Freelander 1 ird box

Anybody know if it's possible to tell if an ird box is ok or not without a drivetrain connected? please

Why? Have you bought a Freelander without a drive train?

If so, you're not the first, we made that mistake a few months back when the wife bought one very cheap Td4 by auction

Dunno how to check it but have a 'bump' to keep you up the page

You will be able to buy the drive train off eBay for around £50 / £60 if you have patience and are prepared to collect it, once you have one you can test the IRD.

If you are looking to buy a Freelander without a drive train then either walk away, or make sure it's at least £1,000 under the market rate, that way you can replace the IRD, VCU, prop shafts and rear diff if they turn out to be knackered

Dinks said:

Anybody know if it's possible to tell if an ird box is ok or not without a drivetrain connected? please

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If it drives the front wheels that bits ok.

You will have to re-connect the props to find out if the rest is ok.

Failing that stripping the IRD to investigate the gears is one possible option.

Thanks for the advice I've got a drivetrain coming tommorrow so I'll see what happens then , can't explain why just love driving it so don't matter what it costs 😊😊😊

Dinks said:

Thanks for the advice I've got a drivetrain coming tommorrow so I'll see what happens then , can't explain why just love driving it so don't matter what it costs ������

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You don't have to explain that to me dude ( I already know )

Dinks, apols for taking the **** the other night about your "Mondo mode" question. T'was the ale talking! I can see you've possibly got some serious concerns so I shall attempt to give you a straight answer to the best of my ability

If you've not got a rear prop on there at the mo (so just running in 2WD mode) then visually, I *think* you can take the pinion housing off the back of the IRD and have a look at the crownwheel, etc, inside. It may not reveal much, but you possibly might see a chipped tooth on the gear. Don't think you'll be able to see much else though. Someone else may know better?

If it IS currently in 2WD mode and all is driving well like that then, as Freelaner sez, that bit's obviously OK. To verify the rest of its operation you'd need to connect a prop and VCU on there (a known good VCU...)

You could change the oil on the IRD and see if it comes out clean or full of bits of metal, which would indicate a problem. Make sure you undo the filler/level plug first tho (on the back of the IRD, about halfway up) before draining the oil as the filler/level plug can be a bit tough to remove. It sort of welds itself in place.

As I understand it there's not all that much in the IRD - the crownwheel and pinion gears (?), some shafts and about 8 bearings and a few oil seals. Sadly, the gears seem to shred and the bearings collapse quite easily if the drivetrain is abused (knackered VCU, more tread on the front tyres than the back, etc). I believe that IRDs were made a bit stronger post 2001 though. The oil seals can wear out as well and cause leaks. The most obvious is where the O/S front driveshaft goes into the IRD.

Hope that helps.

More posts gone in while I was typing that last one. I see you ARE running in 2WD mode then if you have a prop on order. Could be worth doing the checks I've suggested while you're under there?

Hope all is well and you get your 4WD back then

If your buying a drive train off eBay.......I'd buy a new vcu and bearings and change those before putting it on.That way you won't risk causing any or anymore damage to the diff and ird if the one you buy has a fecked vcu( look up bell engineering or just search vcu).

Just finished work , thanks to everyone for all the help and advice and thanks greeg no apologies needed I know Freelanders are ridiculed by other Landy owners but I love her and I can get a bit defensive so if I say something sometime that offends I apologise in advance once again thanks for the help

Unless the VCU you are buying is a recon unit, get it reconditioned before putting it on, it's worth it compared to the hassle a knackered one can cause

Bell is tops, we used them, turned the thing around inside a week and explained how it all worked to my missus so she understood it!!!!! Something I (B.Eng, brian the size of a planet etc) could not acchieve

Now creeg has mentioned it you can see inside the IRD with the bit that connects to the prop shaft removed, if you get one of the front wheels off the ground you can spin it and see the entire crown wheel, as long as you've got a decent torch and don't mind gettinng your head up against the chassis I did this after being advised to by another poster (maybe Hippo, or JamesMartin, not sure now..), I was lucky, ours was in good nick

Cheers I'll try that fingers crossed

emty the oil out of the ird but make sure you can get the refil plug off first get a socket that is not muti faced you want one that each face of the socket fit onto the refil plug nut snugly if you then inspect the oil for any slithers of metal ect: then that can give you a sign of whats going on inside hope this helps

Yeah it will, thank you

View into ird oil filler:



View into ird with pinion gear removed:



Pinion gear:

I had mine rebuilt recently. By Atom Transmission, in Doncaster. The guy there is really good and is resonably priced(tacktless plug)

you can check for metal in the oil that comes out of the its, as already suggested. Tom at Atom, even told me where to metal was from, just by looking at the bits!

Also, with the drive shafts on, if you hear a bearing type noise/ whine when slowing down from about 35mph, then the IRD is probably on its way out.

Cheers my drive train arrived complete with bearings and vcu have to fit it to see what probs I've got oh well fingers crossed

Unless you absolutely know the VCU is good, do the VCU test before yoou drive it anywhere.

If you're marginally mechanically minded search for "Bell Engineering VCU test", then do that to yours before spending an hour or so fitting it, only to find ot it's no good.

Thanks I'll do that it will save time in the long run and the more I can learn about keeping her on the road the better thanks to everyone for the advice it's like having a team of me mechanics on call 24/7 it's great cheers

Withthe help of a good friend whos a mechanic we've stripped our FL TD4 IRD which was making a loud whirry noise even with prop shaft out. initally diagnosed as a wheel bearing we seeked advice and found the IRD was noisey not the wheel, so out it came. Found the 'thrust washers'/cup washers were jiggered and a questionable previous rebuild (gasket goo/scribed numbers on the output shaft - the 'pinion gear' in Hippos Photos above - mind you just noticed his has scribed numbers too...). See spares on ebay for the washers an changing drivers ball joint on the wishbone and auxillary belts whilst its all stripped down. Oil prescibed is 75W90, and hope to have bits soon to chuck it all back together, will post some photos soon if this helps? Also the pinion gear seemed rather stiff so stripping that down to see if bearing stuffed in there too. Any advice/comments please? Good luck....

I think the output (pinion) shaft bearing is making noise that sounds like an exhaust pipe against the chassis. I have seen one of these in the houseing on fleabay. Is it possible just to change that part without needing to set up clearances.
I have also seen complete sets of bearings needed to 'refurbish' an ird, but how simple is it to rebuild said item.