Freelander mk1 missing driveshaft

hi men i am new to the world of the landrovers i have a mk1 freelander 2.0 rover engine. I had a look under it today and i seen that it does not have a driveshaft connecting the front wheels to the back. From what i hear this is a common thing but is it ?. I bought the landy for 600 euro so its not the end of the world but i am wondering what would i be talking to fix it ? what i mean is is it just a drive shaft or is there anything else that goes in there. Thanks men

You are missing two sections of propshaft and a viscous coupling. If you look on hippos thread in the how to replace vcu bearings you will see what is missing....

BUT until you know why it has been removed you don't know how much it will cost to repair.

For instance my freelander was missing the prop when I got it... So far I have sourced another prop and vcu, replaced the transfer box (ird) I have also replaced the gearbox due to damage caused by a damaged ird. I don't think my rear diff is damaged but time will tell.

When I get some new prop bearings I will be back to 4wd.

If you only want to drive on the road then the most cost effective option is to leave it as it is, second hand parts will probably cost as much as you paid for the freelander. Reconditioned - considerably more...

Many people take the prop off. I have friends with a freelander that had knackered prop bearings. They removed the propshaft purely because of them and to prevent any further damage as they only drive on road.

usually that's a cheap( free way ) of fixing a problem with the viscous coupling in the prop shaft ( or as you call it driveshaft) usually a Freelander is front wheel drive during normal driving the viscous coupling unit ( VCU) sits in the middle of the prop and senses a speed difference between the front and rear wheels so when the front wheels are spinning the VCU locks and transfers drive to the rear wheels , there are no sensors its just mechanical, VCU's are expensive to replace so often people remove the whole prop and leave it in front wheel drive mode if they don't leave tarmac , the other reason for this is the intermediate reduction drive ( IRD ) is damaged this is normally caused by a seized viscous coupling which leaves it in four wheel drive when on tarmac and thus causes damage, the IRD is a bit like a transfer box it makes a front wheel drive gearbox able to accept a four wheel drive setup but with no high or low range, this is also an expensive component to replace both in parts and labour.

personally if you arnt intending to use it off road id leave it as it is.
if you are I would fit a good second hand prop and VCU and see what happens from there

hope this helps and is correct to the best of my knowledge feel free to correct if im wrong

in the time I took to write that someone else replied dammit lol

sorry Yellow!

Thanks for the help men that makes me feel a little better. I am not going to use it for off road use so i think i will leave it as is for now. I might fix it myself at some point it could be a nice wee project. Now then time for the pub to celebrate the rugby win . Happy paddys weekend

ZDomZ said:

sorry Yellow!

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I should chain yours to mine while in low 1st for that