Went out yesterday to start my 2007 Freelander 2 HSE, started normally.

Switched on heated seats and air blower, loud erratic clicking noise from the engine bay, in the general area of the alternator. Best description of the sound is like a relay breaking/making contact.

It's not continuous noise and quite irregular. Only makes the noise when The car is under electrical load, goes away when revs are increased and when heaters etc are off.

Anyone experienced this before

Air con compressor pump clutch kicking in ?
Get someone to switch air con on and off whilst you listen under bonnet. * GONE. GS TD4 Manual MY2013. Orkney Grey with privacy, cold and clearview packs, armrests (a must!) and a spoiler.
* 2011 4.4 TDV8 Full Fat. Amazing piece of kit.
* GONE.2012 RR Sport HSE SDV6 Orkney Grey. Rocket ship. 33mpg.
* Range Rover Classic '93 200Tdi Factory fit
* 1949 80" in family since 1975

Thanks for the info I'll checkout the aircon over next few days.

I got into the car this morning, only switched the main lights on and heard the noise.

I checked out aircon, switched it OFF, no noise, turned headlights on beam, noise started, got worse more electrical load I applied

Suggestions include battery, alternator, not quite sure what way to go next, hopefully get a chance this weekend to get a proper investigation, so welcome any advice or ideas

Battery earth cable to body could be suspect. As you have a pre 2011 model, only a single earth lead was fitted as standard. Search on here for the mod to fit a second earth lead direct to starter motor bolt. 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

That would fit in with comments a few other people have said re battery, i'll check that out next chance I get - thank you

I'll hunt out the mod too

I posted a video on youtube, it's more just so you can hear the noise.

Start engine and it ticks over.
Then I start switching on seat heaters, fan and then the headlights




The more I listen it sounds like a bearing - any suggestions

Bearing is my first thought, or Alternator Clutch
Either way it's a strip down to investigate it further.

It doesn't make any noise when driving, only on idle with electrical load, which steers me towards a sloppy bearing.

Not sure the relevance why it is quiet at idle with no load though

Welllllll ..... the noise went away, but it came back with a vengeance ...

Best described as an old tractor with no oil, but only when idling, so a mate helped me with diagnostics today and I reckon we found the problem.

Took the fan belt off and started the engine, purred like a kitten on idle, so a big sigh of relief that it wasn't an engine problem.

Took the wheel arch cover off and had a look at the various pulleys around the fan belt, noticed that the fan belt was sloppy at the bottom while running, so suspect tensioner. While I started the car the mate studied the tensioner pulley, it was bouncing to and fro like crazy. So I reckon thats the problem, new pulley on Monday and we shall see.

Strange that the noise went away and then returned, but at last - hopefully problem will be solved.

Hi Blitzer , did a new belt tensioner sort you out or have you had to have further parts , specifically the alternator clutch pulley?
I have similar probs and believe it to be just the tensioner but trawling the Internet throws up the possibility of the clutch pulley being at the root of the problem

Cheers  Back in the fold after 8 yrs. V8 Disco 300 series-Gone.07 Freelander 2 HSE Auto Rimini Red.
Gone.
2013 HSE Lux Havana ( Brown! )

It's one of those strange events ....

Replacing the belt tensioner definitely quietened things down BUT .... on occasion I hear the faint clicking/scraping noise, so i'm not convinced the pulley did the trick.

Ultimately I think there is something else wrong, but that the tensioner pulley was contributing to the noise.

The noise actually went away before I even replaced the pulley, then it came back, then I replaced the pulley and it partially disappeared .... I am pretty certain it will reappear, my next step would be to replace the alternator clutch pulley.

The noise is best described as a piece of metal caught in something spinning, it scrapes the drum.

I really hope this helps, please post your efforts and results here so we can all benefit from the efforts to resolve.

Take the belt off again and turn the alternator pulley in both directions. If you can feel the alternator turning in both directions it is the alternator clutch at fault as you shouldn't be able to turn the alternator (just the pulley) in reverse if the clutch is ok. You'll probably need a special splined socket to get the pulley off.

Cheers Steve i'll get a chance to check that out over the next couple of weekends now that I have a means to test

Hi Blitzer, how have you got on with the rattle

I went down the inspection route to start with,much like yourself, removing the offside road wheel and plastic inner wing to reveal the drive belt and pulleys. I got the chattering tensioner situation under heavy electric load too. All of the pulley wheels and bearing's felt okay and the alternator clutch appeared to function. However, after much nosing around various forums (other marques also)and YouTube ,I decided to take the plunge .
Sourced clutch,tensioner and drive belt from AF on here, brilliant service btw, and set about it !
You need a special splined socket, available on the bay, and a good set of torx bit's for the removal of the clutch. I almost achieved it on the vehicle but.......
To remove the alternator the fuel filter and it's mountings,plus the power steering pump have to come off. Then it's on to the bench and 5 minutes later new clutch fitted, reverse procedure By the way, the clutch has a right hand thread.

And after all that, I'm pleased to announce the rattle has ceased Good luck !
Oh ,sorry no pics, it was chucking it down ,last thing on my mind. Back in the fold after 8 yrs. V8 Disco 300 series-Gone.07 Freelander 2 HSE Auto Rimini Red.
Gone.
2013 HSE Lux Havana ( Brown! )