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drivetrain lockup


paul18k

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hi peeps, i've just registered so i'm a newbie to this forum and new to four wheel drive too..

i've the chance to buy what sounds like a cheap Freelander diesel (v reg possibly 99), it's cheap due to the drive train problem that it has.

it's done 101,000 miles and is suffering from drive train lockup so can't be moved as is. i've not yet seen the car coz i wanted to know roughly what could be wrong with it, i didn't wan't to waste the owners and my time if it turns out the damn thing is terminaly ill.

this is probably a silly question but, is a freelander 4x4 or just rear wheel drive (a work mate told me it's just rear???), does it have a transfer box? and finaly do the rear diff's give problems as these (transfer box + diff) are the areas i'm suspecting are at fault.

any advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance, Paul

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Welcome :)

Viscous coupling seized is the most likely cause, if by "locked up" you mean the tyres scrub on cornering. If you mean total lockup i.e. wheels don't move then could be various things possibly the IRD unit, maybe a diff... hard to say without seeing it.

It is permanent 4x4 but due to the viscous coupling most of the drive goes to the front wheels until they start to spin, then the drive to the rear wheels increases. The "transfer box" is called the IRD Intermediate Reduction Drive, but it doesn't have a low range. Rear diffs are known to go pop, yes.

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thanks for the welcome bogmonster :-)

it's a total drive lockup and unable to drive not just tyre scrubbing.

if i like it when i see it do you think disconecting the prop to the rear will make it towable?

i'm thinking if the problem is the rear diff i can put the rear on a dolly then tow it or if its the IRD i can lift the front and tow the rear once the prop is off

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thanks for the welcome bogmonster :-)

it's a total drive lockup and unable to drive not just tyre scrubbing.

if i like it when i see it do you think disconecting the prop to the rear will make it towable?

i'm thinking if the problem is the rear diff i can put the rear on a dolly then tow it or if its the IRD i can lift the front and tow the rear once the prop is off

Taking prop off should do it unless both ends are buggered in which case I should walk away!

I must admit I've not come across a totally locked up one before but my guess would be the IRD as I think these are generally reckoned to be the weak point. Usually (on other vehicles anyway) if something catastrophic happens inside a diff there'll be an expensive bang and a big hole in the casing where the relevant bits have made a sudden bid for freedom .... all of which is pretty obvious when you look underneath :)

But unless it's seriously cheap I'd do a bit of digging as to the cause of the problem and the likely repair costs, if you got it and found it needed a new gearbox and IRD it might start to look like an expensive way to buy a Freelander - the early ones must be getting pretty cheap by now anyway?

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"But unless it's seriously cheap"

well, i've looked on tinternet and £2000 seems ok for a diesel three door on a v reg with 100k on the clock and i'd try and find second hand parts to fix it to cut the cost.

at worst i could break it for parts on eBay :-) but would lose a bit of money probably

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If it's as bad as you suggest, despite the £2000 bargin price, I reckon you'll spend another £2000 on parts alone, let alone time and hastle of fixing it.

Might be worth it if you want a hobby for a while, but there are better ways of getting a new car!

Cheers

Blippie

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blippie

you are right ofcourse, why spend £4000 on buying and fixing if you can get one for the same money and not have to roll around on the floor in the wet and cold.

it's still damn tempting to av a look though, just to find out if it's worth doing, but if the rest of the car is a dog then it isn't worth the time or money.

as for looking for a new car, i wasn't, it was just an alternative to going thirds on a ropey old horse box and having to keep that on the road. at least with buying a freelander you get to use it for other things, i can't see a four ton truck doing what you do with your freelander :-)

that off roading looks fun

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is the ird the same on the four pots and the six's?

i've done a little more digging and read that if the teeth break off the crown wheel and pinion in the ird that can cause the lot to lock, and the cause of the ird breaking could be due to a seized viscous coupling, so this is what i recon has happened to the freelander i'm interested in. trouble is, ird+viscous coupling sounds bloody expensive.

jules

is your friends freelander realy worth so little that he/she can't be bothered to replace the engine? or is it no worth saving due to other things being wrong?

i'm asking because the £2000 bargain price i can get this broken flander for is starting to sound rather inflated :-O

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I wouldn't pay more than £1000 for it(and still wouldn't have it)

you can get working examples dead cheap and after owning one I wouldn't have another as a gift

bluddy car.

biggest loss of ££ I have ever suffered on any vehicle in over 20years

small persistent problems = one fed up owner

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i've done a little more digging and read that if the teeth break off the crown wheel and pinion in the ird that can cause the lot to lock, and the cause of the ird breaking could be due to a seized viscous coupling, so this is what i recon has happened to the freelander i'm interested in. trouble is, ird+viscous coupling sounds bloody expensive.

Correct - I'd walk away.... without being to test drive you might spend loads of £££ then go for the first run and find the engine has an overheating problem, blah blah blah. Too much risk IMHO.

The only option would be if it was REALLY cheap and you had the chance to acquire another one with a complete drivetrain e.g. an insurance writeoff the same age that had been expensively rear-ended, that might just about be a go - buy both of them and make 1 out of the 2. But I still wouldn't bother unless you have a lot of bored weekends you are trying to fill :)

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The story is harsh and I don't know the full history

basicly

bought for top money 24 months ago...

some major part failed and cost the earth to fix while driving away from the garage that fixed it the oil light came on (V6 life was over) 12 months ago

sat in garage yards moved around the south collecting starage charges and no longer worth replacing the engine.....

I was a little shocked but also wanted stuff off it...

The IRD is the same but my name is already on it...

As I said I don't know the full story only snipits... by the time Labour rates and parts costs are added the owner was probibly looking at a massive bill well into the thousands and didn't want to waste any more money on it...

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"unless you have a lot of bored weekends you are trying to fill"

hmmm, nope, wife, two children, horse (belongs to my daughter, but i get all the sh!t jobs) budgie, twelve hour shifts during the week, this all adds up to a busy life (THINKS- if i'm so busy why am i so fat?)...

i think i'll leave it.......... unless i can get the flander for a grand, but i don't think the owner will go for that.

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