loud banging underneath freelander

Hi all,

Hope someone can help. For a while now I've had a sort of rhythmic whirring sound when I've got up to about 50mph. I've only been doing short runs to work and back.

Tonight however, I had to go on a bit of a longer journey. After about 10 miles, there was a really strong smell of gas (as in natural gas, not fuel). I then had to slow down from about 60mph, and when I hit 35mph there was a really loud series of bangs. About 6 bangs in quick succession. it felt as if it was right under the drivers seat. This was then repeated whenever I got to 35mph. If I stayed at this speed, the banging continued, with a gap of about 3-4 seconds between each series of bangs. Above or below this speed = no bangs.

There was also a lot of vibration at various speeds, basically, felt like crap.

Also, I quickly turned round and went home. The steering felt really odd as I got close to home. This may be related or not, I dunno.

Sorry for the long rambling post, just wanted to give as much info as I could. Thanks in advance.

damper on the vcu is loose


and now introduce yourself in the right section cos you haven't done that yet have you

could be your vcu too stiff and you drivetrain taking a pounding.

Might be a weasel with a lump hammer, hitting a snare drum... Appn worth a look?

did they still put the vcu damper on the td4?

howardo said:

did they still put the vcu damper on the td4?

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It was a stoat muffler...

howardo said:

did they still put the vcu damper on the td4?

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yes

bushwwacker said:

Might be a weasel with a lump hammer, hitting a snare drum... Appn worth a look?

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wearing clogs anorl

Freelaner said:

damper on the vcu is loose


and now introduce yourself in the right section cos you haven't done that yet have you

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No, I haven't sorry. I'll do it now.

I had two tyres changed recently on the front at a land rover specialist. Having read around, this seems BAD. Could this be the issue? If so, how much damage could have been done?

jamiesmack said:

No, I haven't sorry. I'll do it now.

I had two tyres changed recently on the front at a land rover specialist. Having read around, this seems BAD. Could this be the issue? If so, how much damage could have been done?

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Lots

Not good.

jamiesmack said:

No, I haven't sorry. I'll do it now.

I had two tyres changed recently on the front at a land rover specialist. Having read around, this seems BAD. Could this be the issue? If so, how much damage could have been done?

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new tyres on rear always.
if not then drivetrain takes a pounding leading to damage to the ird and final drive, mostly ird.

jamiesmack said:

No, I haven't sorry. I'll do it now.

I had two tyres changed recently on the front at a land rover specialist. Having read around, this seems BAD. Could this be the issue? If so, how much damage could have been done?

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if they've not been on long it won't be as bad. get them swapped asap

a couple of obvious freelander problems from newbies tonite:scratching_chin:

So obvious you wouldn't have thought an land rover "specialist" would have done it eh?

jamiesmack said:

So obvious you wouldn't have thought an land rover "specialist" would have done it eh?

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wouldn't surprise me

Right folks,

I went back to the garage that changed my tyres originally, they told me that you only had to put the new tyres on the rear on older freelanders because it causes uneven / lumpy tyre wear? is this right?

Also, he said that it smelled really strong of burning oil / transmission fluid but couldnt see a leak anywhere so couldnt do anything about that :scratching_chin:

finally he said the prop bearings were on their way out? this is what was causing the vibration at high speed & the banging at low speed after a long run.

finally, the steering has become hurrendous. Does any of this point to anything to you guys? I'm sorry for all the questions, but I'm a complete noob just getting to grips with the joys of Land Rover's!

Although the front to back drive ratio was changed on later Freelanders you still risk causing damage to the rear drive train if larger diameter tyres are fitted to the front. The smell of gas indicates to me that transmission oil is burning on your exhaust, most likely leaking from the IRD or possibly the diff. Have a look on Bell engineerings web site, as they supply most of the reconditioned VCU's used on this site they also state what you should be looking for.

jamiesmack said:

Right folks,

I went back to the garage that changed my tyres originally, they told me that you only had to put the new tyres on the rear on older freelanders because it causes uneven / lumpy tyre wear? is this right?

Also, he said that it smelled really strong of burning oil / transmission fluid but couldnt see a leak anywhere so couldnt do anything about that :scratching_chin:

finally he said the prop bearings were on their way out? this is what was causing the vibration at high speed & the banging at low speed after a long run.

finally, the steering has become hurrendous. Does any of this point to anything to you guys? I'm sorry for all the questions, but I'm a complete noob just getting to grips with the joys of Land Rover's!

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First off this "Land Rover" specialist obviously knows DICK about Freelanders !! All Freelander 1's must have the new tyres fitted to the rear and ideally be the same tyres all round.
You can smell hot oil because the VCU is stiffening up due to the incorrect tyre placement, this is loading up the IRD and rear diff so much that it's boiling the oil. There doesn't need to be a leak for the oil to be cooked!!
It's unlikely the VCU bearings are causing the banging sound, this is more likely to be the damper bolted to it.
The steering is feeling funny because the VCU has failed which is causing drive train wind up. The propshafts need to be removed NOW or a reckon VCU fitted NOW to stop further damage to the IRD and rear diff, both of which will now need an oil change.

The previous owner is still under there changing the VCU again

Nodge68 said:

First off this "Land Rover" specialist obviously knows DICK about Freelanders !! All Freelander 1's must have the new tyres fitted to the rear and ideally be the same tyres all round.
You can smell hot oil because the VCU is stiffening up due to the incorrect tyre placement, this is loading up the IRD and rear diff so much that it's boiling the oil. There doesn't need to be a leak for the oil to be cooked!!
It's unlikely the VCU bearings are causing the banging sound, this is more likely to be the damper bolted to it.
The steering is feeling funny because the VCU has failed which is causing drive train wind up. The propshafts need to be removed NOW or a reckon VCU fitted NOW to stop further damage to the IRD and rear diff, both of which will now need an oil change.

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Agreed....Stop driving it now until you have done what Nodge said and check you haven't melted the rear diff breather tube.