steer, I checked every single bushing, and they were all good, half of them recently replaced (bought the car used). It got worse. Today I decided to check all the bushing again, didn't find a single bad bushing, but surprise surprise the middle bolt for right control arm had unscrewed quite a lot, around a centimer from bolts' head to control arm itself. Although in my mind it shouldn't have made such a big difference, I tightened it and problem solved - No more torque steer. So another thing if all your bushings are in tip-top shape, check if all the bolts are tightened.
 
Back
Top