Hi all

First time i have posted here! I have a Black FL2 Metropolis which i have owned for about 5 years now. Not had any issues apart from at the start when the locks were playing up, fortunately it was still under warranty at the time!

Other than that the car has been great for me and the family overall.... until the last few weeks!!

Around 3 weeks ago we were scheduled to drive down to Southampton from Birmingham to go and see the other halfs family.In the weeks leading up to this i started hearing a whirring noise which i thought was a bearing. I decided before the trip i would get it booked in and sorted just incase. As it turns out it was the transfer box that needed replacing, a nice £1000 bill to have it fixed....

Picked the car up a couple of days before the journey and was back to normal again.. Happy days, or so i thought !

On the Saturday we were just coming out the end of the road to start our journey, as i pulled out i heard a loud bang!!! I immediately pulled over and checked to see if i could see anything in road or under the car etc. Nothing ! I was miffed by this but decided to carry on and see how the car was for a little bit and just hope it was a stone or something. In my head i knew it was the car but decide to drive down as the car was driving ok etc! We got to within around 20 miles of Southampton and hit a little traffic on the M3. As i pulled off again the car started jerking and making and almost grinding sound from what i remember, i drove the car cautiously the rest of the way trying to listen to any noises or sounds that were unusual.

I rang my mechanic and tried to explain it to him what happened, he wasnt sure what it was and said could be a number of things without seeing it. I arranged to get it back to him on the Monday morning to be checked out. When we left Southampton on the Sunday, as i pulled off gently the back wheels felt as if they had dragged almost. It sounded like i had floored it out of there!!!! Got it home ok with no issues in driving it back although i went out a couple of times in it once we were back and it was doing the wheel drag on occasions but not all the time and only on pull off from stand still.

Mechanic checked it out Monday and said its one of two things, either the filter and oil needs changing in the rear diff or something called the Helix/Helex? which would cost me another £1000 to sort out. I asked him to try changing the Rear diff filter and oil first to see if it was that. The car hasn't been dragging the wheels but now i seem to have a real loud rattling noise on startup, which is starting to concern me.

It doesn't seem to be affecting the drive of the car or anything but im just worried there is another repair bill coming, which at the moment i really cant afford!! I believe there was a little rattle on startup since i have had it and was always the same... now it seems like it has amplified x 10 !

Sorry for the long winded post, i just wanted to give the full picture!! Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

If it feels like the rear wheels are dragging, then it could be the Haldex unit, which is a special clutch device for connecting the rear diff to the gearbox.

Has it had its fluid changed at 20k miles intervals, and the filter and fluid changed at 40k intervals?

Hi Nodge68

Thanks for your reply!

Yeah it feels like its still dragging, just took it out for a 20 minute drive. Tried to take as many corners as possible from standstill at various acceleration levels. Only seemed to do it when i put my foot down more aggressively in all honesty.

The car has been serviced around once a year, but im not sure if the Haldex filter and fluid have been changed before they were changed just over a week ago.The mechanic said something along the lines of that Land Rover didn't add it to their service list or something and it was the first time they were aware it had to be done. The car has done 46k so far.

I am guessing i will need the Haldex unit changing.... thats another £1000+ of money i haven't got at the moment

Couple of questions:
Will the traction light come on when the wheel drags? My guess is it will, but i cant say for sure as i never noticed it come on since i have had this problem.

Will the car be ok to drive like this whilst i get the money together to have it done?

The Freelander 1 can be converted to 2 wheel drive, which helps in the case of drivetrain/rear end problems, but I don't know if the Freelander 2 can be converted. If it can, then it could help. Otherwise, the more you drive it, the more likely you are to cause catastrophic damage, unfortunately.

You need a lr knowledgeable garage.
From Birmingham there's bell engineering who are respected for their transmission repairs.
Or there's tysley 4x4 who only do only land rovers.

HI Leigh.
Give these a ring and get the FL booked in i am sure they will tell you the problem right away.
http://www.bellengineering.co.uk/

Bell are well known on hear and other places and are well trusted you will not go far wrong with them .