Front Prop question

Hi
Got a question related to the front propshaft on my 54 plate Freelander TD4 with 130k on the clock.

Things were going well following the EGR fix - car felt great right up to yesterday. Car has started juddering at the rear on tight turns at corners, I would say when power is applied exiting a corner/junction and the car is straightening up. It seems to be if clutch is pressed there is no juddering until the clutch is engaged and power applied (gently).

So trip to garage and, after a test drive, their thought is that it may be the rear diff. Car was jacked up and sure enough there is oil leaking out the rear diff. They turned a rear wheel by hand (the other rear wheel spun the freely in the opposite direction) and propshafts spun as well but I am stuffed I can remember details of how much they turned. I was under the ramp as well have a look, and put my hand on the VCU and was not hot to the touch. Incidently propshaft central bearings were replaced last year.

Anyway when the wheel was rotated the front of the propshaft gave a clank and could be seen to move sideways a couple of millimeters (max). My question is does any one know if the moving parts in this are a part of the IRD?

Worth mentioning that the needs new tyres in the next week or so, but this is blowing my budget

Thanks in advance

sounds lke bevel gear or output bearing,flange should have no play at all, a stiff vcu is usual cause

James
Is the bevel gear the part that is inside the IRD and it could be the bearing aoround the shaft of this? I have the haynes guide but it has been "tidied" away so cant find any references to help me identify the parts/culprits.
Cheers

bevel gears are part of ird, out put bearing supports one of the bevel gears which is part of the out put shaft

Something's up there. To get noises (clanking) coming from the IRD is very bad!

Until you can resolve the issues - remove the props/VCU because it may currently be salvagable.

It will have been damaged by tyres not all being the same (make & model) and/or tyres pumped to inconsistent pressure and/or overly stiff VCU. You will need to check and address these 3 issues.

Before you reinstall the props, you should remove the rear pinion on the IRD. Check the gear on the end of it and the gear it mates to. If there is any damage, you will need to replace them, which basically means a recon IRD. If there is minimal damage, replace the bearings in the pinion and everything should be able to be put back together.

You'll probably need new VCU support bearings & front mount on the rear diff as well.

Cheers Guys.
Had a closer look today and the front prop shaft where the gaiter is attached can be seen to move and this is where the clank noise is coming from. Pic taken from online source.


I have been having a problem with the rear DS tyre losing pressure.
I jacked up the rear DS wheel and using the supplied wheel nut wrench, I was able to turn the rear wheel with foot moderate pressure. The harder I press the more resistance there is. Rear diff appears to be leaking oil at the drive shafts turning the wheels. Oh the joy!

I believe there's a CV joint inside that gaiter and it should be packed with grease. Whether it its OK if there's any slack or whether it should clank as any slack is taken up - I'm not sure.

Those gaiters can obviously perish/split over time, and the grease inside can turn into a more oil-like consistency and drain (be thrown) out.

If a tyre is consistently losing pressure, it should be fixed or replaced - it will end up costing you lots if you don't sort it. Given your description of the movement of the back wheel under pressure, it sounds as if the VCU may not be to bad - but a (more) accurate way of testing should be done - the 1 wheel up test is the easiest way - looking at comparable results (and there is a thread just for results on here) a quarter turn (from eg 1:30 to 3PM) on a 1.2M bar with 5KG of weight should take in the region of 35 seconds on a healthy VCU.

I did the 1 wheel up test on a 2000 K Series I just bought at the weekend - it took 120 seconds - so thats obviously needing a recon of the VCU - but it hasn't cooked the IRD yet. My '99 L Series that I've had for 5 years disintegrated its IRD when we didn't notice a tyre had lost pressure - I estimate we did about 400 miles on it over 2 days of touring for it to go.

I don't know much about the rear diff - all my work on the Freelander has been up the front! I was though reading the Rave docs for the oil seals on the IRD & gearbox for the front shafts at the weekend and it looks like the oil seals for these push in to the recesses when the shafts are removed. Having been through this process, its quite easy to remove 2 bolts holding the hub to the strut which allows the hub to be plulled back a bit so that the drive shafts can be pulled out from the IRD.

If the rear hubs are the same, its a quick process. I don't know about getting the old seals out though as I gave my IRD to a shop to have the bearings pulled and replaced with a kit I got and they did the seals at the same time.

Sounds like the tyre pressure loss has done in the diff, IRD or both.

So, question, is the shaft moving in the joint, or is the joint (and the bit that goes into the gearbox) moving?
Critical distinction - if the shaft is moving in the joint, it's not so bad, if the joint is moving in the gearbox, the bearings are screwed, stop driving it immediately or the IRD gearbox will explode.

Bear
I would say the shaft is moving. Best description is that if i grip the prop it visibly moves as i look a long the prop towards the front as the pic I posted. The movement occurs just beyond the gaiter near where the first the set of bolts are in the pic. There does not appear to be any movement where the next set of bolts are at the IRD.


I am thinking of ordering a diff of ebay and getting a reconditioned vcu.

Been looking at the sideways moving problem of the front propshaft. It seems to be that this a complete propshaft needs to be purchased. Can anyone recommend where to source a replacement? Rear diff off ebay £100, Recon rear diff £350 (ouch), recon VCU £200, Labour approx £200, Tyres £275 so could be looking at £1200 min!

Could you do the work yerself? These guides cover most of the work.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/freelander-1-vcu-bearing-replacement-how-to-guide.156068/

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/rear-diff-mount-replacement-how-to-guide.101774/

Hippo
First - apologies for my delayed response.
The guides you posted are are excellent, however this is my only transport and I cant afford to wait for parts if I uncover something else, so in my situation a trusted local garage will be used. I have done various jobs to the freelander, but only when I know there is a minimal risk of uncovering another underlying issue.
I have taken the ebay route for repairs at present and sourced the full prop assembly (front/rear & vcu) and a low mileage diff.
Praying there is no other damage - eg IRD!
Regards
eekie

An update on this thread. 15k miles later and the ebay option worked a treat for the diff. Also went for a 2nd hand propshaft assembly from a scrappies off a low mileage vehicle. New tyres all round and the running gear is operating well - hope that has not jinxed it!
Thanks all!