There's been a lot of discussion on here about the dreaded shuddering at around 1500-2000 RPM and lots of possible solutions. I just wanted to share my experience and how I fixed it on my Freelander 2.

The shorter version if you don't feel like reading further : the cause for me was torque converter / clutch slippage and worn engine mounts.

I have a 2008 TD4 Auto and it started developing the shuddering a few months after I bought it in 2020. Mileage is just over 230,000 km.

The symptoms would be a violent shuddering of the entire vehicle, always between 1500 and 2000 RPM when the engine is under load, either going up an incline or on a flat road. Adding more throttle or releasing the throttle would stop the shuddering until you get to that RPM range again. Placing the transmission in sport mode helped to alleviate it slightly because of the shifts at higher revs but it was still there and obviously not ideal on fuel consumption to always be in sport mode.

I started with the cheaper job - replacing the engine mounts. I noticed that my upper mount was sitting far too low and I could feel the engine vibrate at idle from inside the vehicle. I replaced 3 mounts : the upper mount, the lower mount near the crank pulley and also the torque rod at the very top. I left the transmission mount as-is since it was the most expensive.

After a test drive, the shuddering was still there but much less pronounced - it felt "tighter" and less violent. But still very obvious.

Next I did a fluid change in the transmission, using the drain and fill method. I emptied via the drain plug, filled with JWS3309 spec fluid then ran through the gears. Drained and filled again, ran through the gears and set the final level at 50-60 degrees transmission temperature, engine running, using the level plug. The old fluid didn't look too bad. Still red but slightly darker than the bright red of the new fluid.

On the test drive, the shuddering was almost completely gone. Very very slight, and you probably wouldn't notice it if you didn't know about it, but I could notice it.

I then added two tubes of Lubeguard Instant Shudder Fix (Dr Tranny) to the transmission. Shuddering gone completely!! Not to mention the shifts are so much smoother.

It remains to be seen how long it lasts and if the shuddering will return, but it's definitely gone completely for now. I'll likely do another drain and fill of the transmission on the next service.

So in my case, the shuddering was caused by torque convertor / clutch slippage due to old transmission fluid, made worse by worn engine mounts. This may not be the solution for everyone, but just thought I would share this in case it helps someone else.

Always worth doing a full fluid change first before having to fork out on transmission faults. However in my case it didn't help.

Shudder fix is only a temporary solution to hide the issue.
It's actually bad for the other clutches and brake bands, causing them to fail much faster than would otherwise be the case.

Shudder fix works by using friction modifiers, which held the shuddering clutch to slip. Unfortunately it causes all clutches in the box to slip too, which causes accelerated wear, with eventual loss of drive. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

@Nodge68 True, it is a temporary fix, but I figured that I'm in for a transmission replacement or rebuild eventually anyway so might as well prolong it until then so I'm not driving on pins every time it shudders. I'll post updates here on how long it lasts.

I did exactly this 14months ago, including the Shudder Fix. Still going strong with no nasties appearing yet.

Of course now i've said that....

But yeah, like you said - we're looking at a rebuild otherwise. Why not run it for as long as you can.