No rear wheel drive

mickdj · Aug 31, 2010

my mates not long brought a 1998 1.8 freelander and after taking it off road at the weekend to find out theres no rear wheel drive i got under neath to check that the props are still there, tryed turning it and was solid so theres nowt broke, now iv just read a recent post about a company converting it 2wd and leaving the prop i find that quite worrying is there any way of telling if theis has been done or what can i do to find out why the back wheels arent doing out, thank you.

chromiumuk · Aug 31, 2010

Get the viscous coupling checked out.

bigdenbailey · Aug 31, 2010

Viscous coupling is the likely culprit if all is genuine however,
there are companys out there who basically remove some of the internals of the IRD to remove the 4wd capability.
Undetectable by the insurance company, the hippo retains its props but they are essentially benign.

mickdj · Aug 31, 2010

if i jacked the front end up and and put it in gear and look to see if the prop turned or not befor the viscous coupling whould that tell me if theres no drive from the gearbox or not getting by the coupling, or if it did spin could this just be drag ?

bigdenbailey · Aug 31, 2010

Dont do that! If there is any drive in the coupling, it will drive the rear wheels and fall off the jack!
You could put your hippo on axle stands and rotate the wheels by hand, that will give you an overview of whats going on. Turning the prop shafts with a large screwdriver carefully through a UJ, will soon identify the cause, experiment with different combinations handbrake on and in gear etc.

mick 1986 · Sep 2, 2010

i have a funny feeling mine is only running front wheel drive only at the min. i intend to jack up all 4 wheels and see whats happening today. i hope and pray it isnt just front wheel drive, but if it is the garage who sold it as a 4x4 will be getting the bill to get it back on 4x4.

will let yous know how i get on.

mick.

mick 1986 · Sep 2, 2010

i have just had it on the jacks, all four wheels off the floor, in neutral and handbrake off. turned both front wheels and the rear ones turned aswell, does that mean the 4x4 system is working? are there any other tests to do aswell?

just a small point to note, when on full lock the car feels as if the brakes are applied, just enough to stop it rolling down a slight hill. and when the down-hill decent button is pressed, there is a distinct smell of burning rubber from the engine bay, but it was dark so i couldnt really see anything.

maybe i should start my own thread with these issues??:doh:

cheers, mick.

AllanI · Sep 2, 2010

Don't know about the burning rubber smell but your other descriptions indicate the drive system is ok. The tightening up with steering lock applied is the result of the viscous coupling working transferring drive to the rear. If you were to turn on a gravelly surface you would see the rear wheel slip.

Allan

mick 1986 · Sep 2, 2010

AllanI said:
Don't know about the burning rubber smell but your other descriptions indicate the drive system is ok. The tightening up with steering lock applied is the result of the viscous coupling working transferring drive to the rear. If you were to turn on a gravelly surface you would see the rear wheel slip.

Allan

cheers mate, i didnt think the full lock thing was a problem, as my brothers subaru does it, it doesnt feel ashard on the breaks as the freelander does.

just one more thing. i have been doing some searches and found alot on the "3 amigos". when i bought the freelander about 3weeks ago, i broke hard on the M6, and the TC light come on and stayed on, also so did the downhill decent orange light, but not the ABS light. i dont think i have ever seen the ABS light lit up.

cheers, mick.

Chaser · Sep 2, 2010

mick 1986 said:
cheers mate, i didnt think the full lock thing was a problem, as my brothers subaru does it, it doesnt feel ashard on the breaks as the freelander does.

just one more thing. i have been doing some searches and found alot on the "3 amigos". when i bought the freelander about 3weeks ago, i broke hard on the M6, and the TC light come on and stayed on, also so did the downhill decent orange light, but not the ABS light. i dont think i have ever seen the ABS light lit up.

cheers, mick.

If it's a 2002my or after with active wheel-speed sensors then it could be the brake light switch that's faulty.....
Check the condition of the HDC swith wiring under the gearshift gaitor.

mick 1986 · Sep 2, 2010

Chaser said:
If it's a 2002my or after with active wheel-speed sensors then it could be the brake light switch that's faulty.....
Check the condition of the HDC swith wiring under the gearshift gaitor.

i checked all the dash lights this aftanoon mate, all three light up and turn off after start up, so maybe the lights were the start of the switch failing. i will keep my eye on them.

cheers, mick.

No rear wheel drive

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