Fitting a Second-hand IRD - sensible precautions?

Hi All,

I believe my IRD (2000 1.8 manual) is in the process of imploding - it sounds like someone is shaking a box of bolts under the car as I drive along with the windows down and there is a very clear clicking when reversing and turning.

This has gone from a minor "I'll look at that another day" irritation (known oil leak and just about audible clicking in a reverse turn) to really very obvious unpleasant noises today - it drives, but I wouldn't bet on it failing within a mile or two...

If it is dry enough I'll have a proper look tomorrow to satisfy myself it is actually the IRD. I'll do the clutch while I'm down there as it's got a pretty high biting point (I need to get in shape, haven't taken a gearbox off since a Rover 820 in the mid / late 2000's).

Much though I'd love to, I cannot justify / afford reconditioned IRDs right now, so I am looking at good second-hand ones. If you were doing this, what would you consider as essential common-sense preventative maintenance in the way of new seals etc on the replacement IRD?

Cheers,
Malcolm

Dependent on how long you can be without the car, and the condition of the gears themselves, you could just renew the bearings & seals in your own IRD.

I bought a kit containing all the bearings, seals and a new cooler for about £150 from these guys...


Its been in 10 years and still going good - although I did make it 2WD.

If you can find an IRD cheap enough that's got good gears - it still may be worth reconditioning it with 1 of those kits before installing it. Its when the gears are also gone that buying a recon IRD makes sense.

If you're investing in making your IRD sound - you want to make sure your VCU is good and your tyres are matching.

Might also be worth investigating a bit more what the actual problem is before starting - eg is it bearings or gears inside the IRD or splines to the LH wheel or CV joint, and you are just running RWD!

Hi, as the IRD is a separate unit (no need for g/box removal) & is easy to remove, you could just refurb that for now as suggested by @GrumpyGel (if money is tight) & worry about the clutch later. I wouldn't drive it anymore as the IRD casing will explode & that will be more expensive, good luck.

I'm not sure of the value of a risky 2nd hand unknown IRD, but if you're going to to the effort, it's probably worth stumping up the extra 3 or 4 hundred quid for a fully reconned one from Bell surely?

As said by the others, I’d certainly not be gambling by just installing an unknown IRD ‘as is’. At least do some reconditioning yourself to give it half a chance.
And find out what caused yours to fail…

Thank you all for the suggestions.

I managed to get one for less than £300 delivered with a 90 day warranty - it's here now and it does feel okay when I turn it. I've decided to replace the oil seals (£35) and obviously add new oil (£30) and pray...

Afraid a nicely reconditioned one from Bell is beyond me right now and I don't have a press for the bearings (the ones in the IRD I've just bought "feel" good...a statement I may come to regret obviously...). I have seen the video on YouTube of the bloke angle-grinding old bearings off and hammering new ones on. It worked for him, he's braver than me and, as I would definitely screw it up, that's not my style.

Got a "passing" mechanic I know to quickly offer a 90 second view on my old one:
- No easily visible external damage, other than mucky oil everywhere (which could be masking a crack).
- He listened to the clanking and rattling noises as I drove it up and down the street.
- His conclusion was "it's proper £@ck3d", it's 100% my fault for letting it run dry of oil (I can't deny it), it's a surprise something sounding so bad still functions and he personally wouldn't trust rebuilding in the old case as he believes everything (gears, bearings, case itself) are all busy smashing themselves to pieces right now.