VCU Torque test results

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Rich in Vancouver said:
What we need is a spy in the GKN plant to take a picture of the label on the cans of fluid they fill the VCUs with.
For all we know they send the shop boy out to McDonalds for a can of used French fry oil.
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Why? Empirical testing has given us the answer.

GrumpyGel said:
Maybe Bladrick just spits in them :D
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Who is Bladrick?
Is that some NZ cousin of Baldrick?
 
Just did the wheel up test, 1.2m bar, 6kg weight and it was about 35 to 40 seconds to go from 45 to 0, does this mean my VCU is ok? I did this in first gear. I have posted a video on youtube


Would one of you fantastic people out there have a look and give me your thoughts please - just in case I have done anything wrong. There was no history with the car so I don't know if it has been replaced at any point or not.
 
Geodark said:
Just did the wheel up test, 1.2m bar, 6kg weight and it was about 35 to 40 seconds to go from 45 to 0, does this mean my VCU is ok? I did this in first gear. I have posted a video on youtube


Would one of you fantastic people out there have a look and give me your thoughts please - just in case I have done anything wrong. There was no history with the car so I don't know if it has been replaced at any point or not.
Click to expand...

I couldn't see from the video if the bar is on the centre hub or one of the wheel nuts?
Not sure why you chose 6kg as the only two weights I've seen mentioned were 5kg and 8kg but it still looked OK from what I saw.
It doesn't make any difference if the car is in gear or not as both front wheels plus one rear should be on the ground. Your testing the VCU which you should be able to see turning during the test if you look under the car.
 
Alibro said:
I couldn't see from the video if the bar is on the centre hub or one of the wheel nuts?
Not sure why you chose 6kg as the only two weights I've seen mentioned were 5kg and 8kg but it still looked OK from what I saw.
It doesn't make any difference if the car is in gear or not as both front wheels plus one rear should be on the ground. Your testing the VCU which you should be able to see turning during the test if you look under the car.
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Yeah it was on the centre hub. Never thought to check the vcu turning, but I presume it must be if the wheel was turning? Only reason I chose 6kg is because I had a 6kg kettle bell handy.

Do I need to do it again and make sure the vcu is turning? Or if the wheel turned like that can I presume it's OK?
 
If the wheel was turning with all the others on the ground then the VCU was turning, I only watch it cause it's cool to see and will help you understand what is actually happening. Use a 5L container filled with water for 5kg if you want to use a more representative weight.
 
Alibro said:
If the wheel was turning with all the others on the ground then the VCU was turning, I only watch it cause it's cool to see and will help you understand what is actually happening. Use a 5L container filled with water for 5kg if you want to use a more representative weight.
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Cool, I am pleased about that. Yeah the other 3 wheels were definitely on the ground haha. Cheers for your help people. I will do this as a regular thing and watch the vcu next time as well. I might even recordy results in a spreadsheet so I can graph them over time.
 
The Empirical Strikes Back.
Seeing as how I am posting on this thread I figured I had better do my bit and participate.
I did find that cheap Chinese wire ties aren't enough to hold the pole onto the ratchet. Added duct tape helps but still wasn't enough so
I resorted to 2 hose clamps. When you think of it the force on this joint is over 40 lb/ft so that requires a strong attachment.
I also found that my trolley jack needs at least an oil top-up. :rolleyes:
Once I got the technical side sorted I ran the test a number of times using a 5kg weight on a 1.2m bar.
The times averaged 40-45 seconds so I am quite happy with that. The Hippo has 137,000km/85,000mi on the clock.

One factor I wonder about is the difference between the 4cyl VCU (TOR000010), and the V6 VCU (TOR000040)
Has a difference in OWUT times between the two models been noted? A slower travel perhaps due to more plates in the unit?
 
Rich in Vancouver said:
The Empirical Strikes Back.
Seeing as how I am posting on this thread I figured I had better do my bit and participate.
I did find that cheap Chinese wire ties aren't enough to hold the pole onto the ratchet. Added duct tape helps but still wasn't enough so
I resorted to 2 hose clamps. When you think of it the force on this joint is over 40 lb/ft so that requires a strong attachment.
I also found that my trolley jack needs at least an oil top-up. :rolleyes:
Once I got the technical side sorted I ran the test a number of times using a 5kg weight on a 1.2m bar.
The times averaged 40-45 seconds so I am quite happy with that. The Hippo has 137,000km/85,000mi on the clock.

One factor I wonder about is the difference between the 4cyl VCU (TOR000010), and the V6 VCU (TOR000040)
Has a difference in OWUT times between the two models been noted? A slower travel perhaps due to more plates in the unit?
Click to expand...
Good Q. It has always been understood that the difference was the addition of a damper ring.
 
I'm sure the actual workings of the VCUs are all the same. My old V6 timed at 30 seconds on the OWUT. My current TD4 times at 45 seconds. The V6 had about 50 K miles when last tested. My TD4 had 112 K on it when I last tested it. Dimensionally the V6 VCU is idntical to the TD4 VCU, with the exception that the V6 VCU is missing the damper mount on its shaft.
 
GrumpyGel said:
It costs an awful lot of money to remove that damper...

https://www.lrdirect.com/TOR000010-Viscous-Coupling-Freelander-Late/
.
https://www.lrdirect.com/TOR000040-Coupling-Assy./
Click to expand...
Crazy isn't it. "Pay more for less" I find it really odd that they would have maintained two part numbers for essentially the same item, but I do realise that logic doesn't always play a part in these things.
How simple would it be to attach a label, "Remove damper ring for V6 installations"?
I suppose it's profitable enough to charge four times as much for the simpler part.
Here's another question, Can the damper be removed? Luckily my VCU seems to be OK but someone else may need one and not want to pay the price. There is a source over here that has them a bit cheaper, for $1000.US but that is still vastly more than the 4 cyl version.
 
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I can't see problem using the 4 cylinder VCU on a V6 Freelander. The damper doesn't normally come with the 4 cylinder VCU anyway, so just don't fit it. The bearings are different as the V6 has 1" spacers on them. However my V6 had 4 cylinder bearings and it worked just fine. I've since seen a couple more V6s with 4 cylinder bearings so it's obviously not a problem.
 
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