Hello All,

Has anyone got any experiece of using the DIFFLOCK Evoloution1 oil in a Freelander ('04) TD4 manual gearbox ? ( http://shop.difflock.com/difflock-evolution-fully-synthetic-gear-litre-p-51.html ) I am changing all my transmission oils to fully synthetic (dif already done now) and am about to purchase this expensive stuff. However, would well appreciate views from others and even other options.

If you read their own write up its the best thing since sliced bread but don't see many reviews on here for the Freelander.

Cheers
David

Well....no one has come back with any comments rearding DIFFLOCK Evoloution 1 gearbox oil in a Freelander ('04) TD4 manual gearbox. Therefore I have ordered 2 litres of the stuff......Stay tuned and maybe in a week or two I'll have had chance to change it. Will keep you all posted.

If anyone is interested I actually ordered it from OEC International as the postage was cheaper than the DIFFLOCK web site- even though I think its the same firm.

Have now changed all my transmission oils to fully synthetic & can definitely tell the difference. Have changed as follows :-

Diff = Fuchs TITAN SINTOPOID SAE 75W-90 synthetic gear oil (from Opie oils)
IRD = Fuchs Titan Race SYN 5 75W-90 Fully Synthetic Gear Oil (from Opie oils)
Gearbox = Difflock Evolution 1 Fully Synthetic Gear Oil (from OEC International)

Changing the diff oil was awkward as there is no drain on there. You can see where LR planned to put one as the differential casting has the boss on it; but it is just not drilled out for a drain. Getting the oil out was either by removing the end plate or syphoning out the oil. I did the later as the end plate is very thin (I took it for a run to warm the oil first). I purchased a 100ml syringe with length of hose (about 8mm diameter) off e-bay for £2 and dragged all the oil out. Then put the new oil in using the same syringe. 40 minutes job done.

The gearbox & IRD I did at the same time - (1.25 hours total time).Took the sump guard off first, then went for a spin to warm the oil.

Draining the gearbox was easy. Allen screw filler and drain plug (8mm). Made sure the filler came off first then dropped all the oil out the drain in to an old washing up bowl.
Whilst the gearbox was draining out, did the same to the IRD - socket straight onto the drain plug. Again, made sure filler came off first (socket on a long extension) before touching the drain and then drained off into another old washing up bowl.

The oil which came out of the gearbox looked ok and in good nick (77,000 miles on clock - think this is the original oil) whilst the IRD was black and a bit sludgy on the magnetic plug.

The gearbox has bonded seals on the plugs which cleaned nicely with some WD-40 whilst the IRD has copper washers. None required replacing.

When replacing the IRD drain plug TAKE GREAT CARE. There are only a few threads on the aluminium casting of the IRD and when tighten the plug up, it felt as though I could easily strip this thread.

Filling the IRD was dead easy as the Fuchs bottle fitted perfectly & I did not need the syringe.

Filling the gearbox definitely needed the syringe. However, the Difflock oil viscosity is such that it flows out of the syringe really easy.

All in all I am pleased that everything seems to run smoother now. Was it worth the extra cost for synthetic oil? Well that remains to be seen. I have not yet used a full tank of diesel to see if there is any economy improvement. I will leave it for a while and let you all know if there is.

Big journey to top of Scotland soon, so will know more after that.

Well I have done the big trip all around the Highlands. The Landie never missed a beat...
I can tell everything is much smoother. My recommendation as a mechanical engineer is if you plan to change your transmission fluids, then you may as well pay that bit extra and get the fully sythentic stuff....especially if you plan to keep the vehicle.
After all, it will last much longer than the plain oils.

lasting longer isnt really a benefit it still needs changing regulary ,contamination of oil which happens with any oil is the real killer

thanks for that, I'll use what Land Rover says I should, after all they built the bloody thing. And jamesmartin is talking solid gold there, long lasting oil is pointless it still needs changing, thats the secret of a long lasting machine, regular servicing, be it preventative or planned. in my experience

I'm using fully synthetic engine oil - with extended interval changes at 15K - I do lots of long motorway journeys which is less polluting of the oil than short stop-start work.

I'm afraid to use anything other than the recommended N402 stuff in the auto-box.

The IRD and rear diff have no oil-change interval specified as far as I'm aware - only check/top-up - but I don't like that idea at all - so I changed them both at 100K to fully synthetic.

Singvogel.

i change them regulary too ,lr arent as worried on the long term life of vehicle as you l322 was sealed for life till they started breaking at 60k now they change oil too

jamesmartin said:

lasting longer isnt really a benefit it still needs changing regulary ,contamination of oil which happens with any oil is the real killer

Click to expand...

I am sure your right.
I changed my rear diff oil last year and it was well passed its best (very thick and had a faint burnt smell.
It had never been changed in 140,000 miles ( I know the previous owner)

jamesmartin said:

lasting longer isnt really a benefit it still needs changing regulary ,contamination of oil which happens with any oil is the real killer

Click to expand...

i get the impression that land rover really did'nt think things through with freelander, all to often i read threads to find things like having to drain oils in an unconvetional way, such a shame, but then, thats what makes forums like this priceless, as you learn from the members:clap2:

Re auto oil in jatco , have used the Carlube auto U full synthetic as its claimed to be suitable , and so far no probs after just over 2000 miles , with nice shifting hot or cold in one vehicle , the other has just been fully changed to same oil and is performing to normal specs .
Have used Redline full synthetic in 110 V8 transmission inc diffs for greatly extended intervals with occasional visual check on consistency etc in extreme conditions to good effect . Did not see any advantage on putting in engine due to as mentioned more likelyhood of contamination, just used a good 20/50 with regular changes. JMHO

When I look up my 2001 v6 on the carlube website it says "refer to handbook" and doesn't list one of their oils to use.

It has it printed on the container as substitute for the 402 tranny fluid . as posted seems to be working well , have it in two now so time will tell ! I was going to put the Redline full synth in but at 4 times the price thought see how the Carlube does as they say its suitable , and it is a full synthetic as well ( although not all synths are equal) . JMHO