Hi,

I have this feeling that my engine is vibrating more than it should for a while now, and no one seems to figure out what's going on:



You can see a K&N filter sticker here but I reverted to a genuine filter right after buying the car.


I asked a friend who owns a similar one to record it as well and it doesn't seem to vibrate at all while stopped:




I took my car to a specialized garage and they affirmed that everything looks fine and even replaced 3 engine mountings: the hydraulic, the lower, and the one that the axle passthrough, no changes.

The engine seems to vibrate more than it should and when driving around 1500-1700 RPM the entire car vibrates, no matter the speed; if I increase the RPM or stopping accelerating, effectively removing the engine load, the vibration is gone.


This might or might not be related but I do a trip every month of about 8 hours and my previous 2011 was performing like 17km/L and this one barely 12km/L.

My guess this is related to the EGR+DPF but it seemed too much difference, I don't know yet.


I know that it's hard to guess, but... Any guesses?

It also might or might not be related but I can see a lot of air bubbles going through the diesel line from the diesel filter (which I replace in every oil change but never payed attention to this before).

I have just bought a sd4 and mine was very similar, on inspection it looked like some one had jacked the car up against the vibration mounting on the subframe and broken one of the welded mounts, it had also bent the exhaust hangers and they were touching each other, I re-welded the mount and reposition the exhaust hangers and the vibration has almost gone, before I could feel it through my feet and the car at around 1700 rpm and it felt like a misfire, now feels normal. Hope this helps

But the engine was visible "shaking" like mine? Freelander 2 2014 SD4 Automatic HSE Fuji White
CarPlay - WIP

The top engine mount looks to have the same amount of movement but not the air box, yours looks to be coming from the rear of the engine as the fuel pipes have a lot of movement, make sure the exhaust is not to tight on the hangers and recheck the bottom mounts, sometimes its best to loosen the mount while the engine is running and then re-torque.

I will definitely check that, thanks.

There are exhaust garages nearby that don't charge if they inspect and don't find anything wrong, worth the shot.


A fellow recommended changing the ATF that the torque converter might be struggling to lockup (due to the RPM range) but I have no familiarity with that part.

It won't cause anything bad though, except for my wallet, so will try this as well. Freelander 2 2014 SD4 Automatic HSE Fuji White
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Torque converter lockup only occurs in drive , so unless it’s permanently locked in which would cause all sorts of driving problems, does the Rpm definitely go up and down while at tick over ?

Not really.


One thing I noticed before is the car dropping the RPM a bit and struggling to recover it for a few seconds and while that I could feel the car "kicking" front and back similar to an old clutch slipping or lack of fuel in the engine.

This never registered an error or popped a light and happened just a few times over a year, not enough to bother me or actually indicate some failure.


I asked my usual mechanic and he also mentioned that this a sign of low level or old ATF but the level was fine and we left it as is (mine is 2014 MY with 75.000 KM).


About the vibration, while parked, a few people told me it is kind of normal but not while driving.

I might be confusing this acceptable vibration while parked with another one while driving, maybe?


There is one test that people do check the torque converter by holding the brake and accelerating up to 1500-1600 RPM in the drive for a few seconds.

When I do that, the entire car vibrates, pretty much similar to the vibration I have on the road, not sure if that indicates anything or if it is a real test.

It never "slipped" while doing that, though. Freelander 2 2014 SD4 Automatic HSE Fuji White
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The Stall speed test is quite an old test, which was used as an general test of the automatic gearboxes, the stall test (vehicle in drive, brakes applied full, then the accelerator pressed full and the RPM speed noted and compared with manufactures specifications.

Its quite possible that its normal for your vehicle and that your unduly listening/feeling for vibration, I've only just changed from a 2010 XS TD4 engine manual to a 2012 HSE SD4 Automatic and noticed quite a bad vibration (almost like a misfire) at around 1700rpm under load, which turned out to be the front exhaust mount and the vibration damper on the subframe.

I work as a diagnostic technician and technical trainer and often refer to diagnostics like a road map, its quite easy to take a wrong turn and end up miles from where you want to be even though the scenery looks the same.

Back to vibration at tickover- have you removed the alternator/PAS/AC belt to see if it makes a difference?

I didn't try to run the engine without the auxiliary belt but I have replaced all the belts, bearings, and tensioners a couple of weeks ago due to the age of them.

LR recommends 7 years / 110.000 KM here and usually a bit less in my state due to the high mineral contamination of mining companies all over the state.


Important to note that the vibration is there since I bought the car, it wasn't after something I changed and I already replaced quite a few of parts trying to solve it.

I had a 2011 MY before with the same engine and this vibration is definitely not from the car unless something changed between the 2011 and 2014 models. Freelander 2 2014 SD4 Automatic HSE Fuji White
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The reason I asked about trying without the belt is because the alternator has a oneway clutch which can cause noise/vibration at tick over- In the trade Vibration drops into the NVH sector (Noise Vibration and harshness) and when things get really difficult the best option is to use a NVH kit such as the Pico NVH kit, it may help if you can find a technician that uses this sort of kit.

Alright, I will check the exhaust system (seems to be the easiest one) and the auxiliary belt to discard the alternator.

If nothing changes, what would be the next recommendation? Freelander 2 2014 SD4 Automatic HSE Fuji White
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One thing I forgot to mention is that if I drive using the sport mode, the vibration is almost gone (due to the revs be kept over the usual range).

That's also true if I simply press the throttle more than usual to keep the revs higher, the vibration is gone immediately (same if I stop pressing the throttle, dropping the engine load). Freelander 2 2014 SD4 Automatic HSE Fuji White
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Roddos wrote:

The reason I asked about trying without the belt is because the alternator has a oneway clutch which can cause noise/vibration at tick over.

1. The diagnostic was done in the same way? Removing the auxiliary belt?
2. And what's the proposed solution? Replace the entire alternator or the clutch is replaceable/fixable?
3. There is any way to confirm the diagnose without removing the belt? In a way I could do by myself like unplugging the alternator, I don't know (the clutch might be electrical actioned?) Freelander 2 2014 SD4 Automatic HSE Fuji White
CarPlay - WIP