You are very welcome. I still have my FL2 and the power steering has not let me down since. Had it for 13 years so far, the most reliable car I have ever had so I can't bear to part with it. - 2007(57) XS Auto, Rimini Red, Alpaca Leather.
- GCS Hawke - Sports, BRG, Vulcan 2.1 inj'. My toy - built it myself in 2001.

I've just bought a 2014 Freelander 2 SD with just 33,000km (20,600 miles) on the clock. Possibly the lowest miles Freelander 2 in Australia. I bought it sight unseen and had it shipped from Canberra to Perth (via Sidney). On my first drive, I was surprised how heavy the steering was. I had the tracking checked but it was to specification. A couple of mechanics told me the steering effort was normal but I still have a 2013 Freelander 2 so it was easy to compare the effort required.

I got hold of all the service records and found the steering rack had been replaced by a LR main dealer service workshop only 3000km ago due to oil leaks. So I removed the reservoir with its integral filter and back-flushed it with white spirit, which dislodged lots of black debris. Then I cut open the reservoir and saw lots of debris still clogging the filter.

So looks like the LR technician changed the rack but didn't flush the system of the debris caused by the seals failing on the original rack.

I have fitted a replacement reservoir which has reduced the steering effort. I'll get the seller to pay for LR to do a full flush and another new reservoir. I thought the pictures may be of interest to others.


The debris removed by back flushing:


Debris remaining imbedded in the filter gauze after back flushing

Interesting pics.

Luckily the reservoir/filter is not expensive and easily obtainable. I changed mine recently when I did a PAS fluid flush at 60K miles. Jules

Really interesting read of this thread, seems there's isn't one cure for all.

I could do with picking some brains of the knowledgeable ones as I too am having a mare with the power steering.

So after replacing the pump and doing a full flush of the power steering fluid my issue has got marginally better, at normal speeds everything is fine but at crawling speeds I. E pulling away or parking the steering is extremely heavy, worse turning right.

One thing i have noticed whilst parked earlier is that stationary at idle I can't turn the steering right at all and left is very heavy, increase the revs and it's like the power steering is back on and working fine.

Would this indicate the pump or a sign of a worn rack?

I'm guessing, but as you've replaced the pump then its likely to be the rack isn't it. Jules

I think that the clue to follow is that the pump is not supplying enough pressure at low RPM.

The TD4 Steering Pump is a Variable Displacement and should compensate for Low RPM.

Look at the Pump and its fitment and Pipes.

From Repair Manual (Page 540)

The pump is a variable displacement, vane type pump which supplies the required hydraulic pressure to the steering gear valve unit. The pump is located at the front of the engine and is driven by the Front Engine Auxiliary Drive (FEAD) Poly Vee belt which is directly driven from the crankshaft. The output from the pump increases proportionally with the load applied to the steering valve unit. A self-adjusting tensioner is fitted to maintain the correct tension on the belt.

The pump consists of a cartridge set which consists of 11 vanes and a rotor. These are mounted on the input shaft and are surrounded by a variable displacement cam ring. The vanes rotate within the cam ring and are driven by the shaft. As the vanes rotate, the cam ring causes the space between the vanes to increase. This causes a depression between the vanes and fluid is drawn from the reservoir via the suction hose into the space between the vanes. As the shaft rotates, the inlet port is closed to the vanes which have drawn in fluid, trapping the fluid between the vanes. The cam ring causes the space between the vanes to reduce and consequentially compresses and pressurizes the hydraulic fluid trapped between them.

Further rotation of the shaft moves the vanes to the outlet port. As the vanes pass the port plate, the pressurized fluid passes from the pump outlet port into the pressure hose to the steering gear.

The cam ring can move within the valve body. By moving the cam ring it is possible to vary the eccentricity of the shaft and the vanes in relation to the cam ring. As the eccentricity is decreased, the volume of hydraulic fluid trapped between the vanes decreases, maintaining a constant fluid output. This reduces the power and torque required to turn the pump and therefore improves engine economy. The pump has an internal regulating valve which controls the eccentricity of the cam ring and therefore varies the flow rate according to demand.

At low engine speeds, the internal displacement of the variable displacement pump is at its maximum to generate the controlled fluid output. As the pump speed increases with engine speed, the increased flow inside the pump generates a back pressure within the pump. This back pressure causes an internal regulating valve to move the the cam ring and reduce the internal displacement of the pump to maintian the constant fluid flow from the pump.

A regulating, pressure relief valve within the pump limits the maximum pressure supplied to the steering gear to 115 bar (1667 lbf in2) ± 4 bar (58 lbf in2) and also limits the maximum flow to 8.8 l/min (1.93 gal/min) ± 0.5 l/min (0.1 gal/min) at 10 bar (145 bf in2). The pump has a displacement of 9.6 cc/rev (0.58in3/rev) 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?)

Last edited by IanMetro on 8th Jul 2024 7:24 am. Edited 1 time in total

That's my problem I'm guessing at this point lol, my logic would say if it's the rack then why when increasing revs the power steering acts normal if the rack was shot it would do it all the time wouldn't it?

Thanks Ian,
All the pipes seem OK and doesn't appear to have any leaks I think the next step would be to get a known working used pump to swap out and see if the new pump I've fitted is either just a bad pump or not. From reading the forums it does appear not all pumps are equal.

Is there a link to the manual you listed above?

Thanks

In the absence of a conclusive diagnosis, usually if a problem persists people change the units out one by one until it is fixed. Assuming the replacement units are working as they should of course

The more I read the highlighted paragraph in my previous post the more I believe it is a faulty Steering Pump.

The variable displacement is controlled internally in the pump using an analogue hydraulic system without any external inputs.

From your reported symptoms it does not look like the pump is changing displacement at low RPM. 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?)

I Like Chips wrote:

In the absence of a conclusive diagnosis, usually if a problem persists people change the units out one by one until it is fixed. Assuming the replacement units are working as they should of course

Did you not fit a new reservoir? There’s every possibility that the filter in the reservoir is blocked, as per the earlier post/pic. (Now Sold). 2008 Freelander 2 (Nazca Sand) SE TD4 Auto. Statutory write off & on WOVR for hail damage but still road legal.
171037Km as of 09/05/22
Superchips Bluefin Flash
Nanocom Evo II (also sold)

Thanks for the suggestions and comments guys.
I have plugged a scanner (topdon) in and had zero codes prior to changing the pump.
Yes I changed the reservoir as well and flushed just over 1 litre of fluid through till it ran as the same colour as what went in.

The reason I changed the pump to begin with was it was heavy on low speed but also when driving along as the revs increased the pump was almost screaming and very loud especially with any slight turn of the steering wheel.

I seemed to have solved the noise issue and when driving at normal speeds the steering seems fine, I was doing full left lock full right lock in the car park whilst driving and it all felt normal. Come to a stand still or crawling with no revs and it's really hard. Left is heavy but doable, right is virtually impossible almost like the steering lock is on lol

I think my next step is to try and source a known working second hand pump, the new bought I bought was off ebay and fingers and toes crossed it's just a bad pump.

Later in the week I'm going to get it back on axle stands so I can test the steering without weight on it and see what that produces

So I swapped out the pump but the problem persists.
I did notice this time when trying to bleed the power steering fluid it just constantly sounded like there was air when I was down in the wheel well being pushed around the pipes. I did lock to lock about 30 times with the aux belt off, 30 times with the aux belt on. I then started the car and the power steering fluid bottle Instantly dropped halfway, I topped it up and did lock to lock about 30 mores times with the engine running.

On axle stands the steering is smooth full lock to lock, you get the pump whine when at full lock and holding it at full lock but pretty sure that could be considered normal.

And speeds above 10mph the steering Is spot on and smooth but in first gear creeping it has resistance, then it seems to go past the resistance and goes light again.

I can only assume now a seal or something has gone within the steering rack itself