Hi Folks,
New to the forum and would appreciate help.

We have a 2011 HSE SD4 Freelander 2 Automatic. When pulling away from stationary, we get what sounds like a wheel spinning noise. Not for very long and not every time. Seems to happen more on a roundabout or where the front wheels are slightly offset (as in taking off from stopped at a slight angle)

No fault lights on the dash. I can't believe the wheels are spinning so believe noise is coming from elsewhere.

Seen a few reports of similar noises but as the cars in question were under warranty the issues seemed to be sorted without the dealers being too descriptive regarding the actual fault, so the people posting never concluded with the root cause.

Wonder whether it is some kind of haldex fault?

Can anyone help?

The Freelander I recently purchased to replace my 60 plate one had a strange noise on takeoff.
I found it to eventually be the damper(shock absorber) on the o.s rear wheel.
When you accelerated from a standing start on r.h lock or went round a tight bend or mini roundabout with a bit of acceleration thrown in, the wheel was juddering violently.
Garage I bought it from reckoned there was nothing wrong with it - soon showed them differently.

Back to the OP's FL2. With TC in "Normal" setting, when starting off, with steering straight, the Haldex is engaged. When steering has lock applied, the Haldex is disengaged. Your symptoms could indicate the Haldex is remaining engaged for some reason. Possibly gummed up Haldex or TCM/software issue. To aid diagnosis, the Haldex fuse is in the boot fuse box, 15amp IIRC. Pull the fuse and try a test drive. A Haldex service may well fix it (oil & filter change). Austen @ Bell Engineering can do it for you. (Forum sponsors) They are close to you.

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

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

Go see Austen. Money well spent.  FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

I can hear this noise on mine as well, sounds like a bit of wheel spin but isn't. It only last about a second and doesn't effect the drive - even with my 1600kg caravan in to it pulls away no probs.

Hopefully nothing too serious.

No warning light no foul

Could always be the transfer box
If this fails you get front wheel drive only, the Haldex works fine, but the propshaft isn't turning. no warning lights nothing.
The traction control will quickly grab the spinning wheel and transfer power to the one remaining wheel with traction. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Did you find the problem, my13 seems to do the same?

I have the same noise so took my SD4 to my local dealer last year who had the car for around 5 days who “reliably” informed me ‘they all do that’. Mine will do it whenever I put the put the foot down rather than a gentle pull away and after it has been stationery for a few seconds. It’s a very worrying sound so if it is a problem it’s on my vehicles record at the dealers

Thanks for info 👍🏻

Are you sure its not wheelspin?
Had my wife's VW Tiguan doing this, turned out Haldex pump screen was blocked removed , cleaned and rebuilt and 4wd was restored. No warning lights on dashboard to indicate anything was amiss. Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Last edited by Bobupndown on 15th Aug 2020 8:06 am. Edited 1 time in total

Puzzled by these stories of wheelspin.

The one thing I noticed, since I have had my FL2s, is the lack of any scrabbling of the wheels, even uphill out of little side roads.

Before this I noticed, as my (front-wheel drive) cars got more and more powerful, that I had to moderate the amount of throttle I applied on starting off from standstill, otherwise the traction control worked overtime.

If I suspected wheelspin in 'normal' condition in my FL2 I would be investigating the correct actioning of my haldex coupling. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Thats exactly it, my wife said it seemed like her car had suddenly started wheelspinning, first time I drove it, pulling away from a junction it lit up the front tyres, all too easy with a car operating in front wheel drive with 170 hp. Once the haldex was cleaned normal service resumed and I could not get any hint of wheelspin on a tarmac road even when purposely giving it full throttle.
You will never experience wheelspin in normal road conditions with the 4x4 system working properly.  Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

[quote="starbuduksjs"]Hi Folks,
New to the forum and would appreciate help.

We have a 2011 HSE SD4 Freelander 2 Automatic. When pulling away from stationary, we get what sounds like a wheel spinning noise. Not for very long and not every time. Seems to happen more on a roundabout or where the front wheels are slightly offset (as in taking off from stopped at a slight angle)

No fault lights on the dash. I can't believe the wheels are spinning so believe noise is coming from elsewhere.

Seen a few reports of similar noises but as the cars in question were under warranty the issues seemed to be sorted without the dealers being too descriptive regarding the actual fault, so the people posting never concluded with the root cause.

Wonder whether it is some kind of haldex fault?




I have had my Haldex serviced by Austen at Bell but still get the same noise ( Can only describe it as ''' cha cha cha '') when pulling away under moderate load. Heavy acceleration produces no noise. Strange thing is it only does it in warm conditions ( plus 15 degrees ) . Someone has suggested as it is temperature sensitive it may be the gearbox being affected by the MAF . Does anybody know if the Auto box receives any info from the MAF. FL2 SD4 XS 2013 Orkney Grey

I had the same issue a while ago, possibly pre covid, and took it to my local dealership. They had it in for a week, although they did lose the keys, but they basically said all Freelanders are the same but couldn’t actually explain it.
I actually think it’s Haldex related but not a fault just it thinking about whether or not it needs 2 or 4 wheel drive. But stand to be corrected.

Quite simply in a FL2 you should not get anything that sounds like front wheel spin when starting off on the road.

If you do then you probably have an issue with power not being sent to the rear wheels either due to a failed haldex or stripped splines in the PTU giving you FWD only.

But the FL2 is FWD most of the time on the road so owners can drive around unaware that they have lost on-demand 4WD and only notice a bit of wheel scrabble on pulling away - common on any FWD drive only car.


If in doubt ring Bell Engineering - speak to Austen about your PTU /haldex concerns. Jules