IRD, Diff or Both?

Land_girl said:

In the light there is a metallic looking sheen in the oil.

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That didn't come across to me in the pic.

Land_girl said:

Yes lots of 'bits' in the oil.

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Once again, the bits don't look metallic to me from the pic - more like dirt that came off the drain plug or saw dust someone bunged in there!

If there is a metallic look to the oil though or bits of metal floating around - it is a bad sign. Some sludge on the magnetised drain plug is not in itself a bad sign I do not think.

Land_girl said:

I was told it should look like clear 'gold' fresh oil.

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I don't think that is true, depends how long its been in there.

Land_girl said:

Just out of interest... what are the pros and cons of running the FL as a 2WD?

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Well the pros are that the transmission won't kill itself (and you have less maintenance to stop it doing that), and you have more flexibility in tyre purchasing choices - ie not so important to have exactly matching tyres.

The cons are that the car will lose traction more, but hardly any more than any other front wheel drive car in my view (having run mine 2WD for 6 years). Some on here say that the handling is negatively affected, I haven't found that, but I don't drive it like I stole it You also will need to tell your insurance company and your premiums may go up and you may have trouble getting a MOT - it depends on how the tester interprets the laws - it looks, by the letter of the law, that it should be a failure, but testers don't appear to take this view and will still pass the car.

GrumpyGel said:

That didn't come across to me in the pic.

Once again, the bits don't look metallic to me from the pic - more like dirt that came off the drain plug or saw dust someone bunged in there!

If there is a metallic look to the oil though or bits of metal floating around - it is a bad sign. Some sludge on the magnetised drain plug is not in itself a bad sign I do not think.

I don't think that is true, depends how long its been in there.

Well the pros are that the transmission won't kill itself (and you have less maintenance to stop it doing that), and you have more flexibility in tyre purchasing choices - ie not so important to have exactly matching tyres.

The cons are that the car will lose traction more, but hardly any more than any other front wheel drive car in my view (having run mine 2WD for 6 years). Some on here say that the handling is negatively affected, I haven't found that, but I don't drive it like I stole it You also will need to tell your insurance company and your premiums may go up and you may have trouble getting a MOT - it depends on how the tester interprets the laws - it looks, by the letter of the law, that it should be a failure, but testers don't appear to take this view and will still pass the car.

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Thanks GG.
Not overly concerned with the handling (it is lighter on the steering). I don't race around, 90% of my travelling is in/around town.
Wasn't aware that an MOT might be an issue. Yes the insurance has already been mentioned and that I will do (even if it is only until I get the IRD done).
It was something I was considering (2WD) because since the I've removed the prop she drives like a dream, better than she's ever driven since I've owned her! And given that it's probably worth about £800, spending £800+ on a part that is only going to give me 4WD, which I'm not overly concerned with, did seem an excessive expense, especially when there are other things I could spend that money on ie. Thermostat, turbo hoses etc etc.
I was concerned that keeping the prop off may later cause other issues (though clearly not in your experience).

Land_girl said:

Thanks GG.
Not overly concerned with the handling (it is lighter on the steering). I don't race around, 90% of my travelling is in/around town.
Wasn't aware that an MOT might be an issue. Yes the insurance has already been mentioned and that I will do (even if it is only until I get the IRD done).
It was something I was considering (2WD) because since the I've removed the prop she drives like a dream, better than she's ever driven since I've owned her! And given that it's probably worth about £800, spending £800+ on a part that is only going to give me 4WD, which I'm not overly concerned with, did seem an excessive expense, especially when there are other things I could spend that money on ie. Thermostat, turbo hoses etc etc.
I was concerned that keeping the prop off may later cause other issues (though clearly not in your experience).

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I should say that I still run my props. When my IRD went it was going to cost over £3.5K to buy a VCU and IRD here in NZ. Shipping on heavy parts from UK would also make things very expensive. So, as I didn't trust the IRD as it stood, I had a rebuild kit (bearings, seals and cooler) shipped over from the UK, had those fitted and removed the pinion gear on the IRD's rear pinion. I then reassembled everything. So although I'm running 2WD, it still looks original underneath. The only differences that I can think of to running without props are that the engine is still probably dampened some by the props and I still have the potential to need to replace the VCU support bearings (although I haven't needed to - they're still the original ones).

The car though has performed really well and really reliably - its been the perfect family wagon.