remove prop-shaft

[lloyd]

hi to all at landyzone
reading all the threads,a lot of you have taken the prop shaft off ,for different reasons..my v reg,1999 freelander is starting to slow down more and more on sharp turning ,so i am going to take the vcu tobe tested in Birmingham where they supply new and recon v.c.u .so until i can afford one i wont to take the prop off ,DO I UNBOLT THE BACK PROP OFF THE REAR DRIVE UNIT AND THE OTHER END OFF BY THE V.C.U this would leave the front propshaft and v.c.u still going around IS THIS SAFE AND WILL NOT FALL OFF ..OR DO I TAKE ALL THE UNIT OFF ,BACK AND FRONT PROP AND VCU,but what about the front C.V does it pull off and leave the spline in the i.r.d box ..?thanks for any info

 

[Northern Irelander]

Just do the Willo method, aka Taipan method.

Paint a white line on front and back shafts, not the VCU or damper unit.

Take her for a spin on some wet grass, (Mings choice is golf courses), have some fun, lock the wheels get her to spin and power slide, then have a look underneath to see if your lines still match up.

If they still line up she has siezed and needs replaced, or Mondo mode until such times that it is fixed.

Front CV separates leaving a flange, no open splines ............. no problemo !

 

[Ambriel]

Wise words from NI. Beat it about on the slippery stuff, then see what the VCU has done.

The usual practise (if you're taking the VCU off is to drop the prop shafts at their remote ends and take them, and the VCU, off as a single unit.

 

[G13SJC]

Just a quick question:

If the whole assembly is removed and left in a garage for say 6 months, would this speed up the VCU seizure rate??

I'm back in 4x4 mode (as off to school camp twice in June) and all running well, but just occured that if I were to go 2WD and leave my VCU in my garage would it be more likely to seize as its not getting any use??

Regards,

Steve

 

[Ambriel]

If the whole assembly is removed and left in a garage for say 6 months, would this speed up the VCU seizure rate?

I wouldn't have thought so. The VCU is a sealed unit, else the fluid would leak out. The only thing that might suffer from storage are the oil seals but would that be any worse in storage to when they're in use on the vehicle?

 

[G13SJC]

I wouldn't have thought so. The VCU is a sealed unit, else the fluid would leak out. The only thing that might suffer from storage are the oil seals but would that be any worse in storage to when they're in use on the vehicle?

Thanks for the reply - just a thought

 

[austen]

Just do the Willo method, aka Taipan method.

Paint a white line on front and back shafts, not the VCU or damper unit.

Take her for a spin on some wet grass, (Mings choice is golf courses), have some fun, lock the wheels get her to spin and power slide, then have a look underneath to see if your lines still match up.

If they still line up she has siezed and needs replaced, or Mondo mode until such times that it is fixed.

Front CV separates leaving a flange, no open splines ............. no problemo !

Just because it isn't seized solid it doesn't mean its any good!! Its the amount it slips thats important.

Its also easier to jack up a rear wheel, leave car in gear and remove handbrake, put a breaker bar and a socket on one of the wheel nuts and stand on the bar, the wheel should slowly rotate. Again this doesn't mean its in good working order, it just means its not totally seized (which is very rare)

 

[The Mad Hat Man]

it can also fail in a slip mode - ie it constantly slips and wont lock up - ask Mondo.

 

[Northern Irelander]

Just because it isn't seized solid it doesn't mean its any good!! Its the amount it slips thats important.

Its also easier to jack up a rear wheel, leave car in gear and remove handbrake, put a breaker bar and a socket on one of the wheel nuts and stand on the bar, the wheel should slowly rotate. Again this doesn't mean its in good working order, it just means its not totally seized (which is very rare)

The Ashcroft test is bollox, I used to put the link on the posts for their site, then having tried it, you'd need to be in Strongman competition just to lever it. Maybe they use it for training for the event

So when is a working VCU not a working VCU and how do you decipher when a VCU is in good working order ?????????????????????????????????????

Microscopic burrs, silicone polymers its all been discussed on here before, never really found a means to DIY repair

 

[The Mad Hat Man]

I reckon the snopake method is best - as long as the vcu front and rear move in relation to each other, so it aint siezed, the rest is unimportant - at least it is unlikely to bugger up the rest of yo transmission.

 

[austen]

The Ashcroft test is bollox, I used to put the link on the posts for their site, then having tried it, you'd need to be in Strongman competition just to lever it. Maybe they use it for training for the event

So when is a working VCU not a working VCU and how do you decipher when a VCU is in good working order ?????????????????????????????????????

Microscopic burrs, silicone polymers its all been discussed on here before, never really found a means to DIY repair

This method does work if the VCU isn't bolloxed, but you have to stand on the bar, its needs a constant force. But like i said just because it moves, doesn't mean its any good. Without taking it off and knowing what to compare it against its impossible to say how good the VCU is. If the cars done over 70k i'd change it to be on the safe side, its a damn sight cheaper than replacing the rest of the transmission line!! I've had cars come in with 48k on the clock with bad viscous's, it just seems to depend on how the car has been used over the years. At the end of the day it was a **** design, and the VCU needs to be considered a consumable like a cambelt (just as expensive to sort out if neglected but probably cheaper to replace before it goes)

DIY repairs are impossible as you cannot buy the silicone fluid, and you need specially set up tools to dismantle and reassemble which are not financially viable for just repairing one.

 

[Northern Irelander]

This method does work if the VCU isn't bolloxed, but you have to stand on the bar, its needs a constant force. But like i said just because it moves, doesn't mean its any good. Without taking it off and knowing what to compare it against its impossible to say how good the VCU is. If the cars done over 70k i'd change it to be on the safe side, its a damn sight cheaper than replacing the rest of the transmission line!! I've had cars come in with 48k on the clock with bad viscous's, it just seems to depend on how the car has been used over the years. At the end of the day it was a **** design, and the VCU needs to be considered a consumable like a cambelt (just as expensive to sort out if neglected but probably cheaper to replace before it goes)

DIY repairs are impossible as you cannot buy the silicone fluid, and you need specially set up tools to dismantle and reassemble which are not financially viable for just repairing one.

Well I beg to differ, its only simple friction at the end of the day. Dismantling a VCU wont be an easy job but.................... if man made it, then man can take it apart.

The technology has been there for decades, old school Range Rovers use a VCU.

Patents only last for twenty years, the silicone technology may well have been copied into other manufacturers by now (Renault Scenic RX4 VCU)

You wont get a litre of silicone stuff from your local motor factor but
someone will be selling the stuff, if not, it could be copied quite easily, patent search would reveal all technology involved.

 

[The Mad Hat Man]

Bollix
I suggest yu speak to LR1796 - we had this discussion a year or so ago. The viscosity and components of the viscous liquid is not generally available. The fill %age is also critical to allow for thermal expansion. No-one seems to want to sell the stuff.

I forgot to mention that the little "burrs" on the sliding plates also wear, so by the time yu have had those made as well, its cheaper to buy a noo one.

Yup - all things are possible - but the data aint out there, and it aint worth it fur the odd one off - just flog the Hippo and buy an X-trail - much better 4x4 drive system .

 

[Northern Irelander]

Thixotropy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Viscosity technology used in tomato ketchup, the reverse of VCU technology

 

[Northern Irelander]

Bollix
I suggest yu speak to LR1796 -



but the data aint out there

LR1796

The data would have been filed away as hard copy in a cabinet many years ago, long before the days of Google or www.

 

[Northern Irelander]

Rheopecty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

VCU based technology

 

[austen]

Well I beg to differ, its only simple friction at the end of the day. Dismantling a VCU wont be an easy job but.................... if man made it, then man can take it apart.

The technology has been there for decades, old school Range Rovers use a VCU.

Patents only last for twenty years, the silicone technology may well have been copied into other manufacturers by now (Renault Scenic RX4 VCU)

You wont get a litre of silicone stuff from your local motor factor but
someone will be selling the stuff, if not, it could be copied quite easily, patent search would reveal all technology involved.

I can catorgorically tell you that you CANNOT buy this stuff off the shelf ( i wouldn't have spent over £5k getting the stuff made if that was the case). And i can assure you that taking them apart isn't a matter of of a few nuts and bolts, and putting them backtogether again is requires precise measurments and techniques. For the sake of a 1 off its far cheaper to spend £200 buying a replacement ready to bolt in place..

 

[The Mad Hat Man]

LR1796

yup - useful guy is LR bit misguided, but a helpful sorta guy.

 

[austen]

The technology has been there for decades, old school Range Rovers use a VCU.

.

The transmission It works in a totally different way

 

[The Mad Hat Man]

The transmission It works in a totally different way

Thats the prob - it fookin dont work very well, any system that can fail, fook up yo complete drive train, and the first you know of it is expensive bills is blurry useless - sooner the VCU is dumped, the better.