You are right Simon I was convinced I could pinpoint it but it has defeated me and I like many have learned to live with it , maybe in the summer I will spend some more time messing about removing and replacing stuff but as they are getting old and not so much value in them it seems daft to spend too much .

I'm sure it's been mentioned, but motor mounts can do stuff like that if worn. They either become part of a resonant system by transmitting vibration or allow the motor/tranny assembly to sag excessively (or twist with torque), putting unusual force on other attachments such as the exhaust, driveline, coolant hoses, etc.

It does sound exactly like the prop-shaft U-joint issue I had, but I agree that's dependent on road speed (and maybe torque), not RPM.

I had this issue, eventually fixed it by doing an ATF flush with proper JWS3309 spec mineral oil (LR002748).
Not JWS 3324 or one of those multi purpose, multi spec synthetic oils..

I’ve done two 'half flushes' using Aisin JWS3309 ATF. The first was done about 12,000 miles ago, the second a couple of weeks ago. Neither made any difference. The advice on this Forum would seem to counsel against doing a full flush all in one go - better to do it gradually along with the regular engine oil change.

An interesting observation over the last few days. I usually just use Tesco diesel as there’s one of their filling stations less than a mile away. However, I treated the old girl to a full tank of BP Ultimate last weekend and there is no doubt that over the last few days, and less than 100 miles, the vibration/resonance has reduced significantly. My wife also commented that the car seemed smoother and quieter to drive. We were on on a nice country road today and things were definitely improved.

I’m not entirely surprised as my previous car was a T5 high pressure turbo Volvo C70 and it went so much better on the higher grade fuel, but oddly the low pressure turbo Volvo V50 that we also had seemed quite happy on Tesco fuel. Having said that, the V50 engine died in a cloud of smoke in the motorway one evening but as far as I know the C70 is still going strong.

Of course this doesn’t tell us what the problem is, but I’ll stick to the BP fuel for a few weeks and see how things develop.

Simon 3
I'm having the same issue and have been looking at it for quite some time.
Interesting you mention fuel as i'm having exactly the same response.
I ran mine very low on fuel and put Comma Diesel DtOX in it ( nothing else gets anywhere near ) Over four days of doing 25 miles a night the vibration went at 1800rpm.
Once I filled back up it came back, I then filled back up with BP Ultimate and it was almost undetectable.
I have now carried out a combustion pressure transducer test and noticed on mine number 2 cylinder is below par, nut having carried out compression test via amps draw the compression was fine.
I suspect is an injector down on performance and its a partial misfire but not detectable by ear in the exhaust.
In the next week or two I'm removing the injectors and having them tested. My guess is that one is down on fuel by about 20%
the vibration is bad enough that its felt through the floor and seats Jaguar x-type sport gone
Jaguar x-type 2.2d sport one of my best cars ever sadly gone
Freelander 2 GS auto 2008 most unreliable ever ! gladly gone
Freelander 2 GS manual 2013 only time will tell !

Very interesting oldgeezer. I might get some Comma D-Tox along with the Ultimate. Do please keep us posted of your findings if you take the injectors out. These diesels thingies are all new to me!

I filled up with BP Ultimate this morning and then added the Comma D-tox. I’ll watch with interest and report back

Well, two weeks later and I’d have to say the results are inconclusive. For sure, the engine seems smoother and quieter using BP Ultimate, but as I said above, I’ve experienced this before so I’m not surprised. Fuel consumption also seems to be improved by about 10% but it’s hard to be precise about that as our daily driving is mostly short trips for shopping or picking up grandchildren from school, so not a regular routine commute that would provide the basis for comparison.

But the resonance/vibration is still there. Maybe a little less, but by no means eliminated.

What I have found improves things is to use the Sport setting on the auto box. This results in the engine using more revs before changing gear and thus not ending up back on 1800 rpm after every gear change. It really is very noticeable that in the Normal setting the natural rpm is 1800 after each gear change if you’re driving in a fairly leisurely manner. Perhaps this is why the problem seems only to occur with autos - manual gear changing is probably more similar to Sport mode in terms of change points.

Not much further on it would seem

If it is a torque converter problem, this might help diagnose it: https://www.jgs4x4.co.uk/lubegard-instant-...dr-tranny/

I know - additives bad, snake oil, etc etc. But if it helps, then you've diagnosed the TC and can then decide what to do next. If it doesn't help and you don't want to keep an additive in your box, then a couple of flushes and you're back to where you were (but with cleaner trans fluid) for not much outlay.

Hmmm …. Interesting. Anyone tried this?

I tried Dr Tranny in my auto box, didn't make any difference. Had to have a recon Torque Converter and Solenoid put in.

On a different angle, I've just de-flapped my inlet manifold and sure the vibration I was getting at around 1800rpm is greatly reduced, but will pay closer attention...

Some interesting progress. My car refused to start a couple of weeks ago leaving us stranded some miles from home. The engine turned over but it simply wouldn’t fire. The breakdown recovery guys couldn’t fix it so I had it brought to the garage I regularly use. Turned out it was the crank sensor but when they went to fit it, they found small pieces of metal around the sensor. Concerned that they might have come from somewhere adjacent to the timing belt they took it off, checked everything was ok, and then fitted a new belt and water pump. The sensor ring on the crank pulley was slightly damaged, presumably by these bits of metal, so it was also replaced. We have no idea where the metal came from. Perhaps it was something that got thrown up from the road and unfortunately collected on the sensor which has a magnet in it I gather.

Anyway, after ten days off the road I got the car back this evening and there is no doubt the resonance/vibration has been dramatically reduced. Not completely eliminated by any means, but much much less. On reflection the vibration had been getting worse, although still eliminated once over 1800/2000 revs, but replacing the timing belt certainly has made a huge improvement. The belt that was replaced was apparently fitted about 40k miles ago but I have no idea if it actually was done or what brand was used. Having said that, I don’t know what brand was used this time but I trust the garage absolutely to only use good quality stuff. The sensor is a LR one.

So a definite improvement and filling it up this evening with BP Ultimate (ouch! ££££££) should hopefully result in smooth running in the coming days. We shall see!

2010 HSE auto.
Just a wee comment on fuel.
I fill up at Tesco as all Tesco stations are Shell fuel.
Never use other supermarkets.
Had the car 4 months recent average, which is entirely short trips, is 25.1mpg.
Coming from a Disco 2 auto this is good to me for short trips.
Do intend a longer trip next week of about 100 miles, look forward to see the difference.
Yes, i do get a light vibration about 1800 but just go through it, or lift off and clear.
is it just a Freelander 2 thing? Jim A
Fl2 HSE 2010 auto
Disco 2Td5 auto 2002 gone
Disci 1 300Tdi auto 1996 gone