Hi everyone, well my 2007xs manual, running maxxis 245 65
r17’s has been lighting up the rear tyres simply by accelerating in 1st gear. I’ve been driving it like this for 2 months (fun tbh. I can do it in 2nd also). Any ideas what could cause this? I’ve only ever heard of people having fwd only, never this. Any ideas? I have a UK Spec, FL2 xs TD4 2.2 2007 Manual in Black with what I believe to be Alpaca half leather/blue inserts interior. I am located in Cyprus.

The car has cruise and the alpine speakers, no armrests, no sunroof and no memory or electric lumber support on the seats.

Last edited by just2zang on 6th Nov 2020 3:08 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Not sure that's possible as the front wheels are permanent drive and the rear wheels are on demand provided by the Haldex, however that is just my understanding and I may well be proved wrong.

I think it may be possible - I wonder - if you strip the splines on a front half shaft then that half shaft will spin freely, the other front wheel will be unpowered because the differential hub will spin instead. The front differential hub drives the prop shaft through the PTU via a hollow shaft (the RH half shaft runs to the differential through this but is not connected to it). So the prop shaft will be driven. If the haldex locks because the ECU "thinks" a front tyre has lost grip because its half shaft is spinning freely then drive will go to the rear wheels.

So I think you have a drive failure to a front wheel somewhere - maybe your half shaft splines are destroyed ?. It is 13 years old after all and if driven with gusto and off-road these things happen.

Half shaft failure is a well known problem in off-roading circles.

Searching on here I could only find reference to loss of rear wheel drive due to splines failing on the hollow shaft driving the prop not the front wheel half shaft
https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic31742.html?highlight=splines

Im sure people on here with greater knowledge and experience will tell me if this a load of rubbish.

But I dont see why half shaft and/or splines cant fail - they do on other landrovers Jules

No, it's not a load of rubbish, you hit the nail in the head.

So I quick test to confirm would be to disconnect the haldex electrical plug and confirm the lack of drive at any wheel whilst still have a spinning prop shaft. Jules

When I stripped out the transfer box on ours I noticed that the splines on the drivers side (RH) drive shaft were badly worn - more than 50% .

OK they would probably have lasted another 10-20k but still sounds like the problem you are describing.
Stangely the LH drive shaft was like new. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Thanks guys, I’ll look into it. More recently I’ve been wondering whether maybe the 2.2 bar tyre pressure in this very hot climate or the maxxis at 771 are at fault here. Its. A 245/65/r17 profile tyre, isn’t the standard size. I lowered the tyre pressures today by 5psi. Went for a quick spin, definitely a lot better in the dry. Temps have also been dropping the last week. It wasn’t spinning coming on boost (gentle clutch) for a change, but with full yeeha gear change into 2nd at 4.5k broke traction slightly on change, which is to be expected. Had the car for 5 years now and can honestly say, with the original Continental tyres and size it was far better on road, but less comfortable (and less good looking)! I have a UK Spec, FL2 xs TD4 2.2 2007 Manual in Black with what I believe to be Alpaca half leather/blue inserts interior. I am located in Cyprus.

The car has cruise and the alpine speakers, no armrests, no sunroof and no memory or electric lumber support on the seats.

Also any pics for where the Haldex plug is under the car?
Also if I have stripped the front shaft spline, I remember a day when some idiot went through a very late red light and I absolutely blasted the car to get out of the way and there was a knocking sound and all sorts with wheelspin. I thought to myself that I was lucky not to detonate the gearbox. That must be when it happened. I’ll check the haldex. Maybe the poor tyres are not at fault after all. I have a UK Spec, FL2 xs TD4 2.2 2007 Manual in Black with what I believe to be Alpaca half leather/blue inserts interior. I am located in Cyprus.

The car has cruise and the alpine speakers, no armrests, no sunroof and no memory or electric lumber support on the seats.

We will all be interested to know the end result of your investigation Jules