Hi All,

Drove 4 hours down to the lake district the other weekend to see a 2009 FL2 which had an unmissable grinding coming from the rear.

We paid the deposit for it with the deal being that would be fixed. The retailer then contacted us to say it was the rear diff and a bill of £650 + VAT and would we be prepared to contribute.

We said no as the price was fair for a vehicle in good condition, plus they took it in part ex so should have priced some work in.

Sale cancelled, deposit refunded, vehicle back up for sale again with no mention of the repair but that's not for me to worry about, it's instantly noticeable.

Anyway, that experience and having test driven and walked away from 3 FL2's now because of rear whining noises I'm getting paranoid about picking a lemon.

Was there a model year LR fixed this problem?

I've got my eyes on a 2013 with 150k on the clock which the dealer says has a whine from the rear which he'll fix, but it's the other end of the country and although a distance sale is fully refundable if I'm not happy I really don't want to spend the 450 mile journey home imagining a rumbling from the rear.

Other than seeing a refurb in the service history is there any way of getting a sense of comfort with this problem or is it just pot luck?

Mine did 185k on the original diff (2008) - granted the oil was changed every service past 60k - drain plug fitted made it easy. Still silent as the grave when it went to a more careful owner

Others have had a diff fail at 30K and again before 100k. So a piece of paper saying that the diff has been refurbished is useless.

If you are really really paranoid about the rear diff, then accept that it is going to fail (not true but paranoia isn't necessarily rational) and just budget for having to get the job done by Austin at Bell Engineering at some point in the future. It's a day out shopping while a nice chap does a proper job on the car, and you would get the Haldex looked at by the same man at the same time.

450 miles The wife had me drive to London from Wigan for a pair of shoes, and 2 weeks later we did the same trip for a coat for the dog. Wigan to the Sahara and back for a giggle, San Sebastian to Manchester and back towing a caravan - for a hospital appointment, or Sydney to Cairns now that's a proper drive. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Budget in having a few £k's worth of work into your equation, unless it has a years warranty from a reputable garage (AND Warranty Company), as nearly all older cars develop problems, and some owners prefer to swap cars rather than fix the problem.

Then get out and test drive all the newest, best equipped, automatic Freelander 2's that you can afford.

Stop worrying, buy the nicest, and enjoy.

PS I prefer the SD4 models. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 76k+ miles) (MY2015)

PizzaGuy wrote:

Hi All,

Drove 4 hours down to the lake district the other weekend to see a 2009 FL2 which had an unmissable grinding coming from the rear.

We paid the deposit for it with the deal being that would be fixed. The retailer then contacted us to say it was the rear diff and a bill of £650 + VAT and would we be prepared to contribute.

We said no as the price was fair for a vehicle in good condition, plus they took it in part ex so should have priced some work in.

Sale cancelled, deposit refunded, vehicle back up for sale again with no mention of the repair but that's not for me to worry about, it's instantly noticeable.

Anyway, that experience and having test driven and walked away from 3 FL2's now because of rear whining noises I'm getting paranoid about picking a lemon.

Was there a model year LR fixed this problem?

I've got my eyes on a 2013 with 150k on the clock which the dealer says has a whine from the rear which he'll fix, but it's the other end of the country and although a distance sale is fully refundable if I'm not happy I really don't want to spend the 450 mile journey home imagining a rumbling from the rear.

Other than seeing a refurb in the service history is there any way of getting a sense of comfort with this problem or is it just pot luck?

To answer your question regarding Land Rover fixing the diff problem = NO Land Rover never addressed the problem in their entire production run of the Freelander 2 & continued on fitting the same diff to the first generation Range Rover Evoque

Google Bell engineering lots of info on his site

Not if but when

I've read before that they changed to a bigger bearing on the diff input on the later models to address the problem? Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

113000 miles and on the third diff but this last one was done by Bell and has the larger bearing. I shall fit a sump plug and do an oil change this Autumn........................... So fingers crossed.

Thanks guys, really appreciate it.

I've got the option on a 150k sd4 with full lr history and being sold by a LR specialist so I think I'll take the plunge.

To be fair, I have a Jag XF which has cost me very little over the last four years until this year and that was nothing compared to my ongoing bills with a Mondeo so I'm prepared to sink some cash to get the thing sorted for the next few years.

To put it in perspective a set of premium tyre will cost you £600. I have just sold a 2009 with the diff replaced at 85000 miles. All anybody asked about was the diff. No one looked at the tyres or brakes which can also cost £400+. I agree with some of the previous posts-buy the best car you can with/without the diff done. If you can, get a SD4. They are a much nicer car to drive.

My reconditioned diff seized, a month after buying the vehicle. When I removed the diff, I discovered there was no oil in it, which explains why it lasted no time at all.
I bought a low mileage Evoque diff, which I replaced the tail bearing before fitting. It's currently quiet, but I'm expecting to have to replace the bearing again in 50 K miles, but hopefully not. 2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.
Hyundai Ionic 5 Ultimate on order.

And to balance it up a bit, when I sold my 2012 HSE a few years ago it had 152,000mls (or thereabouts) and was still on its original diff and haldex and still had the original oil in both!

Hello. Just bought a freelander 2 and I noticed a slight whining noise from rear when driving at constant high speed. Not 100% sure, but i suspect that it is a bearing in rear diff. Car has 190k km on clock (118k miles). Browsed through youtube and found a few russian videos with instructions for changing all the parts within differential. Doesn't seem like the easiest job to do, but still doable. So I have decided that i will remove the diff together with haldex and prop shaft. Will check the bearings on prop shaft, will do a good wash, filter change and oil change on HALDEX which seems quite easy, and as I am not very confident about myself, I will take the diff to our local mechanic to change all the parts within the diff.

The biggest problem now is to get all the bearings, seals etc for diff. I see many repair kits on ebay, but all of them are from UK, which means I will have to pay both duty charges and VAT at receiving, which pretty much doubles the price. No full kits in mainland Europe. So i opened the site of my contracted part wholesaler, and I cant find a single part for differential under ''freelander 2'', but there are all the components I need under Volvo XC70 rear diff section. The question is - are they the same? Meaning - if I order parts for rear diff from this volvo section, will they fit in my freelander2 rear diff?

Thank you!

Andy131 wrote:

450 miles The wife had me drive to London from Wigan for a pair of shoes, and 2 weeks later we did the same trip for a coat for the dog. Wigan to the Sahara and back for a giggle, San Sebastian to Manchester and back towing a caravan - for a hospital appointment, or Sydney to Cairns now that's a proper drive.

blaster1232 wrote:

The biggest problem now is to get all the bearings, seals etc for diff. I see many repair kits on ebay, but all of them are from UK, which means I will have to pay both duty charges and VAT at receiving, which pretty much doubles the price. No full kits in mainland Europe. So i opened the site of my contracted part wholesaler, and I cant find a single part for differential under ''freelander 2'', but there are all the components I need under Volvo XC70 rear diff section. The question is - are they the same? Meaning - if I order parts for rear diff from this volvo section, will they fit in my freelander2 rear diff?

Thank you!

It may be possible to use the manufacturer numbers stamped/engraved on the actual parts rather than try to order the parts by description, the bearings and seals will be fairly common units used in many applications. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.