I know there’s development costs, 52 grand is taking the piss !
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Land Rover horror stories
- Thread starter Ravers
- Start date
jbgaviation
Clanker
Its not a new LR Defender anymore its a vehicle for mums to drop the brats off in at school.
Prices are up as LR have upped the specs on them all, the new 90 HT is just about OK.
But why have the floor to ceiling bulk head, is that to stops bods converting the back?
Prices are up as LR have upped the specs on them all, the new 90 HT is just about OK.
But why have the floor to ceiling bulk head, is that to stops bods converting the back?
£2,950 Land Rover Freelander 2 2.2 TD4 S 5dr 2008
- 150,000 miles
- 2.2L
- Manual
- Diesel
Firstly , what might the whine be , secondly , what else is there to look out for on this model & year ( someone suggested dodgy electrics ? ) Lastly , is the price about right ( not knowing what the whining is about ? )
I currently have a Fourtrack , but am rapidly losing the battle with rust and am looking for something a bit more modern , mainly for shooting , so a fair bit of off road work
Lindermyer
LE
Whine -thats probably the gearbox - wheel bearings tend to rumble or knock
Im not au fait with freeloadrs but On the Defender and series the instructions are theres a worn bearing it could be like this for years repair when it finally dies
My 1st series had a very whiney gearbox*
My current defender has whined for about 50000 miles and many of those off road -
The wifes c4 whined for a week then crackled and clunked as the bearings ate themselves.
mates escort has whined like the wife for years
Its appears to be something of a its not good but not entirelyunexpected in older / high milage units and indicates imminent failure or an irritating noise for the next 10 years
*It was also leak free -and i opted to do some serious mud plugging before servicing - At this point i discovered it wasnt leak free at all it was dry
One of my drivers at work has had his for 8 years, never missed a beat and never had a spanner on it. He loves it.
Worst case n transmission whine is rear diff knackered I think
4(T)
LE
The whining noise is probably the driver subconsciously grizzling over the cost of the repair and service bills...
Mines an 07 HSE, same colour, half the mileage.
Luckily bought mine with a rip-off AA 5-star warranty which, er, proved not such a rip off.
Wheel bearings and rear diff are common issues. Bearings do just make a sort of subdued background "what the heck is that, can you hear it too?" type of noise.
The diff, at least on mine, makes a noise like a coffee grinder under certain conditions - mine was turning sharp right out of a steep driveway. Replaced under said AA warranty, garage forgets to put in any transmission fluid, diff#2 went grindy very next day. Runs ok with diff#3.
My post somewhere above details my odyssey with the "HDC engine fault" error message. This was apparently endemic on 07 and previous models, but fixed next model year. Many owners go for years unable to find the fault, as the LR diagnostics are poor for this particular problem. Independent LR specialist eventually found a "powdery" wire connection (fours hours labour for a 30 second fix) and so far, touch wood, this seems to have eliminated the computer fault cascade.
Nice car otherwise - good driving position, powerful engine. I put tyres on optimised for low rolling resistance/ fuel economy, and it is very quiet and smooth on the motorway.
Only other niggle mine has is the poor materials - plastics are ageing and starting to break. I need to replace the door handle caps,cos the retaining clips have just crumbled. Mind you, there are shed loads of after-market parts available, and some of the OEM parts are surprisingly cheap.
Mines an 07 HSE, same colour, half the mileage.
Luckily bought mine with a rip-off AA 5-star warranty which, er, proved not such a rip off.
Wheel bearings and rear diff are common issues. Bearings do just make a sort of subdued background "what the heck is that, can you hear it too?" type of noise.
The diff, at least on mine, makes a noise like a coffee grinder under certain conditions - mine was turning sharp right out of a steep driveway. Replaced under said AA warranty, garage forgets to put in any transmission fluid, diff#2 went grindy very next day. Runs ok with diff#3.
My post somewhere above details my odyssey with the "HDC engine fault" error message. This was apparently endemic on 07 and previous models, but fixed next model year. Many owners go for years unable to find the fault, as the LR diagnostics are poor for this particular problem. Independent LR specialist eventually found a "powdery" wire connection (fours hours labour for a 30 second fix) and so far, touch wood, this seems to have eliminated the computer fault cascade.
Nice car otherwise - good driving position, powerful engine. I put tyres on optimised for low rolling resistance/ fuel economy, and it is very quiet and smooth on the motorway.
Only other niggle mine has is the poor materials - plastics are ageing and starting to break. I need to replace the door handle caps,cos the retaining clips have just crumbled. Mind you, there are shed loads of after-market parts available, and some of the OEM parts are surprisingly cheap.
Lindermyer
LE
See theres the problem of driving Defenders - what could this whine be - Its always gearbox - its obvious the diff could whine* its just that between road wind and engine noise - you dont hear anything further away than the front seat passnger**
*And probably are
**And sometimes i (pretend) I cant hear her.
Haldex (variable slip drive before the rear diff) are common for being noisy, oil change and possibly pump replacement - needs proper diag though, never had any problems with rear diffs other than leaks, same goes for wheel bearings.
I had an '09 Freelander 2 commercial, put 150k on it, other than consumables, timing belt & broken woire to the alternator it was fine - never had any electrical problems prior to autostop versions (this one is prior to autostop).
I'd buy it!
ETA - sometimes the seal between the Haldex & the rear diff can fail, mixing the two oils... not great but recoverable, used to do one every couple of months or so, Haldex oil & pump was much more frequent.
Last edited:
fraudstar
LE
I looked at a disco 4 at a local Indy. They had a Freelander 1 with over 250k on the clock. Haldex had gone at 200k. He rated the 2s. They are also very capable for most people’s needs (hunting, shooting, fishing, esp with a decent set of tyres). If you’re wanting to do some serious greenlanes a low ratio might be of use though.
He also rated the disco 3 over the 4 and reckoned he could do every job without taking the body off. Could have been talking nonsense (I am not mechanically minded) but claimed the electronic dipstick on the 4 and lack of first parades is the reason so many spat out crankshafts.
If you have a local independent dealer, might be worth asking their opinion on the model/year/whine if you explain they they’ll be the ones fixing the whine and get the servicing thereafter. All the ones I’ve spoken to are normally just happy to talk about land rovers for hours.
I bought a Discovery 3, the best one I could find and I could have had a 4 for the same sort of money.
Lots of Discovery's are on mega mileage now so it isn't surprising that you get breakages.
I'm certainly happy enough with mine but I do expect to spend money on repairs and maintenance.
As for low range boxes, I've always been a fan and if you want to play hard they are a necessity.
However, last winter I did the Strata Florida in the snow in a Doscovery 2 with no low range, stalled a couple of times but it managed it.
I'd had the clutch changed the week before and the garage had neglected to put the range change cable back on properly.
fraudstar
LE
4s are now holding their value very, very well compared to the 5s.
Damn frustrating to see 5s in budget come up when you want a 4 and try to explain to the Mrs why you still want the older, higher mileage car.
Infiltrator
LE
My bold. No Haldex on a Freebie 1. They used a VCU. This is a service item and should be replaced at 70k. Many people don't and the fluid inside starts to thicken and you end up with the system trying to push power down to the rear axle with no slip left. This winds up the transmission and, eventually, it will take out the IRD at the front and, if you are really unlucky, the rear diff too. Usually goes with a big bang in the middle of some car park maneuvering.
fraudstar
LE
I assumed it was the haldex, he said it was 2WD as something had gone. Would that make sense or was he leading me up the garden path.
It took Mrs Jagman 6 months to persuade me to part with my shed of a Doscovery 2
I don't think she was that fussed what I replaced it with.....
I'm happy with my 3 and intend to keep it for a good while. I managed to find one with 68k on it, full Land Rover history and never towed or been off road. Full spec HSE with everything working.
RTU'd
War Hero
That is grounds for divorce.
Infiltrator
LE
Complete. What people do, instead of replacing the VCU, they simply drop off the rear propshaft and this puts it into Front Wheel Drive only, or Mondo mode as it's often called. Fairly easy to put back into 4wd, but whether its worth the expense is a different matter.
There are some other issues though, and the main one being that your insurance could be invalidated as the car is type approved as a 4wd, and making that change is classed as a modification. You'd need to tell the insurers, to be sure. Many don't though.
There are some very sneaky tricks that people do too to get around it. The IRD takes the power from the gearbox and sends it to the front wheels and back to the VCU via the front propshaft. Missing that, or the rear, propshaft is a dead giveaway. So, you can now buy IRD's that are a shell only, you fit all the propshafts but they are for show only.
Freelander 1 Transmission Repair Products - Bell Engineering
Bell engineering - Landrover Freelander transmission specialists. Freelander IRD and VCU supplied and fitted.
www.bellengineering.co.uk
I liked our Freelander 1. It was what it was. Very comfortable and very reliable. We only ever had one issue with it and that was quick to fix. Of course, not all are like that.
Weak points? Check the rear tool box/cubby box. That may well be full of water. Fix? drill a hole in it to let the water out! You'll almost certainly never find out where the water is coming from.....
Infiltrator
LE
I came to a point that I wanted to change my Disco 3 for something else. I had my heart set on a 4. Having long, in depth discussions with my "LR Man" who knows everything that you ever need to know. He had two in his workshop with snapped cranks. He'd had quite a few before that too. I needed to "buy carefully" and there were no warning signs etc as to whether the crank would go or not.
He told me that, if I could, to find a TDV8 L322 as they are as bulletproof as any LR can be. Some of the Ancills can play up and the only real issues are the Turbos and EGR valves, but the engine itself goes on and on. Anyway, it didn't put me off a Disco 4 and I was travelling to see one in Portsmouth when I saw an ad for a 322 in Bristol. I bought the RR there and then.
i had no idea how agricultural the Disco 3 was until I got the RR.
So far, no issues two and a half years on. Touch wood.
Infiltrator
LE
Apples and Pears. LR is not interested in the utility market any more. The old Defender was a right drag on sales and profits.
The writing was on the wall many years ago. They had no intent of upgrading the Defender to modern standards as it just wasn't worth it to them. Why sell a Defender hard top to a farmer for £28k + vat when they could use that production line for another RR and sell it for £120K upwards. It wasn't economic sense.
They have pushed the new Defender up into "explorer"/fashion territory. No one is going to be loading their sheep in the back of it.....and they never intended it to be that car. Those days are long behind LR. They will never produce another Mil vehicle either. Again, just not worth it.
Just accept that the premis of the old Defender died when it did. The new Defender is a very different animal for a very different customer base...ones with more money.
Ineos is your best hope for a new Defender and I'm not sure that, either, is going to be what is wanted by the farmers etc.
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