4x4 or not

Just been reading quite a few posts on here and to say some of the comments were directed at more of a personal direction is an understatement, and so not wanting to cause world war 3, I would like to ask for some advice on my freelanders 4x4 check list. When I bought my freelander TD4 I was told that the rear prop had been removed for fuel economy reasons, but I have read on here that the main reason for removal is the VCU failing, the question that I would like the answer to is, how do I tell if my diff or IRD has been damaged, as I don't want to buy a new prop and VCU, only to find I need a diff or IRD unit, the car drives fine in 2 wheel drive mode but it don't take much to get stuck when I go metal detecting, a ford fiesta got to the place on the field where we had to park and I was following him and got stuck, he made it without any problems, how embarrassed was I he he he

This explains things quite well Symptoms - Bell Engineering

You can't really tell or test the condition of the drivetrain without it being complete.

ZDomZ said:

You can't really tell or test the condition of the drivetrain without it being complete.

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I thought you could remove something on the ird and visually inspect?

I'm sure JM posted something about it a while ago but I wasn't really paying attention

blue beasty said:

This explains things quite well Symptoms - Bell Engineering

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This would be fine but I don't have the prop or vcu as stated in first post

drain and renew the oil in the ird, this will give a first indication of its condition, check carefully the magnet on the drainplug, make sure you can loosen, remove filler plug first, they can be a bitch!

Will have a look when the weather gets a bit better, cheers for the heads up.

Beyond vague guesswork, there is little you can do without a prop and VCU.

Looking at the oil might tell you something, but not much. Pretty much all IRDs will have some fine metal fragments in the oil and on the filler magnet.
The rear of the IRD can be unbolted and you can just about see the teeth of the crown wheel - no way to tell if there is any further internal damage or bearing wear.

If you want to know for certain, you will need the missing parts. IMO it would be stupid to fit a second hand VCU as it will be an unknown quantity in the system, so thats £200 or so straight off, plus the surcharge as you have no exchange.
You might be lucky and it will be fine, and the prop was only removed due to an ignorant previous owner, but you cant count on that and will need to budget for a replacement of the IRD if you want it to be fully working.
Can you do this work yourself to save labour costs? If the IRD turns out to be dud, you are looking at nigh on a grand in total for the parts you will need (IRD, VCU plus surcharge, propshafts, maybe new universal joints if its a used prop, oils etc.), plus fitting.
Rear diff failure is also a possibility but seems to be less common - not many cases of it on here as far as I have seen.

Very wise words, and if there is no actual way of visually inspecting the drivetrain, then looks like it will be 2 wheel drive for me, thanks for your input, and it is much appreciated, I was hoping it could be diagnosed by a noise of some description or vibration, but it appears not to be the case, are well, at least I know now, once again thanks

4x4 or not ? why did you buy it if you wanted 4x4 then the answer is clear .could you not borrow one(prop that is ) from a really friendly freelander owner where are you located ?perhaps some one may be close

I didn't buy it I swapped it because it was better to go metal detecting in than my old bmw 318, and the seats fold down in the back so I can fit the dog cage in so I can take the greyhounds to the track, it also gets my pike rods in without any problems, its better on fuel and is in better condition than the bmw and my wife who has one leg can get in and out easier than the bmw, and before you ask, I got the bmw off my old dad [80 years old] for nothing, hope this answers your question, if you need to know anything else just give me a shout, cheers

freelander1958 said:

4x4 or not ? why did you buy it if you wanted 4x4 then the answer is clear .could you not borrow one(prop that is ) from a really friendly freelander owner where are you located ?perhaps some one may be close

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+1 on that, a temporary donor prop shaft known to be in good order would be extremely useful. Under the circumstances, I unerstand you reasons for taking the car on but short of obtaining the donor prop, probably best just to live with it. You could look out for a cheap prop shaft on ebay and check its condition before fitting, renewing bearings and ujss with cheap replacements if necessary. This would purrely be in order to determine condition of ird and rear diff in the cheapest way possible. Obviously if you found that all seems ok, best ourse would be to take the prop shaft straight back off again and invest in a new vcu for it.

musky81 said:

+1 on that, a temporary donor prop shaft known to be in good order would be extremely useful. Under the circumstances, I unerstand you reasons for taking the car on but short of obtaining the donor prop, probably best just to live with it. You could look out for a cheap prop shaft on ebay and check its condition before fitting, renewing bearings and ujss with cheap replacements if necessary. This would purrely be in order to determine condition of ird and rear diff in the cheapest way possible. Obviously if you found that all seems ok, best ourse would be to take the prop shaft straight back off again and invest in a new vcu for it.

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they all the same,one for 45 quid on ebay but its a v6 2001-2005 LAND ROVER FREELANDER V6 REAR PROPSHAFT BACK PROP | eBay

Thanks guys for your replies, think that I will leave as is for the moment, might get a couple of all terrain tyres for the front next year, might help a bit, got quite a few minor probs to sort out first before spending money on something that I can cope with, just have to keep out of the fields he he he