Freelander, need help

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Originally posted by camel_landy
The other thing you might want to bear in mind is that as far as the service schedules go, the IRD is sealed for life. Errr..... :!:

I think you'll find that in this case, "Life" is 3 yrs or so. You'll probably want to change the oil in the IRD at the same time as a major service and add it onto the schedule.

It's a pity but the old IRD is under extra strain due to the design flaw. Even so, there's plenty of old vehicles over here that have covered quite a few miles without problems.

If you're worried and only really use it on the road, you might want to consider removing the rear prop shaft. It'll reduce the strain that the IRD & VC is under and those guys over here that have done it also say that it drives slightly better.

HTH

Mark.

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But you then have a fwd not a 4wd. So land rover never made any recalls for this fault. Did they know about it, when it first became a problem. Surely a fault like this needs to be taken up with land rover and have them at least make some attempt to compensate people. Matt

A recall for a non-safety issue - I don't think so. They never recalled the discos for the mainshaft problem and I believe they new about it for 10 years with RR and still produced new models with the flaw.

Re lifting the rear wheel in the Freelanders - that doesn't fix the problem - it is a means of checking if the Viscous Coupling is still working. If you can turn the wheel slowly (albiet with a lot of huff and puff) in theory the VC is providing the right amount of slip to take to take out transmission wind up but still drive the rear wheels. If you cannot turn the rear wheel I would get it checked out as soon as possible.

The freelander page on www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/ explains more.

Gazzz

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Originally posted by Ace
But you then have a fwd not a 4wd. So land rover never made any recalls for this fault. Did they know about it, when it first became a problem. Surely a fault like this needs to be taken up with land rover and have them at least make some attempt to compensate people. Matt

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Yep... But the way the Freebee drive system works, you're only really driving a FWD vehicle until you hit the sticky stufff.

The idea is that the IRD drives one side of the VC from the engine and the rear wheels drive the other side from being rolled down the road. Should there be any slip beween front-rear, the fluid in the VC will lock up (a 0.7 degree difference in temp - IIRC) and then drive can be applied to the rear.

If that makes sense... :?

Recall? For a non-safety issue? Nah... On top of that, the affected vehicles are now 5-7 yrs old.

When they were new & still under LR warranty, some people managed to get new sets of tyres out of LR. One or two managed to come to some arangement with LR WRT replacing the IRD with the newer style unit.

The chances of anything like that happening now are non-existant.

Mark.

Scott - just bastardise an old Rangie Chassis to the appropriate dimenions, build an off-road rock-crawling weapon, and bolt the Freebie body on.

You could sell all the drivetrain, interior, etc etc etc to help fund the project [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] :twisted:

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Originally posted by VladTepes
Scott - just bastardise an old Rangie Chassis to the appropriate dimenions, build an off-road rock-crawling weapon, and bolt the Freebie body on.

You could sell all the drivetrain, interior, etc etc etc to help fund the project [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] :twisted:

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Hmmm, I have a series 2a in the back yard :idea:

Sounds to me as though the best thing to do is to buy a post 2000model. Matt

Yeah... A TD4 Auto.

:wink:

Mark

Hmmm I wonder how much mines insured for :twisted:

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Originally posted by camel_landy
Yeah... A TD4 Auto.

:wink:

Mark

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Its a possibility. Matt

Finally I can post :? Stupid computers :?

I would avoid the early petrols (1.8). They had problems in the lightweight Elise, in a heavy Freelander it is asking for trouble.

The early diesels were okay, but watch the manual box with the ETC and HDC combo - burns clutches when in use.

By far the best is as late a model TD4 or V6 Auto that you can get. I have a Sep 02 that has been pretty much faultless (cept a brake squeal caused by poor discs/pads).

The way the models go:
- Early petrols/diesels - orange indicators on the front (the engine noise will tell them apart [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img] )
- Early V6/TD4 - clear front indicators, automatic option. V6 has a deeper front bumper.
- US spec (mine) - form about Sept 02 onwards - clear front and rear indicators, "black" bumpers (not grey), revised interior (better gauges, better location of switches) which came in black/tan (mine) or all black (I think they are all black from about Oct 02 onwards - mine was the last boatload from the UK, they then changed to SAfrica and all black interiors).

Things to watch - fabled ABS+ETC+HDC lights. Noisy IRDs (fixed on later models).