Freelander 1 Noise from transfer box??

Hi All,

The wife was stranded with the Freelander on the motorway with the car making a loud knocking noise when driving. My wife said it came up first softly and it became louder rapidly. She thought she had a flat tyre.

We took off the drive shaft as we though it sounded like a seized universal joint.
It made the noise a lot less and the noise is only there at low speed now.
We put the foot on the clutch and brakes but this does not influence the noise.

Any Ideas? Is there a way to disconnect the tranfer box?

send the vcu to Bells for checking.
have you got the same make, model and age tyres on all 4 corners?
are the newest tyres on the front or back?

You can remove the propshafts to the back. This only if the IRD (Freelander's TB) hasn't started to disintegrate.
If the tyres are a mismatch of makes and tread depths? Then expect a stiff VCU and failed IRD or rear diff.

Nodge68 said:

You can remove the propshafts to the back. This only if the IRD (Freelander's TB) hasn't started to disintegrate.
If the tyres are a mismatch of makes and tread depths? Then expect a stiff VCU and failed IRD or rear diff.

Click to expand...

tulipandthistle said:

Hi All,

The wife was stranded with the Freelander on the motorway with the car making a loud knocking noise when driving. My wife said it came up first softly and it became louder rapidly. She thought she had a flat tyre.
We took off the drive shaft as we though it sounded like a seized universal joint.
It made the noise a lot less and the noise is only there at low speed now.
We put the foot on the clutch and brakes but this does not influence the noise.

Any Ideas? Is there a way to disconnect the tranfer box?

Click to expand...

The Mad Hat Man said:

send the vcu to Bells for checking.
have you got the same make, model and age tyres on all 4 corners?
are the newest tyres on the front or back?

Click to expand...

:doh:

I think I can safely say the IRD transfer box is buggered.

To answer your question - you can't disconnect the transfer box - there isn't one as front diff and drive to rear axle is combined into a single unit.

I agree, that's classic IRD disintegration behaviour.

I assume the IRD case is intact and not fractured as you've been under there and it still drives. If you continue to drive it 2WD like this, I believe there's a good chance the IRD will jam and lock up and fracture. Once fractured there's no rebate for your unit on a reconditioned one - pus of course, it'd be a scary/dangerous situation if it happens.

I've always been of the opinion that the pinion bearings are the main ones to fail first - so replacing the rear pinion with a blanking plate will remove the possibility of it jamming up - so could be driven safely and repaired back to 4WD as and when time/money permits. This is the closest you come to "disconnecting the transfer box" in a Freelander.

From what @Joe_H was saying on another thread though it is bearings on the shaft that the crown wheel is connected to that go first - to me this implies that other gears on that shaft could jam. So you make your own decisions!

If you are to drive it before a repair - I'd STRONGLY recommend at least replacing the pinion with a blanking plate. I'd also have a check of the rear diff to to make sure its not overly worn out by the episode.

As @Nodge68 says, you will probably have had mismatched tyres - either through the tyres being different make/model or they were inflated to different pressures (maybe a slow leak). Alternatively it could just be the VCU was in a very poor state. To go back 4WD, you'll need a recon IRD, recon/new VCU and to ensure your tyres are all matched.

If you're handy with the tools, you can get IRD recon kits with bearings, seals and cooler for about £150 - its likely though that damage has been done to the crown/pinion gears and they are about £300 - hence a complete recon unit starts looking decent value.

Thanks GrumpyGel. That makes sense. I am not sure the car is worth going back to 4WD although I love the Freelander. I must make a decision soon.

I am quite handy with the spanner and might try and fix it or replace the IRD.

You'll need to tell your insurance company if you do use it as a 2WD. They classify prop removal as a modification and often charge you accordingly. The Freelander doesn't drive as well as a FWD either. It spins it's wheels when pulling out of junctions a bit sharpish. There's no fuel savings to be had either.

L Series are OK FWD - you have to generate a lot of smoke from the exhaust to get any squeal from the tyres! I've driven mine for 2 1/2 years 2WD and have only lost traction with the front wheels once or twice on a solid surface - I drive our Toyota Starlet a lot less and do spin the wheels on that occasionally. When I take it down the river bed, I pick my routes and need to keep the speed up - the TC helps to keep the car moving Don't take it down the beach no more.

From what peeps say on here though, the petrols do tend to spin their wheels more, and probably the TD4 which has more HP than the L Series - but even then Grumpy here still doubts they spin any more than a similar car that's 2WD from the factory!

Well decision made, I am going to take the rear pinion out, flush the lot and blank it for a while, I have sourced a second hand transfer box already and will see if I can get a good prop shaft for a reasonable price somewhere. I will but it all in when I have the time.

No worries about going on the beach as I still have the Disco for that!!

Thanks a million lads.

@GrumpyGel
The 1.8 K series does spin it's wheels very easily as a FWD. This is because of the low first gear and the fact that the engine weighs a tiny 75Kgs!! The V6 will also spin it's wheels with relative easy, even though it's coupled to an auto box with a higher ratio IRD.
The TD4 will also spin the front wheels, but you have to actually induce spin by excessive throttle and harsh clutch engagement. The TD4 auto doesn't generally spin it's wheels unless the surface is wet.
In all instances, the TC will try to intervene.

Just a bit of an update, we took the pinion wheel out and blanked the hole that was left with plate. Car is driving perfectly but sadly as a 2WD.

We see how the transfer box behaves, if the Freelander does well we might replace it. ;-)

tulipandthistle said:

Just a bit of an update, we took the pinion wheel out and blanked the hole that was left with plate. Car is driving perfectly but sadly as a 2WD.

We see how the transfer box behaves, if the Freelander does well we might replace it. ;-)

Click to expand...

Don't forget to tell your insurance as it's a noticeable vehicle modification.