Freelander 2 rear diff problems

No I haven't tried that. Only had a 3 month warranty and that's ended.

To check the diff for noise, get some one to drive while you sit in the centre of the back seat, when up to speed stick you head into the boot area, its pretty obvious when the noise is coming from the centre of the boot and gets amplified in the boot space. The problem with these diffs is the pinion bearing is too small, even if the car was done under warranty in the first 3 years, it will most likely go again within 30-70k miles (depending if you have a 07-08 or 09+ - early ones last longer). We have now devised a method of modifying the diff to fit a larger bearing that can withstand an extra 25% loading. Id say at least 50% of the failed diffs im seeing now have already been rebuilt at least once using the standard bearing, although id say 25% of them have failed due to them being rebuilt badly rather than it being the bearings fault

I've changed my mind on possible diagnosis. I now believe it is the power steering pump whining & after exploring on here I reckon it can be sorted out by replacing the reservoir. I've looked inside it with engine running & it appears to be spluttering alot which fits with others description of a blocked filter. Looks like an easy fix perhaps I'll try myself depending on what the LR main dealer quote me tomorrow.

Hello guys.
I have same problem with my 2007 Freelander 2 with 180k km. It's a loud noise wich comes from rear differential. My mechanic says that differential bearings should be replaced.
Unfortunately there is no official LR autohouse. My mechanic can change them. But I need to obtain the bearings.
Can anyone tell me the exact numbers / marks of all differential bearings? I think They should start with LR... So I could order them from abroad and finally fix this issue.
Sorry but maybe I'm not quite good with English.

austen said:

Landrover say the pinion bearing damage is attributed to the way in which the coupling applies torque when moving away from standstill or during slow-speed manoeuvring, the reflash changes this. Personally i don't see this as being the main issue, the problem is the bearing is simply too small which is magnified by the use of cheaper quality bearings. The only fix without a new design of casing to take a larger bearing is to have the harder higher quality bearing kit fitted, and ensure the diff is rebuilt properly with the correct preload and backlash. That said, if you have a haldex 4 you may as well have the reflash too, as long as the dealer doesnt want to sting you for it.

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You say in your opinion the bearing is too small, then go on to say the bearing is cheap. What manufacturer bearings do they use? Cheap and undersize (for the pressure applied) need to be considered separately. A high quality bearing will fail if it's used in circumstances where too higher a force is applied to it, as it's not rated for that load.

austen said:

To check the diff for noise, get some one to drive while you sit in the centre of the back seat, when up to speed stick you head into the boot area, its pretty obvious when the noise is coming from the centre of the boot and gets amplified in the boot space. The problem with these diffs is the pinion bearing is too small, even if the car was done under warranty in the first 3 years, it will most likely go again within 30-70k miles (depending if you have a 07-08 or 09+ - early ones last longer). We have now devised a method of modifying the diff to fit a larger bearing that can withstand an extra 25% loading. Id say at least 50% of the failed diffs im seeing now have already been rebuilt at least once using the standard bearing, although id say 25% of them have failed due to them being rebuilt badly rather than it being the bearings fault

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FL2 rear diff problems have been going on since the FL2 started. LR has paid out a small fortune to fix/replace them world wide as well as paying out towards partial costs for those just out of warranty. It's damaged the FL2 reliability figures severely. Taking into account LR's technical ability and the fact it's often the case failed items are paid/partially paid for by the builder (not always LR) I just don't see how LR and it's builder would miss the opportunity to fit a larger bearing if this is a viable fix to solve the problem long term. If a magic fix was that easy then surely they would have been doing this years ago on new build production? Especially when considering how easy it is to take back a LR product for warranty repair if the dash squeaks etc.

Wow, wish I'd done my research and found this thread in October!!
Our 2008 Freelander 2 with 50,000 miles on the clock - had the whirring noise from the back
Took it to Guy Salmon Kingston (who have done all the servicing and all the work on the car for the last 4 years)
Who took a week to diagnose the rear diff need replacing £1500.00
We paid - wish we'd read the forum!
A week later with less than 50miles on the clock we developed the very loud clunking noise and extreme shuddering on hard left or right turns and reversing.
Back into Guy Salmon Kingston - who again took a week to again diagnose the Haldex pump needed replacing & it was "just a coincidence" that it had gone at the same time.
We replaced the pump £500.
Car seemed to drive well - so we drove it to Central Italy for Xmas.
Clunking & shuddering on tight corners has returned. It does drive in straight lines fine though!
We're stuck in Italy. (Guy Salmon knew at the time that we would be driving the car to Italy)
It seems to be the same problem as before?? - the Haldex pump ( I can't guarantee this, but the symptoms seem the same)
Now that we've read this forum we'd obviously prefer to get this dealt with back in the UK through LR CC & Guy Salmon (we've spoken to Guy Salmon the only option they've given us is - bring it back in and when we've told them we're in Italy they have no response)

However, is the car safe to drive the 1800km back to London?
What does the Haldex pump do?
Will we be doing more damage to the vehicle?
Or do we really need to get it fixed here in Italy & then try and deal with the LR UK and Guy Salmon when we're back?

Cheers!

@Princess _ lush
Hello.
If you still hear whirring noise from the back, you should drive it to the mechanic. That might be rear diff or Haldex. ( rear diff bearings )
You should drive it to the official LR autohouse, or LR service in fabric.
You are a lot of km from home. Oue LR is still going, about 5 k km since we heard the noise for first time. Even at high speed, at 190 kmph noise is still there.

It did not make any more damages to the car. It probably won't make you any trouble.
even, sometimes the noise is not too loud.

So, it should be OK to drive it back. It's gonna cost you much less to do the repair in UK. They should do the diagnose. If you need to change a bearings, change all of them.
If you decide to go back and fix it, don't drive too fast like I do.
Is there any chance to record that noise and send me a sound clip?

Best wishes

Princess , have you got recovery through your insurance co?

id be wary driving it that far home, the juddering is the haldex locking up the transmission , hence why you only feel it on turns (axle speed differences). I would suggest you either unplug the Haldex unit (under the car you will see 2 plugs going into the Haldex units ECU, uplug the larger of the 2) or remove the Haldex fuse from the boot box fuse box, fuse FB6, this will disable the unit and you will be running in FWD only. You will get a transmission fault error come up on the dash if you do this but dont worry about that. Personally i like to unplug the unit completely. If it is the pump, a failing pump draws a higher current, for some reason landrover fitted a 15amp fuse to this circuit, whereas a good motor only draws 3 amps, the failing pump draws alot more (but less than 15amp) and can actually damage the Haldex ECU circuit boards(bad thing!)

I am hearing this more often now, diffs are replaced, then a few days later Haldex issues arise. Its never happened to any cars i have supplied and fitted the diffs to, so im not sure if its an install issue, diff build issue, or just coincidence. Your case seems very odd that the pump is seeming to be failing again.

Ive just noticed you have a 2008 car, is it early or late 08?? The haldex units changed in 08 from the Haldex 3 to the Haldex 4. The Haldex 3 has a mechanical pump inside, where as the 4 is purely an electric pump.

i have sent you a private message

Hello guys iam new to this form
I've read the all post, nearly all issues with the differential and haldex was familiar to me.
I have a freelander2 (march 2011) nearly 18k miles, i've started to hear noise from the rear, and go to garage they said they have to change the bearings
After changing bearings that noise is gone. Couple of months later a high cluck sound comes from the car. Bring it back to landrover specialist and they said haldex needs to replace.
they have ordered the part with a nice price. Now car only works front wheel drive, haldex and rear differential won't engage and no power is going to rear. At garage they remove the haldex
to do some service. Haldex oil filter is full of metal fragments. We see that there are two worn plates on the multi-plate coupling. Also the housing at the differential which haldex fits has some worn places.
They said we will going to need a new differential. means iam going to eat both new haldex and new differential.
I want to ask why haldex and differential wont engage?? There isnt any fault on screen and for me they should engage and wear each other more.
Also if i buy the new haldex and differential, will i have the same troubles again or the new ones will be upgraded version in order to eliminate this issue in the future
Thank you

Hi
Been reading this topic over the week-end. I have a F/L 2 2009 ( bought new) now with 81000 miles some services done by L/R some not, have had a rumble from rear for a few weeks so took it to L/R main dealer diagnosis - rear diff pinion bearing quoted £750 - rang L/R customer services explained my situation and after a couple of hours rang me back and offered to pay 50% of the repair bill. Cant really complain at that as she's 6 1/2 years old and 81000 miles so its definitely worth a phone call. So far all is well, of to the French Alps for Easter so hope I don't breakdown!

Just read this thread, reason I have taken interest is that I committed to buy a freelander 2 TD 4 this week, I have fancied one for some time and when I went into my local main dealer to get some parts for my Defender I saw a nice looking F2 SW, looking at it it had 6 speed auto, and had been sold by the dealer but it had 13,000 miles on it, (I checked the MOT history), and 3 dealer service stamps.
It was registered in May 2010, so I am beginning to wonder ar what stage this rear dif saga was at that time, i.e. Would this one have the upgrade bearing. I don't pick up the vehicle until 1st June and I wondered if it might be wise to ask about the diff and ask if there has been any retrofit done on this one, at the same time putting down a mark in case any trouble starts during the. 12 month warranty period they have given me.

TBH, as I see it with F2 rear diffs, the early ones were "absolute rubbish" but they were upgraded in 2010 to "rubbish" - in the same way head gaskets were upgraded over the years in the K Series but never became reliable.

So regardless of whether its had the upgrade, if no work has been done on the diff, expect it to need some during the warranty period, and if work has already been done on it, expect more to be needed just after the warranty has expired! If you work on that basis you won't be upset by what ever happens in the future with it!

It is just a feeling I get, but I wouldn't mind betting that a lot of the diff problems are actually Haldex problems that cause the diff to fail - in the same way VCU problems cause IRDs to fail in F1. I don't know how you'd test/prove that or resolve it if that's the case, maybe as there's more discussion of it on here, things may be learnt.

Hi Raywin
I don't know when they fitted the upgrade but mine was registered in Nov 09 which was before the upgrade but having said that it did 81000mls before it needed repairing so you have a way to go. I have done 5000 miles since the repair in March '16 and no problems. Love the car

bdavew said:

Hi Raywin
I don't know when they fitted the upgrade but mine was registered in Nov 09 which was before the upgrade but having said that it did 81000mls before it needed repairing so you have a way to go. I have done 5000 miles since the repair in March '16 and no problems. Love the car

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Thanks I assume it would have been built in march or April 2010. Quite honestly I have been kind of looking at prices over the last 6 months but when I saw this one it was like looking at a brand new vehicle in the showroom so I just went for it. I will just keep an eye on the diff or should I say an ear on it, I have a defender 90 TD5 so mending Land Rovers is nothing new to me.
It's good to hear you love your FL2 I am looking forward to driving mine.

Regarding the comment by grumpy gel re the haldex I don't have any experience but from what I am reading this seems like a sofisticated clutch which applys load to the rear axle progressively in certain circumstances, I would have thought that would be kind to the diff, unless it was fluctuating rapidly and subjecting the diff to shock loads, but I am sure that would be noisy.

The Haldex in the wife's VW Tiquan failed at circa 50K miles. That appeared to work by modulating drive in and out, in much like ABS or TC does. This method of operation would produce a degree of shock to the diff, but no more than TC operating the brakes.
The wife's new Ford Kuga also bangs the Haldex in so presumably the Freelander system does to.

I presume a Haldex enabled AWD car is operating on the same principles as a VCU enabled one - ie they are FWD until traction is lost when coupling then engages to distribute power to the rear axle.

As the Haldex is a clutch based system you would therefore think that it fully disengages when not in use, unlike the VCU where there is always an amount of power going through it.

Lets face it, when driving a 2WD car traction is lost very infrequently - so in theory the rear diff on an F2 should lead a very very easy life! It should be the last part to fail on it - but its not - its the first! Something is very wrong somewhere.

Sorry I can't delete this post.

austen said:

id be wary driving it that far home, the juddering is the haldex locking up the transmission , hence why you only feel it on turns (axle speed differences). I would suggest you either unplug the Haldex unit (under the car you will see 2 plugs going into the Haldex units ECU, uplug the larger of the 2) or remove the Haldex fuse from the boot box fuse box, fuse FB6, this will disable the unit and you will be running in FWD only. You will get a transmission fault error come up on the dash if you do this but dont worry about that. Personally i like to unplug the unit completely. If it is the pump, a failing pump draws a higher current, for some reason landrover fitted a 15amp fuse to this circuit, whereas a good motor only draws 3 amps, the failing pump draws alot more (but less than 15amp) and can actually damage the Haldex ECU circuit boards(bad thing!)

Click to expand...

As the murpy law teachs I'm in the situation you describe.
My mechanic changed all the bearings and all the parts included in the famous original kit for repairing the rear diff.
Both of oils included in the kit even the oil haldex.
Unbelievably just after 100km when the steering is in the end position (bottom right or bottom left) the rear axle jerks and it worry me.
I removed the fuse as you say but the problems persists.

What could be the real matter of the repairing procedure.
Never had problems like this before replacing all the bearings so I think it depends on the operatios to rebuild the rear diff.
I personally saw the three bearings working well after their replacement.