Wierd prob just started occuring with my 03 RR HSE...I have noticed a shuddering in the rear right of the vehicle and loss of acceleration power (almost a jerking feeling?) when I turn the truck at a corner and accelerate out - mostly when I go left, occasionally when I go right. Also when in a lengthy curve of road (ie: a turn-about).

Any ideas if this is a fuel delivery problem or maybe the spark plugs? I fear the worst, in that it may be the torque converter....an expensive fix, for sure. LOVE my truck, and have had it about 10 months with regular oil changes and premium fuel always used. I know a tune up is over due since she has gone over 100K recently - but this issue seems beyond tune-ups.... It definitely feels like a transmission/engine shudder, and is NOT a wheel shudder, i dont think. It is what I think perhaps a clogged fuel filter would do, by perhaps not allowing the right amount of gas get to the engine when coming out of a turn?

Please offer up ANY AND ALL solutions you can think of. Dont wanna pay the dealership a diagnostic fee, really, if I can figure out on my own with the help of friends. THANKS!!!

 

If its coming from the rear then its not a transmission or torque converter problem. I find it funny how rover owners fear the worst when a problem occurs. It could be an axle bearing, wheel speed sensor telling the abs to kick in, it could be the Viscous coupling malfunctioning (if it has one, mine does...) There are many things that can cause this problem. Mine will shudder a bit when turning really sharp in a circle. Its the coupling doing what it is supposed to do. I'm not sure if yours has a VC on it, hopefully roving4life or one of the techs will know. It could also be the differential going bad, maybe even a bad u-joint or drive shaft. The list goes on... If it were me, I would drain the diff fluid and check for signs of metal, inspect my u-joints (or have them inspected if you don't know what to look for), then grease them if it has the capability. I would put it on jack stands and rotate the tires manually to feel if anything is noticeably wrong, like too much slack, grinding, etc. I would also run the vehicle on the jack stands with the wheels moving (be extremely cautious!!!!!). Its going to take a bit of sniffing around to find the source.

If yours has a viscous coupling, you can check it by putting your transfer case in LO range. Get up to about 5mph or so and then turn right or left in a complete circle with the wheel turned all the way to either side. From what I've heard, the rover will stop if it has a VC problem. Like I said, don't know if yours has one, but its not going to hurt anything if you go for a putt around your neighborhood.

 

Could be the differential but it also could just be low on tranny fluid. If too much fluid swishes to the side then it is not picked up in the tube. I have a Volvo AWD that if the tires are not close enough in height and size then the drive shaft shudders under the rear turing at a different speed than the front, most notably when turning in corners.

 

I'm probably very inexperienced here compared to all the other guys. BUT, I can say something here:

I had that similar sound (jerking) last year in my RR. I thought at first the sound came out from the back, then I realized it's not actually the back but rather under my seat, sort of. It started just like you described, only when I did thight corners and accelerated hard with the wheel turned. Eventually it started happening when I was in up-hills and pushed the gas hard enough.

Does this happens "only" when you turn and accelerate? or do you get the same sound when you are up-hill and accelerate hard from stand-still? meaning you put stress on the powertrain??

In my case turned out to be a bad transfer case, the sound was very clearly coming under my seat as it got worst, but at the start I also felt it as it was coming a little from the back on the right side, and I remember thinking this can't be the transfer case nor the VC nor the torque converter since it's coming from back. Just giving my two cents since it took me a while to find out exactly what it was.

 

Hey Scott:

I just read your reply and I decided to de-rail this topic a little with a quick question.

You described that the shuttering when turning could be caused by the ABS kicking in due to faulty ABS sensors.

This is exactly! what is happening to me right now, expect in the front. I took my RR to a cheap transmision place to get my transfer case replaced, also front CV joins and U joints, but they returned her to me with that problem you described AND the ABS light on. It shutters real bad only when I do tight corners, and I can tell its the brakes kicking in, it feels exactly like that, in fact even the Tracion Control light goes on, as I assume its trying to compensate for the un-even traction.

Do you think these geniuses at that shop broke something while changing the CV joints and what not? any advices?? Thanks much apreciated.

 

First, thanks to all for the responses! I really appreciate it.

I dont think my tranny fluid is low, I just had a full service oil change done, but I will check it today anyway.

I dont know if perhaps it is a brake issue - it never occured to me that this might be with the wheels instead of the engine, but I havent had my brakes done since April '10, (front end only) and when I had that done my local guy couldnt replace the brake sensor because we hadnt thought to get the part, so perhaps this is part of it. The truck always gives me the "check brake pads" message and the dealership told me that this would continue to show until I had t sensor replaced. I'm only wondering now if perhaps the rear brakes need service - and perhaps this is part of the problem. The dealership advised me to have my own mechanic fix the sensor, as they charge way more to do it - which I thought was actually pretty cool.

The shuddering doesnt only happen on turns, it has done so occassionally during acceleration on normal driving straight. But it is not as pronounced a feeling as on turns.

Something else has started happening in the last couple of days as well - is this perhaps related? The back-up sensor is wigging out. When I put the truck in reverse, she beeps like there's something right behind the car, and the light flashes. It goes out as soon as the "check brake pads" message terminates, but also the back up sensors stop working at that time. WTH could THIS fresh issue be, guys? Related? Not related?

SIGH!

I think a trip to the mechanic is the only way to truly diagnose all of this, isnt it? GRRRR!

 

The backup sensors could just be dirty... It happens. I doubt the problems are related. You need to find out exactly where the noise is coming from before we can help. Btw, in your case I do not think it is an ABS or Traction control issue. If it were the case, there would be traction and abs lights illuminating on your dash when the problem occurs. I was merely listing possibilities, as the word "shudder" is a term that describes a broad range of problems.

Mirko: Is your rover a P38? If it is, then your transfer case chain needed to be replaced and was the cause of the shudder under acceleration. I am not entirely sure, but the transfer cases on the Mark IIIs are gear driven and would not suffer from the same issue. It is possible that when doing the CVs the mechanics knocked one of the senors out of its socket. Often times you can just clean it off and push it back in.

 

Yes Scott, you are correct, my RR is a P38, 2002 Ranger rover. Yup the chain in the transfer case was the issue.

And yes, that's what I was thinking they did. However, not having any experience with the ABS sensors, I have these couple of questions for you:

I take out the wheels, disconect the sensor, clean it up and put it back again for each front tire, but...

After that, anything else I should do if that doesn't solve the problem? I mean before taking it to a brake specialist. Is there anything else I could check or do with the sensors?

I did do the accumulator and ABS pump test to check if those major components were fine, and just as expected they were perfect. So I'm almost positive its an ABS sensor issue, I just never worked with one besides the usual plug/unplug, so any advice you could give me would be very much apreciated.

 

This is pretty much all you would ever want to know about the procedure: http://rangerovers.net/repairdetails...tml#speedsense