Freelander 1 VCU removal

Well Today while waiting for the arrival of my broken glow plug drill kit I carried out a couple of the waiting jobs on my Td4. The removal of the inlet manifold exposed the what I assume are crankcase vent ports into the manifold and they were very heavily gummed up with carbon sludge, using an old vacuum cleaner and a sharp curved knife I scraped this crud out and think it can only help.I noticed the drivers side inter cooler pipe was nearly worn through on a mount and as the clip is tight up against the front grille bodywork I'll have to cut this and fit new with new hose. I crawled around under the vehicle, nose to chassis and eventually removed the prop shafts and vcu complete using a trolley jack to support the weight. Once the 17mm bolts had been slackened off that hold the shafts to the VCU I found they are stuck on the splines so with some help I screwed the UJ flange to my garage roof joist to hang the whole unit vertical and soaked the splines with wd 40 I will try again in a day or two using the bolt and a chisel to hopefully separate the two.
Does anyone know if the VCU has a master spline to prop coupling ? work continues! AL.

Think this is the best way to separate props from VCU. Worked well for me.

GrumpyGel said:

Think this is the best way to separate props from VCU. Worked well for me.

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Yes I watched that one too thanks for reply

They can be a right pain to separate if seized. The method GG linked to is the only way I know but even then it can be hard if your unlucky.
Sometimes you just need a bigger hammer.

Alibro said:

They can be a right pain to separate if seized. The method GG linked to is the only way I know but even then it can be hard if your unlucky.
Sometimes you just need a bigger hammer.

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Removed mine yesterday to replace the bearings. Rear one was easy, front was a b*****d. Bent the head of the 17mm bolt and a cold chisel but it came off eventually. Bearings came off easily enough with some gentle persuasion. Don't know why the PO didn't change them as the VCU, rear diff mount and prop shaft bolts all look like new so if it was all off why not do the bearings ?

Lyndasbottom said:

Removed mine yesterday to replace the bearings. Rear one was easy, front was a b*****d. Bent the head of the 17mm bolt and a cold chisel but it came off eventually. Bearings came off easily enough with some gentle persuasion. Don't know why the PO didn't change them as the VCU, rear diff mount and prop shaft bolts all look like new so if it was all off why not do the bearings ?

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I don't think any 2 of these are the same!

I separated the props fairly easily, once I found the correct level of aggression and size of hammer! The bearings though were a PITA to remove - I didn't have a suitable puller, so it was hammer and chisel for those as well.

Lyndasbottom said:

Removed mine yesterday to replace the bearings. Rear one was easy, front was a b*****d. Bent the head of the 17mm bolt and a cold chisel but it came off eventually. Bearings came off easily enough with some gentle persuasion. Don't know why the PO didn't change them as the VCU, rear diff mount and prop shaft bolts all look like new so if it was all off why not do the bearings ?

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That's what I've found happens most often, rear is easy and front a right b*****. You can buy replacement bolts fairly easily but if getting standard bolts from a hardware shop make sure to buy bolts with an extra fine thread. Having said that I don't believe the bolts are under much stress so maybe OK to reuse the bent one, not sure but I replaced mine JIC.

GrumpyGel said:

I don't think any 2 of these are the same!

I separated the props fairly easily, once I found the correct level of aggression and size of hammer! The bearings though were a PITA to remove - I didn't have a suitable puller, so it was hammer and chisel for those as well.

Click to expand...

Easiest way to remove the VCU bearings is to cut round the rubber membrane with a lubricated knife, then, if you don’t have a puller, slice them with a grinder.

I think I’ve said this before, but the round mounts make excellent fishing rod holders/hangers.

I had to get replacment bolts from eBay. The local specialist fastener place only had longer ones that weren't threaded all the way up so i couldn't even cut them. They are M10 x 25mm x 1.0mm pitch thread which is not the M10 fine thread as that's 1.25mm pitch so I'm told. Things you learn .

Lyndasbottom said:

I had to get replacment bolts from eBay. The local specialist fastener place only had longer ones that weren't threaded all the way up so i couldn't even cut them. They are M10 x 25mm x 1.0mm pitch thread which is not the M10 fine thread as that's 1.25mm pitch so I'm told. Things you learn .

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I believe M10 standard is 1.5mm, M10 fine is 1.25mm and M10 extra fine like I mentioned in my post earlier is 1mm. I couldn't get the right length at the time but a slightly shorter bolt did the job fine.