I really like my freelander 2, brought it brand new in 2010 and its been the joke of my friends family and work colleges ever since.

My dad first noticed what he thought was a flat spot on the tire while at motorway speeds when it was brand new - I thought he was crazy and didn't think anything of it, until it started to get worse and I would frequently stop on the side of the highway to check my tyres thinking i had a flat. I've had endless wheel alignments, swapped tyres out, new tyres, nothing has fixed the problem. now I rive down the freeway and on what feels like square tyres - very frustrating!

When new i also noticed that my car would make a terrible grumble at around 1700rpm similar to the noise of an old nissan patrol with a noisy tail shaft. I knew my mates 2009 freelander didn't do this, and thought that maybe it was something to do with the manufactures trying to get better fuel consumption - so I just drove the car in sport mode so that it wasn't in the lower rev range as much. I also mentioned it to the service guys every time it was in for a service to the point where im sick of explaining it, - apart from tightening a few bolts or being told its a tyre problem, nothing was ever done.

Almost 18 months later the grumble is so bad it makes panels in the doors and dash rattle, and it happens when ever the car is under a little load (say you notice you have dropped down to 95 in a 100 zone and you want to speed up with out changing back a gear) I escalated this issue with Landrover Australia, and finally the workshop forman admitted that the problem was really bad but couldn't explain why the problem was never picked up.

Since then the car goes in to the garage approx every month - its takes about a month for landrover to think up wht to do next and then get the car back in or similarly once they decide what to do its a month to wait for parts then book the car in.

Repairs so far;
- tyre have been changed and balanced many times at my expense (tyres $600 a pop for 19's)
- rear diff swapped out with another car
- new front diff
- new rear haldex unit (when this is disconnected the car doesn't make the grumble - but makes the car a weapon to drive)
- new centre haldex unit (if there is one? - I was told this was changed after the rear diff bearing fix was botched) i was told that this haldex unit was different to the one originally fitted to the car and they had trouble calibrating it once it was installed.
- I also had a frequent error on the dash when the car was fairly new saying "reduced traction" this was apparently fixed by unplugging and replugging the sensor.

over 2 years later - I have expressed my concern with Landrover Australia and told them enough was enough and that they needed to fix my car or buy it back from me - to that I was laughed at by the landrover australia representative.

apart from the problems, its a really good car and there really isn't anything else on the market that i would think about replacing it with, it has made it across australia once but i couldn't drive it back in its current condition - does anyone know what could be the problem?

Craig, I've just had my 2009 td4 Auto for about 6 weeks and it does the same. I'm sending mine in for a driveshaft vibration check. I have not managed to detect the problem in anything other than 6th gear. I'm going to do a test and put the vehicle under load at 1700-1800 rpms in each gear to see if the same result happens. Can't believe no one else has responded. Have you tried another car new/with similar mileage? Just wondering if they all do it. Otherwise, a damned fine machine.

Ok just done the test: gears 1 thru 3 no vibrations under load between 1600 and 2000 rpm. Gear 4 slight vibration at around 1800 rpm, gear 5 slightly more. Gear 6 growls even on straight, level motorway at 1800 rpm, untill even some of the trim starts vibrating, eventually a high frequency rattle on door trim by the driver's side door window. It's not that bad, but it shouldn't be there.

looks like the problem becomes more noticeable when roadspeed is higher, or when the difference between engine RPM and wheel Rpm is highest, (with engine at 1800 rpm). Wonder if you can replicate this on your end Craig?

Hi Widgy, sounds very similar, some days its worse than others, the rumble noise for me is generally between 1700 and 1900rpm in every gear as long as its under a little bit of load, the only thing that has come close to fixing this is when they were fiddling with the rear haldex unit - the bit thats bolted onto the rear of the rear diff, and they noticed that when is was installed but not connected to the computer it didn't make the noise, when it what plugged in it does, it even does this on the new haldex unit they have installed.

the feeling of having a flat tyre is pretty much just at speeds around 100kms, and thats independent to anything they have tried with the haldex unit.

ANd yes i have the rattle in both driver and passenger door - on a rough road i have to drive with my elbow on the door to stop the rattle.

Craig, I'm no technical guy, but there are some guys on the forum you should be talking to - Alex Pescaru seems to have most of the answers - further down in the technical pages is a thread he started called Service Action Q106, which relates to a software upgrade to the transmission ECU and alters the shift pattern on diesel autos made between 2007 and 2010. It alters the box to change up at higher revs, so that the engine RPM spends more cruising time at 2000 instead of 1800RPM, where the engine tends to labour more.

As for your different experience with haldex unit disconnected/connected, it may be a problem with some component that is coupled and activated when the haldex is connected?

Craig, also there is a differential bearing that I've read somewhere here can cause the "flat tire" noise you mentioned, or it could also be a wheel bearing. Both are common faults. Hope you can work it out!

My 08 auto with 72K miles has this kind of grumbling at 1800-2000 rpm in 5th or mostly 6th gear, slightly worse on an incline. It doesn't make panels rattle, but you feel it through the seat base. It's now got to the point where I am going to have to take it in to the dealer for some investigations. It feels like driveshaft vibration to me. Freelander 2 TD4 HSE auto Tonga Green/Alpaca

....sound like rear driveshaft inner CV joint problem....

just a bit of an update, everything from the transmission back has been changed now, diffs, haldex units, drive shafts, diff cradle, bushes - new auto transmission arrives next week.

I had a similar sounding problem a few months back. A grumbling, almost grinding noise between 1500 and 2000 rpm when under load. There was also another rattling noise at low, tickover revs. I took the car to the dealer (Guy Salmon in Bristol), went for a drive with their technician to demonstrate the noises. They took the car in for 3 days and fixed both problems. Can't remember the exact details, but one was due to a plastic grill or intake that was fitted properly and just needed to be refitted. The other was cured by them removing and refitting various under body shields from around the exhaust or drive shaft. For these the technician said that they can get distorted and reduce the clearance and hence cause a knocking noise.

Hope that helps

New Auto fitted - noise and vibrations heaps better, but still as bad as it was when i picked it up from the dealer, so i imagine it will again get worse, so it is not really fixed. its only been a bit over 2.5 years since i first started complaining. but apparently this is an acceptable time frame to fix something with Land rover. I also appreciate the scratches on the front bumper from the guys in the workshop leaning into the engine bay.

c_r_a_i_g wrote:

I also appreciate the scratches on the front bumper from the guys in the workshop leaning into the engine bay.

Reagarding my previous post, my car has been to the dealer for further investigations into the vibrations, and they conclude it must be the auto gearbox. That is not something I am going to pay for to change, so I am considering my options... Freelander 2 TD4 HSE auto Tonga Green/Alpaca

so the latest is that the problem is normal. even though 2 techs have come for a drive with me and said that there was a serious problem. the official response is that its normal and consistent with the model.

I asked them if the could demonstrate the noise in another car - 4 months later they are still getting back to me.