IRD enquiry

My new Freelander friends.I inadvertantly drained the IRD unit of its oil and have struggled to get the filler bolt out to refill it.I had the rear propshaft removed last week and its now front wheel drive only.My question is does the IRD have any effect on the front wheels will it be okay to leave as is i.e. empty...took it for a short run and it sounds fine.Your thoughts please.
Thanks
Stewart.

There MUST be oil in the IRD, regardless if it's a FWD or not. There's a rule whenever you drain a transmission component with a screw in filler plug. The rule is. Only remove the drain plug, after the fill plug is removed
You'll need to get the filler plug out, as there MUST be oil in the IRD. Oh and don't forget to inform your insurance company as to the new drive configuration. Some insurance companies won't insure a modified vehicle.

All moving parts need oil otherwise they will overheat. And being FWD only, yes you need to inform you insurer if your not going to return back to original manufacture condition.

Oh, and why make it 2WD anyway?

If it's for fuel saving, then it makes virtually no difference. In fact some insurers actually charge more for the premium, because it's a modification. This will completely wipe our any potential savings on fuel. I tested fuel savings running 2WD over 20,000 miles on my V6 FL1. It did use less fuel as a 2WD. However the savings were so small, it was almost unnoticeable. The actual saving was just 0.2 Mpg without the props fitted. The V6 over the 20,000 test mileage (10K with props, 10K without), did 19.6 Mpg as an AWD and 19.8 Mpg as a 2WD. I would think the only reason for the fuel savings, was the loss of 40Kg of metal from under the car.

My insurance company wanted an extra £45 on the policy, because it was a modified vehicle. So at a 0.2 MPG saving, and the insurance increase, it's was a financial disaster to run 2WD.

You need to get oil into the IRD before you drive it. You can use the breather tube to slowly fill it. But it's better to get the plug out, even if you destroy it in the process. They are cheap to buy, even from LR.

thanks nodge ..is the breather tube accessible.

newsufferer said:

thanks nodge ..is the breather tube accessible.

Click to expand...

Access to it is tight as it's behind the engine, above the IRD. It's also a small bore, so oil will trickle in very slowly. I have done it in the past, using a funnel and some washer tubing, pushed into the pipe at the IRD. This can be held above the engine and 1.1 litres of 75w90 GL5, oil trickled in. It'll take an age, but that's better than running without oil.

Why is it now 2WD?

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Nodge68 said:

Access to it is tight as it's behind the engine, above the IRD. It's also a small bore, so oil will trickle in very slowly. I have done it in the past, using a funnel and some washer tubing, pushed into the pipe at the IRD. This can be held above the engine and 1.1 litres of 75w90 GL5, oil trickled in. It'll take an age, but that's better than running without oil.

Why is it now 2WD?

Click to expand...

Thanks
again nodge.managed to get the oil In through the breather pipe using clear washer pipe and a scottoiler bottle.took about an hour.I really appreciate you giving me that back door key.As for the 2wd my mechanic said the rear diff was leaking so i asked him to remove the prop shaft etc.Whats your opinion of these blanking plates ?
QUOTE="Nodge68, post: 4020247, member: 79035"]Access to it is tight as it's behind the engine, above the IRD. It's also a small bore, so oil will trickle in very slowly. I have done it in the past, using a funnel and some washer tubing, pushed into the pipe at the IRD. This can be held above the engine and 1.1 litres of 75w90 GL5, oil trickled in. It'll take an age, but that's better than running without oil.

Why is it now 2WD?[/QUOTE]
?

Just cure the rear diff leak. You haven't recently had new front tyres have you?
Blanking plates are a pointless waste of money. Put the money towards restoring the 4x4 system

If the drive shaft oil seals are leaking these are cheap and easy to replace. If its the pinion seal, that looks a bit more complex to replace as you have to torque things up correctly (although I've never done it) - but should be easy for a mechanic, especially as the prop shafts are already off. I've recently got prices for the driveshaft seals. These prices are in NZD, for UKP you need to half it and add a little - so for example $6 would be less than £3.50

Diff Seals : TOC100000 x2
LRDirect : Britpart : $5.65
LRDirect : Allmakes : $5.75
LRDirect : Bearmach : $5.90
LRDirect : Genuine : $62.40
Rimmers : Aftermarket : $6.11
Rimmers : Genuine : $57.12
Advanced Factors : Bearmach : $5.37
Advanced Factors : Eurospare/Hotbray : $5.09
NZ TradeMe : Listing 1351048587 : $38 (inc $18 P&P)

It goes to show that...

1) For all LR's "commitment" to Freelander, in making it classic status or what ever it is, they are still ripping people off with hyper inflated prices!
2) How hyper inflated prices are in NZ. The TradeMe listing is obviously not a LR part so that means its almost 4 times the price of the same part in UK - plus stupid shipping fees.

Thanks for your input guys.OH and grumpy I see you gave the lions a damn good thrashing.Not one Scot in the team so I dont feel so bad.