23 Mar 28 Comments Sue FL2 Problems, Freelander 2, Freelander Drivetrain , , ,

Here is a write up for a Land Rover magazine from one of our customers, Steve King, regarding his experience of damage which occurred to his Freelander 2 drivetrain. This is what can happen when you have mismatched tyres, so please check that yours are all the same make, model, size, tread depth remaining and air pressure.

 

Freelander 2 Repairs

I know that there are a lot of other members who drive Freelander’s as I do. I have a 59 reg and it was running fine, but over the last few months it had been starting to make noises, a low rumbling noise, but, as it had just had 2 new Tyres fitted (to the front), it was put down to tyre noise. In some respects it was caused by the tyres, but not in the way you would expect.

When the tyres were fitted it needed two on the front so that was done, and the noise seemed to still be there; but you all know that when you hear a noise it just gets louder.

So serious investigation was required and a visit to a local garage was called for. With it on their ramp, play in the transfer box was found, but they didn’t have the time to have it in a fix it. So we tried other garages and one wanted £350 and £300 to do a reconditioning job to the transfer box but with no Guarantee that it would fix the problem and in fact no Guarantee at all! So, it was a case of pay £650 total and hope.

But another company was found on the internet which was FreelanderSpecialist.com in Norfolk and they were VERY helpful sorting out the problem. I e-mailed them a video of where the play was and they came up with a solution and a price. It was more than the £650 but they offered a 12 month guarantee. They were a 140 miles away but were able to fix the issue quickly and, within a week of my first phone call, a plan was worked out for Me & Tracey to have a few days in Norfolk while the vehicle was being worked on.

We arrived there on the Thursday evening after a 5 hour drive and as promised a loan car was ready. The initial estimate was £850 for the work, which was either recondition my transfer box or swap it for a pre-reconditioned transfer box. A loan car was offered free of charge and the work was scheduled to be finished by late Friday.

So, after picking up the loan car, then realising that we are in the middle of Norfolk in the dark with no idea as to where we were and without the GPS, as that’s fixed in to the Freelander and not removable! (we used our mobiles), we eventually found our hotel after getting lost twice.

But things are about to get worse, other things needed doing.

Firstly, the current transfer box was beyond a recondition job as the main shaft was too far gone. This happens when the splines are damaged between the main shaft and the sleeve which sits between the transfer box and the gearbox. Once the splines are damaged (usually accompanied by an initial bang from the front) the shaft then slips in the sleeve – this can often result in a juddering on the wheel. This prevents drive from being transferred to the rear wheels and results in the Freelander running in front wheel drive only. So that was an extra expense – the surcharge plus the sleeve and seal. 

We had also agreed to have the Haldex serviced. So what’s the a Haldex? In simple terms it’s the component that controls the 4 wheel drive system, as, unlike other 4×4`s, such as my old Disco 2 which had selectable 4 wheel drive, the Freelander does not. It has what is called an active-on-demand system, which activates the 4×4 when it senses one of the wheels is slipping. This is controlled by the Haldex, which is like a mini gearbox, and has its own little computer (ECU) that if a wheel is spinning it controls the traction and does clever stuff.

The Haldex has its own special oil, filter and pump. Now, according to Land Rover, there is never any need to service this clever little unit! Not a wise idea, we all know that any oil will degrade over time. So FreelanderSpecialist.com changed the oil,filter and cleaned the pump – you can see in the before and after photographs below how desperately that pump needed cleaning! So the lesson is, if you want to avoid problems with your Haldex, get it serviced every 2 – 3 years, don’t wait for 9 years and almost 80,000 miles like we did!

IMG_2134 IMG_2136

This also leads me on to mention the other important way of protecting your drivetrain, tyres. Make sure they are all the same make, model, size, have the same tread depth remaining and the same air pressure. If you imagine a low tyre on one side which makes the Haldex computer think the tyre is moving faster than the others, and therefore it believes a wheel is slipping and it will engage the four wheel drive system to compensate the difference in the rotational radius’. What you end up with is a strain on the drivetrain.

Our change of tyres had been what caused all the damage. The larger tyres on the front made the system think our rear wheels were constantly slipping. This had caused the splines to go on the transfer box – caused by the sudden demand from the Haldex to engage the 4×4 system at a higher speed than you would ever being doing in an offload situation where you would require the 4×4 facility – and, yes, there is still more to come, it also caused a bearing to collapse in the rear differential causing it to make a humming noise as we drove – not that we could hear this over the noise of the transfer box damage.

So, after I had probably the worst phone call ever, with a bill of over £2,000, not including the 2-night stay in a hotel and the fuel costs, it is an understatement to say I could have broken down and cried – all because of only replacing two tyres instead of all four!

I would like to say that with all the extra work that was required FreelanderSpecialist.com still completed the job in record time. We were back collecting my Freelander at 3pm on Saturday. Their service was impressive, I was pleased with the work done and so I would totally recommend them to anyone who asks.

Steve King, Birmingham