VCU / IRD / Diff Help please - Potential new buyer

Hi Guys,

Cracking forum you've got here, I've just signed up as we have decided we want to get a Freelander as the better halfs daily driver and for weekends away camping with our puppy that we're getting in a few weeks. We have decided that ideally we would like a 3 door V6 and I viewed one today which on paper and from the guys desciption seemed spot on; low miles full history and great condition with some tasty extras but when I got there to view it I had a look underneath and noticed the driveshaft to the rear was missing which set the alarm bells ringing instantly, then I looked in the boot and guess what 3 big lumps of metal (2 shafts and this thing that I wasn't too sure about, I now know to be the VCU). Dealer claimed not to even have known because the car only arrived last night (this is genuine because I had to wait for this morning to get a few pics before visiting) and he hadn't even had time to go over it properly yet.
Now to get to the point I've read the various posts about the VCU and testing etc so can simply check that by hand if I decide to view again but is there any simple way without reconnecting everything of knowing that the IRD and rear diff haven't been damaged if the VCU has failed at some point? Strangely the drive shafts and VCU appear to be in extremely good condition for a 10 year old car so may actually have been removed early on in life or may be replacements???

Attached are a few pics of the bits and underside as it currently stands.

Any advice / comments greatfully received.

Thanks a lot,
Chris

Walk away!!!!!!!!
The V6 is a thirsty ol brute anyway.
Find a decent TD4 which hasn't been thrashed and abused, far better car.

There is only one reason the prop shaft has been removed, the transfer box is either ****ed or on it's way out, you would not remove a perfectly good prop for no reason. Although I'm a fan Of the old V6's I would walk away. Don't be fooled by them telling you it's for 2wd fuel economy. 99% of the time there full of it.

Mrfulwell said:

There is only one reason the prop shaft has been removed, the transfer box is either ****ed or on it's way out, you would not remove a perfectly good prop for no reason. Although I'm a fan Of the old V6's I would walk away. Don't be fooled by them telling you it's for 2wd fuel economy. 99% of the time there full of it.

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Agreed. It's been taken orf for a reason. VCU probably duff and removing it is the cheap quick fix.

Buy a diesel. My v6 is only doing 18mpg. I only do a small amount of miles so it's not too bad.

Cheers guys,

I'm not too worried if it is just the VCU thats gone becasue it is already off so replacing it with one from Bell wouldn't be too bad but my fear is that when the VCU went it may have taken something else with it and am not sure how I'd know without hooking it all back up, any suggestions???

Reason I'm keen is it's done less than 50k (with report) with FSH and old MOT's and had a cambelt at 6 years as per the book which was after only 40k miles.

Thanks

Oh BTW, quite fancy a TD4 but they seem to be a bit on the pricey side and the OH isn't keen on the noise...

My brother drives a 2.5 V6 and it ain't exactly quiet!

walk away, its likely to be fecked. V6 IRD's are like hens teeth, and far more expensive in labour to replace. Think of the V6 as a K series with 2 head gaskets...............

Thanks again for all the help and advice everyone, I'm gonna take it and walk away from this one!

Out of curiosity though, how would I know if the IRD was knackered as this one drove really well as a 2wd? Also Austen, is the V6 really as bad as the K series with regard to Head gaskets, I read somewhere that they are more reliable and better built? Saying that the number of V6's on Ebay right now with issues, mainly drive related is scaring me a bit and is def pushing me towards convincing myself and the better half that a TD4 diesel will sound as good as a rorty V6 on full chat!!!

Thanks, Chris

Have you driven a TD4 yet? Mine is as quiet as most petrols as far as I am concerned

odienoo said:

Thanks again for all the help and advice everyone, I'm gonna take it and walk away from this one!

Out of curiosity though, how would I know if the IRD was knackered as this one drove really well as a 2wd? Also Austen, is the V6 really as bad as the K series with regard to Head gaskets, I read somewhere that they are more reliable and better built? Saying that the number of V6's on Ebay right now with issues, mainly drive related is scaring me a bit and is def pushing me towards convincing myself and the better half that a TD4 diesel will sound as good as a rorty V6 on full chat!!!

Thanks, Chris

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Crown wheel and pinion can be completely shot, but will drive fine (for a while) with prop removed.

I'll just say I'm not a fan of the the V6...

Skynet said:

Have you driven a TD4 yet? Mine is as quiet as most petrols as far as I am concerned

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I agree with skynet the BMW unit in td4 is quiet and smooth if looked after !!! good luck anyway

Hi All,

Well after taking all of your advice and deciding that it's just not meant to be I rang the dealer today out of courtesy just to tell him this and he tells me that he has reassembled the proshaft and that he's had his mechanic round and the reason it had been disconnected is because the rear diff is whining but that he is going to replace it and that the car will be sold with a 6 month full parts and labour warrantee. Is this likely to be the case or has the VCU prob gone to cause the diff to go and potentially the IRD too?

Now bearing this in mind and the fact that I drove the car and it ran very smoothly with no smoke at all, very clean coolant bottle and oil (no signs of mixing) and no nasty noises is it worth taking the chance, buying it and getting it straight over to Austen to check out ;-) and then if it is all **** take it back and demand repairs or should I still just walk away and forget about it?

Thanks again, Chris

The v6 int as bad as peeps on ere say. But they is bad, compared to the diesels. Some on here had them fail. Some times repeatedly. MHM is one of them. He finally fixed his problems when he sold it fer a slitty.

The v6 was fitted to rovers before the Freelander had it. In them it was a lot worse. At one point rover had to recall them. Not just to the dealer garage, but to the factory for mods. Things like camshafts shattering. Also hgf too and seals too. Lots on the web about it. Car mechanics did a write up on it that I think I’ve still got. They then started to assemble the engines properly, and sorted out fixes. That said, they still have faults. This is down to poor design. The thermostat is in the middle of the v of the engine. Plastic, and a known leaking point. They run hotter than other engines. Fans don’t come on until 107 degrees from memory. Manifold on top of the engine is plastic. Known to leak/split if removed. The variable intake motors **** up too unless they get a software recall, which I think stopped them moving too far. They could still fail like anything else. Loads of other stuff on the web about the rover kv6.

As Austin said parts are more expensive, and more difficult ta come by. Often POA on web sites. Props and or the vcu removed? This is only ever done for a reason. Coz it’s ****ed in some way. The vehicle your buying is typical of a v6. You’d picked up on it yourself, wiffout realising. They all get sold just after the cambelt is done, or at the 60 to 70k mile stage. This is because the owners suddenly find themselves wiff a big bill for the belt change, and can see servicing and repair bills being bigger in the future. I did mine meself. Have never done one before, or anything as complex as that on a car. But many garages won’t. Water leaks and hgf are a worry to garages. Hence they don’t want the blame. Even known LR independents which are nationally recognised will fob you off when asking them to do the belts, when they realise it’s a v6 you talking about. Yes they has more gaskets than the 1.8’s, but even rover garages will admit the later ones like those fitted to the Freelander ain’t as bad as the 1.8’s fer hgf.

I have a v6. I do 4000 miles per year so it int too bad. Expect 18-22mpg. I didn’t pick it, it was inherited. If I were to choose one, it would be the diesel auto td4. whilst I don’t mind people buying the petrels if they want, I would never advise it. Hence diesels are more expensive as they is preferred. Only a small percentage of Freelanders in the UK are v6.