A couple of days after a nice off-road day with the local Land Rover club, involving some mud my D3 developed a strange knocking sound. The knocks seemed more or less synchronous with the wheel rotation, so I expected maybe a stone in the caked mud would have worked its way into contact with the wheel, or something like that. So I cleaned the brakes and rims from mud, but the knocking sound remained.
I noticed that the sound came and went when slightly turning the steering wheel, or by selecting off-road height. As I could find no obvious cause, I went to the dealer for a check. They put it on stands, let the wheels spin free but no sound could be heard. They looked at the brakes and the drive shafts, but these seemed ok. They did notice that most of the underside of the car was still covered in caked mud, including the front and rear suspension, and even parts of the brakes too. So they told me that there was no serious fault with the car, and that the caked mud was most likely causing the sound. They told me to clean it thoroughly and to come back if the problem persisted after that. I went home, feeling a bit silly that I went to the dealer for a problem caused by a bad cleaning job...
So, I cleaned the wheels, brakes, drive shafts and suspension even better last night but the sound remained. This evening, when I was about to leave the parking garage at work the knocking sound became a nasty scraping sound. With the failed wheel bearing of TFC's D3 in Spain freshly in mind, this sound made me very suspicious. As it was now so loud I could finally trace it to the left front wheel. I decided to jack up the car and feel if there was any play in the wheel bearing. Just when I was about to do that I noticed that the wheel nuts stuck out more than usual, and I found that 4 of the 5 nuts were so loose that I could easily remove them by hand! The wheel was just held in place by the one remaining wheel nut...
I removed the wheel, inspected the wheel hub, the rim, brakes and suspension, but could find no obvious damage. So I re-fitted the wheel, tightening the nuts well. The nuts on the other wheels were all ok. Needless to say that the knocking and scraping noises were gone after this. I will definitely have a serious talk with the dealer.
The whole thing left me with a number of questions:
- Will this situation have caused damage to the rim, wheel hub or other components around the wheel?
- What caused this? 2 months ago my D3 had its 20000K service. Will the dealer remove the wheels during that service?
-This wheel had been changed previously during the Marcanterra trip, but I checked the tension of the nuts when I got home.
Could it really have worked itself loose, and how could I prevent that from happening again?
It would have been quite a surprise if the wheel would have come off on the motorway
Quite surprisingly, only a very minor vibration could be felt in the car or through the steering wheel during all this. This was dismissed as caused by a bit of left-over mud on the rims. 2006 Zermatt Silver TDV6 'SE' Auto, Mantec sump guard, Frontrunner roofrack, Lightforce 140s, split charge system and... a Jetboil.
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Last edited by Beaker on 28th Nov 2007 10:41 pm. Edited 1 time in total
28th Nov 2007 10:28 pm
WOODY179
Member Since: 01 Jun 2005
Location: Chesterfield
Posts: 3637
Re: A close one...
Very lucky but...
Beaker wrote:
my D4 developed a strange knocking sound.
when did you get your D4????1996 Discovery 1 300TDI ES Biarritz Blue, sold
1999 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Rioja Red, sold
2002 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Buckingham Blue, sold
2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Adriatic Blue, sold
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Zambezi Silver, sold
2011 Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE Nara Bronze, sold
2016 Volvo XC60 D5 AWD Lux Nav Twilight Bronze, sold
2020 Range Rover Evoque P250 First Edition, Nolita grey, sold
2023 Range Rover Evoque P300e Autobiography, Carpathian grey
28th Nov 2007 10:36 pm
ronp
Member Since: 29 Nov 2006
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 15214
Hehe, well spotted Woody. Must be the whisky I am enjoying... Edited now
Ronp: you did warn me, but I missed that post 2006 Zermatt Silver TDV6 'SE' Auto, Mantec sump guard, Frontrunner roofrack, Lightforce 140s, split charge system and... a Jetboil.
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28th Nov 2007 10:40 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26708
Paul, I had a similar experience with my 2a a few years ago. The front left wheel came loose for no apparent reason. The wheel had been on for months, and suddenly all 5 nuts are finger tight!
I put it down to one of two reasons.
1. it was a hot day, and I had got the brakes very hot earlier in the day, possibly heat expansion had made them loosen?
2. Vandalism, somebody did not like me and undid my nuts
I now check my wheel nuts weekly, and keep torque wrench in the car. Certainly never trust anyone else to tighten my wheels, and always check even after a main dealer visit.
28th Nov 2007 10:43 pm
10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
Shouldn't have caused any damage - possibly some alloy on the wheel studs which should be cleaned off to prevent the threads getting bound-up but that's about it....
The dealers should have had the wheels off during the service but given the length of the intervening period it's difficult to pin the blame on them, allow wheels will expand / contract quite a bit with change in temperature - given that you drive on the 'wrong' side of the road (and therefore the left front wheel will have more load on it going round roundabouts) it's possible for the left front wheel to undergo more lateral loading than the others so be more prone to loosening at low temperatures - tha said, they should have at least checked the eel nut torques when you reported the problem!
Vandalism is not very likely because A) I am a very nice person , and more convincingly B) The 'locked' nut was also completely undone.
But I learned from this that I must buy a proper torque wrench for the wheel nuts, and also buy a proper bottle jack. Even on the flat concrete floor of the parking garage the LR jack felt a bit wobbly.
What specs are required for the torque wrench and jack? Does the jack need a particular top bracket to fit the D3 chassis, or will any jack do? 2006 Zermatt Silver TDV6 'SE' Auto, Mantec sump guard, Frontrunner roofrack, Lightforce 140s, split charge system and... a Jetboil.
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they should have at least checked the eel nut torques when you reported the problem!
That is what this 'serious talk' is going to be about. I am not too pleased with being dismissed with a 'go wash you car first, lad' while the wheel was practically falling off... 2006 Zermatt Silver TDV6 'SE' Auto, Mantec sump guard, Frontrunner roofrack, Lightforce 140s, split charge system and... a Jetboil.
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28th Nov 2007 10:55 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26708
Torque wrench must be able to do at least 140nm torque.
I think for general use and portability, a tall hydraulic bottle jack is good. I got one from Billing for £20, It needs to have a long lifting range to reach the chassis. I also have a trolley jack which works well under the wishbone on each wheel. But its heavy and not very portable to carry in the car.
28th Nov 2007 10:58 pm
ronp
Member Since: 29 Nov 2006
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 15214
I wonder if this is a LR problem.
Just got my invoice in today for my recent service.
Printed on it is:-
"Please Note, as part of the service, your wheels may have been removed. Please check all wheel nuts at regular intervals"
Is this LR covering themselves in case an issue arises?I was a normal heterosexual chap, but in these new woke awakenings I now identify as a Wardrobe.
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my D3 developed a strange knocking sound. The knocks seemed more or less synchronous with the wheel rotation, so I expected maybe a stone in the caked mud would have worked its way into contact with the wheel, or something like that. So I cleaned the brakes and rims from mud, but the knocking sound remained.
The wheel was just held in place by the one remaining wheel nut... 
I will definitely have a serious talk with the dealer. 
2006 Zermatt Silver TDV6 'SE' Auto, Mantec sump guard, Frontrunner roofrack, Lightforce 140s, split charge system and... a Jetboil.
Edited now 
