Freelander 1 Rear diff bearings advice needed please

Hi Everyone

I've just got back from my local LR garage after going in complaining of a whining noise coming from the rear diff. I suspected the propshaft had sheared and was just spinning but due to my bad back, was unable to get under the car and look for myself.

They did an inspection and traced the noise to the rear diff bearings. When I asked them to fix it, they said it would be around £1200 and wasnt worth doing as they dont think the car is worth that much. They said they would fix it by fitting a new (I suspect reconditioned) rear diff, hence the price.

Do I need a new diff, or will fitting new bearings suffice and roughly how much should that cost excluding labour? The mounts were changed within the last year or so.

I've found a recon diff on fleabay for £425 but thats a little out of my price range at the moment. Plus they want mine as an exchange and I have no way of getting it off the car and sent up to them anyway.

Is there anything else you can suggest? Does anyone recommend any particular company or garage in Kent?

I love my little freebie and dont want to see her wither and die. Ive spent a small fortune on her and its upsetting when more goes wrong like this, especially just before Christmas when I have elderly family up and down the country to visit.

Any advice/assistance would be much appreciated

Ian

It's possible to fit new bearings into the diff. Ideally you need to find a proper mechanic who is happy to carry out a bearing replacement. Alternatively find a good condition second hand diff. They don't fail often which helps keep the price down.
Good luck

Try contacting Ken at Bell Engineering.
I'm about to buy a reconditioned VCU from them after only ever hearing good things about their service and expertise in Freelander drivetrains.
With Fleebay, as ever, you could be taking chances.

Your viscous coupling is likely to be nixed which is probably the root cause of the diff failure.

If you replace the diff, the ird is likely to explode next. Hard choice to make next;

Either replace the diff, risk the IRD
Replace the diff, remove the prop and run in 2 wheel drive
Delete the diff, delete the rear propshafts, run in 2wd.

I'd be doing a one wheel up test before you go any further, it'll tell you if your diff failure is a symptom or a cause. Google is your friend, just Google one wheel up test and theres lots of videos on how to do it

Nodge68 said:

It's possible to fit new bearings into the diff. Ideally you need to find a proper mechanic who is happy to carry out a bearing replacement. Alternatively find a good condition second hand diff. They don't fail often which helps keep the price down.
Good luck

Click to expand...

I found the recon unit on ebay but I'm realy hoping I dont have to go that far. nearly £500 just before Christmas is far from ideal...

4Bee4Bee said:

Try contacting Ken at Bell Engineering.
I'm about to buy a reconditioned VCU from them after only ever hearing good things about their service and expertise in Freelander drivetrains.
With Fleebay, as ever, you could be taking chances.

Click to expand...

I was hoping someone would mention Bell as I had forgotten their name. I intended to look on their website and contact them for advice too, as well as on here. Thanks for that.

I

B34R said:

Your viscous coupling is likely to be nixed which is probably the root cause of the diff failure.

If you replace the diff, the ird is likely to explode next. Hard choice to make next;

Either replace the diff, risk the IRD
Replace the diff, remove the prop and run in 2 wheel drive
Delete the diff, delete the rear propshafts, run in 2wd.

I'd be doing a one wheel up test before you go any further, it'll tell you if your diff failure is a symptom or a cause. Google is your friend, just Google one wheel up test and theres lots of videos on how to do it

Click to expand...

I'll look that up now, thanks.

OK, quick silly question: will a diff from the td4 (same year) fit the petrol version? I've just found one advertised locally for £25 and its worth a punt if its compatible, even if the garage has to replace bits.

There are two different rear differentials across all models and all years:
Casting 47098 (older up to around 2002)
Casting 51441 (newer)

There was comments on this board that the newer one stronger casting.

zefrench said:

There are two different rear differentials across all models and all years:
Casting 47098 (older up to around 2002)
Casting 51441 (newer)

There was comments on this board that the newer one stronger casting.

Click to expand...

I believe that the later diff has larger bearings but these are fitted into the same casing, this being re-drilled to take the larger bearings. This can cause a weakness in the casing instead. I believe that the ratios are the same across all models though.