I use a set of four 3 ton stands like these, although for most jobs two of the car wheels are on the ground with blocks holding them from moving. Quite stable with either the FL1 or my P38 on them.

Wouldn't touch or trust those ratchet stands lots of peeps use these days.

Well well well...
Removing the prop was a super easy task. Came out easily and down to the floor with 4 straps. It's not heavy in my opinion... I was expecting 200kg








The afternoon was pretty good, I took it off and the more I looked underneath the car, the more confident I became about the treatment the car received before me.

And then, after I put children to bed, I went back to it, took tge engine plastic plate off to look at the engine, IRD and gear box, to prepare fluid changes... But what did I find ??? A HOLE right at the bottom of the gearbox... :



Please tell me it's perfectly normal and Land Rover just like to makes some jokes with mechanical amateurs...
I'm not sure I'll have a good sleep tonight...

Strange thing is that the test drive and drive back (40 km) was super smooth, no noticeable noises... And definetly not 4L of oil on my garage floor.
I noticed a bit of oil on the engine, new oil as it seems, but I was expecting a very small leak....

What the f**k !!?!?!!???

That looks like the flywheel teeth for the starter ? Others may correct me, but in there should be clean & dry.

It shouldn't have a hole in the casting, I'm not actually sure why it does, except maybe it was drilled so the flywheel could be locked to undo the crank pulley bolt. I don't think the hole will cause an issue, but putting loads of torque through the crankshaft isn't a good plan, as they're known to break at the front main bearing.

Thank you,
Indeed they replaced all the belt a couple of months ago. Not sure the crank pulley has been replaced but probably was not long ago as it looks very clean.

Any vérification I could make on the crankshaft bearing ? Or just drive until problems arrive...

Road test 4x2 today, everything is fine.

Regarding the IRD :
The oil itself is brown color, clean, not black, but with a tiny bit of metal "flakes" at the surface. Really not a lot, but noticeable under the sun. When I plunge a big magnet in, i get almost nothing on it.

The drain plug is magnetic and had some grey mud on it. Metal residue, I guess.


It's not that much, it was the size of small dose of tooth paste you put usually on your toothbrush !

Is that quantity something to worry about, or does it looks still ok to keep driving in 4x4 after reconditioning the VCU ?