Freelander TD4 Juddering at 60mph and 2500rpm?

Hi All,

Got another issue with the Freelander, it starts to judder when I’m doing 60mph about 2500 revs and then accelerate. It’s intermittent maybe more when the engine is warm because other times it’s running sweet….

It feels like a wheel is unbalanced but reading other threads it sounds more like engine or sensor issues…. the only thing i can rule out is the high pressure fuel rail loom as that’s been changed had issues and it sorted that…. This is so weird it’s intermittent and seems around 2500 revs and 60 mph when under load mainly some slight hill or incline…. It’s definitely more of an issue when warmed up as I only have this issue 2/3s of the commute home so about 20 miles…. If I was just doing local blasts I’d never know….

I’ve read a couple of things it could be the injector wiring loom or maybe a dirty or faulty MAF sensor…. I can feel the judder in the gear stick and like I said almost feels like an unbalanced wheel….

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Paul

Hi

If you suspect an unbalanced wheel, just put it to the rear to see if it change something. If wheel is here for long, it can’t go suddenly unbalanced. You should check front wishbones, the inner bushes are know to fail. Can cause a lot of vibrations when driving.

For the rest, do the basic, boost pipes checking, engine inspection, obd reading.

If it start on the button when cold, the engine should be fine, if not check the injectors.

Hi,

Thanks for that, I was saying it feels like an unbalanced wheel but the fact it is an intermittent issue I can’t see how it could be…. From cold the car runs perfect, all speeds and all rev ranges. It only seems an issue after around 20 miles journey and then the issue.

I will go around the tyres making sure they are at the correct pressures just in case though.

Cheers

Paul

Hi Paul.
I have given you my views via WhatsApp do let us know how you get on.

Arctic2 said:

Hi Paul.
I have given you my views via WhatsApp do let us know how you get on.

Click to expand...

Artic2 kindly messaged me the following:

Regarding the MAF. That would be easy to rule out, unplug it and see if it stops the judder, it will go back to factory default.

The loom from the high pressure fuel rail could be breaking down, there is a new loom you can purchase which is fitted direct into the under bonnet fuse box.

It could also be an injector itself, so leak back test would be good in conjunction with diagnostic readings of the car.

Might be crank sensor or it's wiring breaking down.

Then you could have crank pulley starting to delaminate.

Live data is the way forwards.

Most likely gave you more to worry about rather than pin point it for you.

I had this happen on my TD4 this year while travelling between France and Hungary. At first I thought a wheel balance issue. It became progressively worse but also with an intermittence. The driveshaft UJ bearings were coming to the end of their life. The rear UJ was almost falling apart!! The rear bearing UJ would "move" within the developing clearance as I would start a journey. Reversing out in a morning altered the shaft imbalance compared to when I would pull away forwards.

In total, I covered about 5000km with this getting progressively worse. I removed the driveshaft eventually for fear of a BIG failure.

Because I was stuck in Austria; I had to wait almost a month to get all the bearings replaced. The car is now so smooth and quiet, I unfortunately could hear/feel some other matters that need attention. They can wait until I am back in my workshop.

I wish you well if it is not the bearings. But do give them a check anyway is my recommendation. If the car is at 280,000 km like mine, they could be failing slowly causing imbalance.

I had a similar issue it turned out to be a ceased brake Caliper

Well that’s defiantly worth checking as I had new calipers, pads, discs and sliders fitted at the start of this year but the sliders did start to stick…..