rocklazio

OK So I removed the wheel and had a poke around and found that the sound it coming form one side of the rear differential, which can never be good. Are the freelander differentials easy to change parts inside? Or is it specialist LR tools and i'll have to buy a whole new diff? Or is there a chance its somthing where the prop meets the diff that is easier to replace?

Yea so removed the prop shaft and the noise didn't go away. Good call Tim. So rotated the back tyres whilst I had it up and found the noise. Its the back left wheel. So this weekend i'll pull the wheel off and have a good poke around. Guessing its either a bearing or something funny going on with the hand break. At least I learned something new about prop shafts this week. Thanks guys!

For anyone that reads this thread and find it useful i'm planning on using this guide to do it http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f69/freelander-1-vcu-bearing-replacement-how-guide-156068.html (i know its another forum but there isn't a guide on here for doing the bearings). Gonna take the prop off first and drive it to find out if its the problem. Also found this video on it . Have any of you found the 'balancing' that the guy talks about in the video an issue when doing this job? He claims its really important because if you don't it causes vibration through the lower gears but the written guide doesn't mention it at all!

Cheers, i'll try that first. Didn't realise that was doable but it makes sense when you think about it. Its cheaper buying parts from the UK because business import tax in Australia is overly expensive as they try to force people to buy Australian branded products (or cars in this case). Personal imports of less than $1k are tax free hence I can buy them in the UK and get them shipped. This is the GNK one I was looking at buying. Would GNK really want to sell ones that are of a poor quality. I'll find out if there is any warranty on it, that might be a start.

Cheers for the advice, i'll get onto the local dealership. They really sting you for genuine LR parts out here in Australia, so i often end up short cutting to the UK 3rd party option. Landrover Australia charges $320 + GST (£200 + VAT). From a bit of investigation it turns out the genuine VCU bearings were supplied by GNK so think i'll cut out the 500% LR mark up and track down some GNK ones directly. For about 15 mins I had the guy on the parts desk at the LR dealer here trying to tell me I had to buy the whole VCU for several thousands of dollars as the bearings don't come separate.

Well I've found the part on ebay for £30 and a guide on what to do so think i'll just dive in in the next weekend or two. I'll let you know how it goes!

is there any check i can do/tell tail signs to be sure its the VCU bearings?

Considered that but with wheel Bearings you get a throbbing sound don't you? This is very much a constant sound that changes pitch/volume depending on speed.

Hey, i'm finding an increasing loud road noise on my 98 Freelander 1.8. First of all I was convinced it was an exhaust problem, and my girlfriend took it into a mechanics and he told here that it needed a new Exhaust gasket on the 2nd rear flange, so I got to it and replaced both of those smaller exhaust gaskets, check the whole system for blowing and found 1 hole which i slapped a lot of exhaust concrete on. It occurred to me today when driving it (i usually drive our other car) that it actually can't be the exhaust as its road noise as its related to speed and not engine noise. So after some reading around the topic and doing a bit of research I managed to rule out the VCU by doing the usual checks of reversing around corners and checking for abnormal tire wear. So whats the next thing I can check? It kicks in around 40 kph and get louder and louder the faster you go and defiantly sounds as if its coming from the rear of the car. Any suggestiong? I'm thinking rear diff?

Hey, thanks for this Les. Awesome guide. Just thought i'd say if anyone is struggling to get the car starting again after they are complete see my post on here about my problems and eventual solution. hope it helps someone! http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=83607#entry719173.

Hey thanks for the reply. I managed to sort it after a lot of messing about. I'll explain what I did so if anyone comes across the same problem and find this post it might help them. I did a compression test and it was building compression OK but still wouldn't start. So I replaced the spark plugs as they were a bit past it. Still not starting. Decided it must be a bent valve so stripped it back down. Valves were OK. On building it back up, I got to do the timing again and this time removed the crank shaft pulley (which the guide did not say to do) and made sure I set the timing marks down there with the two cam values so that everything was 100% def in line. Got round to starting it. Tried about 10 times and she was getting so close but still just wouldn't quite fire (which was similar to before) but there was def a bit of an improvement. As i'd tried to start it A LOT i decided that my battery was taking a bit of a pounding and hooked some jump leads up to my other 4x4. After trying another 10 times and hammering the gas peddle she finally came to life. In reflection, when doing the timing make sure you remove the crank shaft pulley (I highly recommend this method http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_6SFBg7_dg) to properly set the timing, replace your spark plugs as its a cheap cost, and do an oil change when you're finished as the tappets sounded a little 'unlubricated' when the car started again. Finally have a bit of faith. It takes quite a few goes to first fire up. Its a big relief to get it back on the road, now onto my next problem... road noise

Hey, I'm new in the case I haven't posted here before but i've been using the wealth of advise and guides posted on here for a year or so now. I need some advice. I've needed to change the head gasket on a 98 Freelander 1.8 K series engine. I followed Les Hensons guide here:http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=22441. I've now got a problem that she's not starting after completing the work. Now i've check the timing about 100 times and re-aligned them 3 times to make sure they are defiantly in line, which I really do think they are. I've also made sure the sprockets are both on the correct way around. (i'll attach a photo later on to hopefully rule it out). Currently the car sounds like its getting close to firing up but just isn't quite making it. Any advise at this point would be massively helpful as its getting a bit frustrating. Cheers in advance.