Hi,

anybody knows how to drain the transfer box ? According to Ecat there should be a drain plug which I cannot find.There is also no mention about this in workshop manual ( topping up only) and extracting the oil through filler plug seems to be quite difficult due to the design of the transfer box. Anybody did this in reality ? Am I missing something ?

Thanks Michal

FR2 doesn't have a transfer box. No lower ratio. Either you have the wrong translation or the wrong car.

I think you mean haldex, dont think its a simple drop and drain job At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

I mean front transfer case - sorry for wrong translation

Michal,

The front differential does in fact have its own fluid that can be changed. (at least it does on my petrol LR2)

And I've changed this fluid on my LR2 (I mean Freelander 2)

Hopefully you are sitting down because I am about to type some complete heresy.

The drive train comes from Volvo.

As part of the Volvo service they drill and tap the housing and create a drain.

I used a pump and flexible tubing and sucked the fluid out from the fill hole.

For oil I went to the Ford dealer and bought the special low foaming oil (they use this same differential on some of their vehicles)

Due to the type of gear used on the front diff it is called a "bevel gear"

I don't have pictures but here is a link that will help.

http://www.volvoxc.com/0/resources/how-to/...cement.pdf


Good Luck

Paul
2008 LR2

Hi Paul and thanks for the info

There was no problem for me to change engine oil as well as rear diff oil,haldex oil and ATF.I only got stuck on the front diff - may be I simply had too large hose to get it inside and suck it out. I was just amazed that there is no mention about draining it in service manual and there is a drain plug in spare parts catalogue which does not exist on my car.
As for the oil I got an OE LR003137 which comes from Castrol BOT 118 but any good 75W-90 GL5 should also work.

BTW : is the "bevel gear" correct name for front diff in English ? In service manual it is reffered as "Transfer case" in my language translated to English its "final gear" and its also often reffered as "Transfer box" which is often understod as "low range gearbox".....help me out with my poor English

Thanks Michal

Transfer box here also...
And indeed the transfer box can also contain a set of demultiplication gears for low range.

BTW, how did your replaced the Haldex oil?
It was a Haldex out job? Did you replaced the filter too?

And how did you replaced the ATF? Double change?
All 7 liters or just what it drains (about half of that) when you open the drain port?

Thank you!

Alex :

I replaced Haldex oil while doing my rear diff bearing and Haldex unit had to be taken out(but I sucked out most of the oil while Haldex mounted) ,also replaced the filter - knowing that "lifetime" means 100 000 km - filter was quite dirty and worth replacing no matter what LR says.As for the ATF I made a double change - bought 7L of Valvoline Max Life ATF (meets JWS 3309) let it out , disconnected and flushed ATF cooler.My old ATF oil wasn't black,burned didn't smell so performed two cycles (cca 3L of ATF each).Shifting much improved

Michal,

The Bevel gear Wiki can be found here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevel_gear

In the Freelander the Bevel Gear takes the power from the front axel center line and sends it 90 degrees to the drive shaft and then into the Haldex.

This Bevel Gear is in the same housing as the front differential (they use the same fluid)

If your Freelander was a front wheel drive only (2WD not 4WD) then it wouldn't have the bevel gear.

Note: the Hypoid bevel gear is the typical type used for a differential but based on what I've read the Freelander 2 has a more straight cut gear to send the power to the rear.

This is why you need to use anti foaming gear oil "BOT"

As for transfer case discussion.

For the typical transfer case there is a high and low range, in our case we only have one choice.

So we don't have a traditional transfer case.

But we do have a front differential and a Bevel gear that sends power to the rear tires

(Ok technicially it sends power to the Haldex and the Haldex decides if that power should go to the rear tires)

As for Alex's questions you will have to answer I've only change the Engine oil and the front and rear differential oil.

But I am interested to hear about the automatic transmission fluid exchange and the Haldex fluid exchange.



As for the tubing used for the front , I did use small tubing and it was difficult to install it but not impossible

Good Luck

Paul

michal969 wrote:

Hi Paul and thanks for the info

There was no problem for me to change engine oil as well as rear diff oil,haldex oil and ATF.I only got stuck on the front diff - may be I simply had too large hose to get it inside and suck it out. I was just amazed that there is no mention about draining it in service manual and there is a drain plug in spare parts catalogue which does not exist on my car.
As for the oil I got an OE LR003137 which comes from Castrol BOT 118 but any good 75W-90 GL5 should also work.

BTW : is the "bevel gear" correct name for front diff in English ? In service manual it is reffered as "Transfer case" in my language translated to English its "final gear" and its also often reffered as "Transfer box" which is often understod as "low range gearbox".....help me out with my poor English

Thanks Michal

Thanks for the info.
I know from your sayings that you bought a 2010 auto with 130 000 km.
Now, do you have any idea if the Haldex oil or ATF were changed on these 130K km?

Alex :

I have full service history to the car but there is no mention about changing ATF or Haldex fluid.I believe it was both factory fill as the ATF should be changed after 240 000 km or 10 years according to LR service schedule.I am not sure when the Haldex fluid should be changed according the LR schedule but on other cars which use Haldex 4 it is usually 3 or 4 years (VW/Audi service manuals says it only ages by sucking air moisure through vent pipe and NOT by mileage as it was on Hladex 3 gen.)Honestly I do not much care about this as on any car I had I always changed all the fluids after I bought them used.

Paul :

Changing Haledx oil is pretty straightforward job - suck it out through fill hole,fill it until fluid comes out,switch ignition on for 5 min,fill more until comes out and finally extract 70ml of fluid back.The Haldex filter is only mounted by 2 allen screws. As for the ATF it is similar to all other cars with A/T gearbox.You only have to watch the ATF temp through scanner for final level check.

Thanks Michal

michal969 wrote:

I am not sure when the Haldex fluid should be changed according the LR schedule

The same 240K km or 10 years... Too much...

I've highjacked your thread with other issues... Sorry...
But as we are here, another thing:
What do you think about that "watch the temperature for fluid check" in the case of the autobox?
I have a little impression that it's somehow overrated...
How much the whole fluid could expand with temperature in order to do that?
One more millimeter over the level? So what?
1 mm over the whole surface of the oil pan shouldn't be more than up to 100 ml of oil.
+/-100 ml of oil at 7 liters... I don't believe it matters...
What do you think?

Alex : I agree that its a little paranoid to watch the temperature of ATF.It makes sense to check it in "hot" condition as it expands and the level varies but as you say if it is 60 or 70 degrees it doesn't matter - the ATF level varies much more by braking and cornering than by temperature difference.If my memory goes well there was a dipstick on some older cars for ATF level and the difference between "cold" and "hot" marks was around 1cm in fluid level.
As I have a diagnostic scanner I used it but without it I would simply warm up the ATF by running for a few kms and than check the level with peace in mind.

Also 240 000 km for Haldex oil ? Fu ing long.....divide it by 2 and I would agree.....

OK job done

Extracted the oil through filling hole - it was little tricky to get the hose inside the diff. A 6mm silicone hose worked well and I was able to extract almost all oil.The hose has to be positioned between 4 and 5 o'clock to get inside and reach the bottom.

Thank you both boys for your help

Michal and Alex,

Thanks for all of the helpful information (I will change my ATF and haldex fluid soon)


Since we are talking about the differentials I want to take this opportunity to point out some things that I've done to help extend the life of my rear differential bearing.

My Freelander 2 is a 2008 with about 100,000 KM (60,000 miles) with the original bearing in the rear diff

List of changes to my Freelander

1. Changed the fluid (by siphoning as we discussed) to a heavy duty synthetic, special order Mobil 1 Delvac

2. Magnetized the bolt on the diff for filling the fluid (large magnet on the fill bolt)

3. Remove the bolt and clean off the magnetic particles collected (every month at first, less frequently lately)

I did this because of all the problems other were having. In my case I put a large magnet on the outside of the bolt but I could have also bought a drain plug with a magnet in the center of it. I do get some magnetic dust attached to the bolt and I did have some magnetic dust suspended in the fluid that I removed. Also I had a lot of air in the fluid that I removed. The original fluid should have been changed sooner than I did. I changed it at 75,000 KM

Note: after about 6 months of service I am no longer getting magnetic particles on the magnetized diff fill bolt.

I will let you know if my bearing fails.

Good luck

Paul