Freelander 1 TD4 IRD Smash, savage FW drive train leaks and mystery washer!

Hello all - just bought a 2002 Freelander TD4 (BMW 2.0 diesel). So many problems that I will be tackling but was wondering if someone could help with some advice?

I have removed the plastic sump cover to check the vehicle and have found that the gearbox casing has taken a whack at some point - either a stone has kicked up and the sump cover has been replaced, or something has gone bang and caused some damage.

Firstly, I'd love to know what these pipes are (viewed from the underside of the vehicle, around the drive drain/gearbox - towards the passenger side)? They have taken quite a pasting!



The knock has also caused the following damage - anyone have any thoughts on these breaks in the housing? The sump panel was in a reasonable condition with 2 of the ally rivets broken on the driver side. I would have thought that anything coming up would have smashed the plastic panel to pieces?? Or maybe it has already been replaced. Failing that, the smash has come from above (which would be worrying)!





Also, when taking the sump cover off, the following rubber grommet fell out! Does anyone know what this is and where it has fallen off?





The front drive train oil seals have given way and it's ****ing oil out of the front drive train. I'm going to tackle both seals and then clean up and see if all my leaks have stopped.

Passenger side



Driver side



Full disclosure - I have no idea what I'm doing but can turn my hand to most things. However, most nomenclature will be lost on me so please go easy. All recommendations welcome - never worked on a Freelander before.

I managed to source the RAVE manual, but had to install a virtual machine to install XP to get Adobe 4.0 to read the RAVE.exe application - I will drop a walkthrough onto on of the old forum postings for those seeking it out!

Thanks guys and gals! Looking forward to getting started! All recommendations welcome!

Rusty

From some further research, I think that the knocked ally pipes are fitted to the Intermediate Reduction Drive. Would the reduced flow cause problems down the line (not even sure what's flowing through them, but I'd say they're at 20% of their original capacity)!

I should also mention that the rear prop shaft has been removed by the previous owner (I'm assuming to increase the MPG)?

Looking forward to any advice - thanks!

Rusty

Coolant pipes to ird, someone has obviously stripped and rebuilt the bottom end, and has put the long bolts in the short holes and vice versa

Hi,

1 ) The grease on the driveshaft looks like it's need to be changed, probably the rubber has failed and the grease go all way out.
2 ) If the casing is broken, you will probably need to replace the full part, since all the bolts will break any time soon.
3 ) The propshaft was probably removed because the ird had broken ...

Personnaly I will never buy a car in that condition, to much time and money only to fix it.

I recon that IRD has had a tough/abused life.

I reckon the props will have been removed because the IRD won't support it. The pinion bearings will be toast and probably the crown/pinion gears.

It may be fine running fwd but i reckon you'll need a recon IRD if you want back to 4wd.

Crack the fill bolt on IRD with good fitting hex socket before touching the drain bolt as they are very soft.

rusty_87 said:

I should also mention that the rear prop shaft has been removed by the previous owner (I'm assuming to increase the MPG)?

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That's what they might have told you, however the only reason to remove the propshaft is because the IRD has been destroyed internally.
Removing the propshaft for fuel savings makes almost immeasurable difference.
It's likely that the IRD cooler has been hit by the crown wheel inside, which has pushed the cooler out from behind, where its impacted the gearbox.

You need a replacement IRD, as that one is scrap.

If Nodge's prognosis about the IRD cooler is right, you, correction, the original owner are actually that it's still driving at all and could be sold as a runner. I agree; the IRD is fracked, Half the work of doing the IRD is splitting the suspension to get to the point where you can remove the driveshafts, seeing as you're doing that anyways to stop the oil leaks, it's only a little bit deeper to get the IRD out.

Before you fit the "New" IRD, hell, before even removing it from the donor vehicle (presuming you'll get one from a breaker rather than a gucci megabux refurb unit), do the following two checks:

1. remove the "drive pinion", which is the term for the assembly containing the output shaft stub onto which the rear propshaft bolts, it's 5 fasteners around the flange and lifts right off, check the state of the bevel gears both on the pinion assembly you just removed and inside the IRD itself.
2. Check that you can remove the IRD filler plug. It might sound stupid, but they have a habit of seizing into position by means of bimetallic reaction between the steel plug and the alloy casing. There have been many threads on here of people stuck with an immobilised vehicle when they cannot get the blerry filler plug off to refill the IRD oil that has been drained, either as a service item or as part of other maintenance such as removing driveshafts to do a clutch.

If the IRD passes both those checks, make sure you take the propshaft bolts, they are crazy expensive for what they are. If the IRD has a good pinion, but you can't get the plug off in situ, given what I can see of your workshop in the background, I'm sure you'll be able to remove the filler plug on the bench before fitting the IRD to the vehicle.

Once you have a good IRD on there, the next step would be to reinstate the 4wd system by adding a propshaft, start with a used propshaft, but if possible, do a "one wheel up test" on the donor vehicle, you'll see there is a thread stickied at the top "tests ever freelander owner should do", do that. If you can't do that test on the donor vehicle, fit the shaft to your vehicle and immediately do the test. If you get unfavourable results, ie the socket + weight takes too long to move, remove the shaft, and order a replacement viscous coupling from Bell Engineering.

DO NOT RUN THE FREELANDER WITH A "BAD" VISCOUS COUPLING FITTED!

The reason I've put so much emphasis on the above is that a bad viscous coupling will wreck either your "New" IRD, and or your back diff.

And while you have the IRD removed, check the turbo for bearing wear or oil leaks. Although the turbo can be replaced without removing IRD, it's much easier when IRD is out.

You guys are the nuts, thank you!!

Alteredtech said:

Hi,

1 ) The grease on the driveshaft looks like it's need to be changed, probably the rubber has failed and the grease go all way out.
2 ) If the casing is broken, you will probably need to replace the full part, since all the bolts will break any time soon.
3 ) The propshaft was probably removed because the ird had broken ...

Personnaly I will never buy a car in that condition, to much time and money only to fix it.

Click to expand...

That's a fair comment. When I say "just bought", what I meant is "I've just been donated". I've been in the building trade for 20 years and decided (about 6 weeks ago), that I was tired of climbing scaffolding and digging holes, so made an offer on the assets of an auto-body repair shop (which was accepted), and have begun my journey into restoring classic cars. By classics - so far I've repaired a friend's Ford Focus rocker cover leak, knocked a friend's Ford Transit's wing with a hammer (so the door will open without it catching), and bought (I do mean it this time), a 1956 Austin A30, which I have removed the engine from and have just finished the disassembly process (not a Haynes manual in sight)!

So, this has been given to me from a friend who stated that it was 'loosing fluid and likely the head gasket has gone'. The further I look into it, the more I'm learning that I have a lot of bolts to undo!

Jayridium said:

If Nodge's prognosis about the IRD cooler is right, you, correction, the original owner are actually that it's still driving at all and could be sold as a runner. I agree; the IRD is fracked, Half the work of doing the IRD is splitting the suspension to get to the point where you can remove the driveshafts, seeing as you're doing that anyways to stop the oil leaks, it's only a little bit deeper to get the IRD out.

Before you fit the "New" IRD, hell, before even removing it from the donor vehicle (presuming you'll get one from a breaker rather than a gucci megabux refurb unit), do the following two checks:

1. remove the "drive pinion", which is the term for the assembly containing the output shaft stub onto which the rear propshaft bolts, it's 5 fasteners around the flange and lifts right off, check the state of the bevel gears both on the pinion assembly you just removed and inside the IRD itself.
2. Check that you can remove the IRD filler plug. It might sound stupid, but they have a habit of seizing into position by means of bimetallic reaction between the steel plug and the alloy casing. There have been many threads on here of people stuck with an immobilised vehicle when they cannot get the blerry filler plug off to refill the IRD oil that has been drained, either as a service item or as part of other maintenance such as removing driveshafts to do a clutch.

If the IRD passes both those checks, make sure you take the propshaft bolts, they are crazy expensive for what they are. If the IRD has a good pinion, but you can't get the plug off in situ, given what I can see of your workshop in the background, I'm sure you'll be able to remove the filler plug on the bench before fitting the IRD to the vehicle.

Once you have a good IRD on there, the next step would be to reinstate the 4wd system by adding a propshaft, start with a used propshaft, but if possible, do a "one wheel up test" on the donor vehicle, you'll see there is a thread stickied at the top "tests ever freelander owner should do", do that. If you can't do that test on the donor vehicle, fit the shaft to your vehicle and immediately do the test. If you get unfavourable results, ie the socket + weight takes too long to move, remove the shaft, and order a replacement viscous coupling from Bell Engineering.

DO NOT RUN THE FREELANDER WITH A "BAD" VISCOUS COUPLING FITTED!

The reason I've put so much emphasis on the above is that a bad viscous coupling will wreck either your "New" IRD, and or your back diff.

Click to expand...

This is great - I'm in the shop all day today (still making the transition from my old work), so will carry out the following;

Split the suspension and replace the driveshaft seals (is that the correct terminology)?
Drop the IRD box and inspect it, along with a visual inspection of the turbo (as recommended by @pwood999)
Try and find a suitable replacement for the IRD
Try and find a suitable replacement propshaft

I live on the Isle of Man, so a visual inspection is unlikely and I'm reluctant to buy a doner vehicle for the reasons stated at the start of this post. I was looking at a few on ebay and was considering contacting a few breakers for the IRD. I suppose my best option is for one (breaker), to send me some pictures with the drive pinion removed so I can take a best guess at its condition.

Once I have the unit out, I can go from there. Depending on the cost, it might (as (@Jayridium has said), be left as FWD and sold as a runner.

There are plenty of other bits to get done first. As stated above, the vehicle is loosing fluid (slowly), without any obvious leaks (I had the inlet manifold off and checked the "plastic Y" gasket, which seemed in good nick). When I got the underbelly pan removed, the state of both belts was revealed, which will mean I need to get those done too. There is also a small leak from one of the injectors (far left if looking into the engine bay - I'm assuming that's injector 1!?)

Lots to learn and having fun. Thanks to all for the replies - please feel free to chime in further if required! I'll report back with my findings over the next couple of days.

Rusty

If you're doing this as a business, you want to make some cash and not have customers coming back to you because there are problems with it.

TBH 2nd hand IRDs is a dodgy business. You really do take a gamble because they are the part on Freelander that wears the most.

It looks like your case may be knackered - which will mean you do need a replacement - you may also be paying more for a recon because they won't take your's in p-ex.

If you get a 2nd hand 1, try and ensure it is in good condition. I don't really know how you do that - but most problems are relating to the rear pinion, so at least remove the pinion, check its bearings and check the condition of the crown and pinion gears.

If there are problems with those, then you have the option of removing the pinion and replacing it with a blanking plate, and then as you say, the car is 2WD. How much less value is a 2WD Freelander though?

When my IRD went I could not get 1 over here - other than buying 1 from LR and they wanted £3,500 for an IRD and VCU

In the end I bought a IRD rebuilt kit, about £130, that had replacement bearings, cooler and seals. I removed the IRD and gave it to a gearbox workshop to push and pull the bearings etc, then I refitted it. I also got the garage to remove the pinion gear, so also reinstalled the props and old VCU - so everything looks normal underneath, but the car is only FWD.

You may also consider getting 1 of those kits. If you need to replace the crown and pinion gears, these vary in price from £150 to £300 - presumably dependent on quality, but not necessarily! When these are required though, you may be just as well getting a recon - and get a warranty with it?

If you're going back 4WD, you will almost certainly require a recon VCU - otherwise, even a recon IRD will be trashed in no time.

If you're researching parts/cost, check out Bell Engineering, they're products are good...

https://www.bellengineering.co.uk/freelander-1-products

Also consider the costs of fixing up the drive shafts to. New non-OEM are cheap - but many have been toast in months. Proper OEM will give long life, but are not cheap. Hopefully, its just the boots that need replacement, I presume those can be purchased.

@Rusty, that sounds stop on big man! Keep us posted with the updates, not only freelander but A30 ant other interesting projects.

rusty_87 said:

1956 Austin A30

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Must get it to say hello to my 1956 Ford Pop !!
They might have been to school together !

It's been a fun few days and I have learned a lot! I think my favourite lesson was to always consult the manual for torque specs after tightening up my brake caliper holder bolts up to 129ft/lb (which didn't have to come off in the end) and rounding off the thread. I also did the second bolt, as I wasn't convinced it had actually happened and wanted to make sure (I'm not even kidding). God it's been fun, the hours have flown by

IRD is out. It was a bit of a ****. The smaller of the 2 coolant hoses wouldn't come free so I slackened off both jubilee clips and just let nature do it's thing towards the end. It took the full weight of the IRD and my pulling to get it off without cutting it, so there was no chance of me getting it off lying on my back It had to lift the engine slightly to get it to fall (gracefully), out - so getting it back in should be fun. I had read that the subframe should be removed to make life easier (which it definitely would have), but I was unsure of the suspension yokes/how much has to come down. It's going to have to come off to get the IRD back in without some form of miracle occurring.

Everything in the engine bay cavity seems to be ok, despite there being a loose M10 bolt rattling around in there and the IRD looking to be destroyed from the outside. The breather hose wasn't connected when I was disconnecting everything, so it looked to have taken a decent knock at some point. I've opened the IRD to have a look, and to the best of my (limited), knowledge, there's nothing wrong with the gears and bearings. It looks brand new - apart from me, marring the round of the clutch end when dropping it out (which is frustrating - I'm hoping a new o ring will handle that);















I was expecting one of the mounting points to be blown out (to account for the loose M10 bolt caught between the engine and IRD casings), but it was fine. It was a different length to the other three - is that right?

so...... my best guess is that the IRD has gone and someone has replaced it with this. While it was being replaced, the most annoying of the top mounting bolts has been dropped (likely after getting the bastard up there and getting a few fixing points in), the technician has said 'bugger that', and cracked on with the installation. Then a stone has jumped up and smashed the coolant pipes and knocked the breather hose out, causing me to think that it's buggered and drop it out, only to damage it a little further, spend some money on it, and then get it back in there. Told you it was fun

I don't think I'm prepared to spend the money to get her back to 4WD. My best option would be to swap this IRD for a unit with a good casing that has a damaged 4WD section, and then put a blanking plate on it. Do you think anyone on here would be up for that/worth making a post? Do you think I could flog the crown output, or just scrap it?

If not, I think I'll end up putting this back in (with a blanking plate), and advising the buyer that the case is damaged, but the unit has been inspected/working correctly (should they want to spend some money on getting it back to 4WD).

Is there a gasket for the IRD, or should I use something else?
Am I going to get away with replacing the o ring on the IRD?
Should all 4x gearbox M10 bolts be the same length?
How do I drop the subframe without killing myself?
Why do we do these things?

Thanks to @GrumpyGel and @Jayridium for the assistance so far (and everyone else)!

I'm off for a Chinese.

Rusty

Shouldn't need to drop the sub-frame. Once the bolts to gearbox & IRD bracket are removed, I got my son's IRD out quite easily with the car on axle stands.

Mounting bolts. Sizes & Quantities in table. https://allbrit.de/epc.cfm?PAGE=R01025&CAR=L6&SPRACHE=EN#5

Those IRD internals look mint, this might genuinely, have had the prop for fuel, although saving fuel by having the prop off seem to be an urban myth. This could be the first one ever that a freelander with good transmission has been set to Front Wheel Drive mode? If you buy another IRD, open it, see if it's good, if not rebuild it using the parts in the pictures abvoe. Don't bother with the blanking plate, just put the pinion back on. Do you have a propshaft with the vehicle? Could be worth fitting it and trying a One Wheel Up Test on it...

Jayridium said:

this might genuinely, have had the prop for fuel, although saving fuel by having the prop off seem to be an urban myth.

Click to expand...

It does save fuel and tyre wear if the VCU is very tight. Maybe the previous owner couldn't afford to change the VCU?!?!

Yea, there's no sign of a prop or VCU/mountings, so the whole lot has come out. Looks like @andyfreelandy is right about the previous owner not being able to afford the VCU.

I'd prefer to not drop the front subframe, but it wasn't half in the way when it came out. Is it possible to remove the driveshalf knuckle from the IRD before it gets refitted? That might make things a little easier.

Ive removed and installed IRDs on L and K series cars and not needed to remove/loosen the sub frame. Can come in handy to rest it on.

When I've removed IRDs I have removed the 2 bolts holding the drivers side hub to the strut. The hub can then be pulled/angled back to give space for the drive shaft to be removed from the IRD.

Managed to grab some part locally today, but need to get a few bits. The drive shaft boots (that go into the gearbox and IRD), are blowing grease everywhere, but I'm unsure on what I'm looking at on the parts spec. Someone has put a cable tie on one of them - the other has it's original clip but is worse than the cable tie. Do you think a decent jubilee clip on both of them would do it? If not, which part am I buying to get a genuine clip?







I'm hoping it's 2x #2 (14.58 each)? I'm guessing I also need 2x #3 (snap rings)?

I was also having trouble finding the IRD o ring on the parts website as it wasn't on the IRD section, but found it in the gearbox breakdown.

Thanks guys.

Rusty

Looking back through what I did, the front subframe rear beam is worth removing. Makes getting to the IRD bolts easier, although two elbows on each arm would help !!.