Hi All

I've suspected for some time now that I might have the dreaded rear diff problem. On first suspecting this and reading about the software recall on this forum I had the upgrade done at a LR dealer FOC. However having owned my 2009 FL for 18 months now, there is defiantly something not quite right. I get a low drone from the rear most of the time, however at steady motorway speeds passengers do comment how quite the FL is. Most of the noise is when accelerating away hard especially loaded up hill.

What confuses me is that I'm led to understand that the FL is usually in FWD and only selects 4WD when a difference is detected between the front and rear wheels and for a short period while pulling away to prevent front wheel spin. If this is the case where is the load coming from to load up the rear diff?

Up to now I've not been able to find a definitive explanation of the exact operation of the 4WD

I know this rear diff issue has been covered at length before so I apologize if I'm covering old ground. But like I said I'm struggling to find a logical explanation.

The FL2 is in 4 wheel drive all the time. The Haldex unit on the rear diff decides how much power is sent to the back. Normally this is 90% front 10% rear but goes up to 50/50 depending on which special programme you have selected. Your symptoms are classic rear diff bearing wear. John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

Ah!, That makes more sense and accounts for my near even tyre wear front and back. So do I take it that under load and acceleration that the power is increased to the back?

Makes you wonder if Its clever enough to take into account when towing if you use the correct towing electrics with the extra ECU programed into the car. It isolates the rear fog lights at the very least.

As for the diff wine, this is somthing I've been expecting as there had to be a good reason why a 4 year old FL with 27000 on the clock was taken out of the dealer chain. In my experience there's usually a reason cars are traded in.

changing out the rear diff unit does not look to hard so I'm tempted with one of e bay for £490

A Low Level Diff repair will set you back about £500 at the dealer, with Haldex issues that have been mentioned after a Diff repair I would tend to go towards letting a Dealer do it.

Reading other threads about the rear diff wine, it is said to get really loud over a few hundred miles. Is the whine loud? It might just be tyre noise? Like wise, how old is your car? There are a few threads again where LR have contributed towards a new diff or low level fix. This might be cheaper than buying a used diff, again been some threads about haldex damage when diffs have been replaced at indi's.

It might be better getting in touch with mike at customer services on the forum. It would be a case of having it checked out at a dealer but the outcome might be worth while. Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
Gone MY2010 Freelander 2 Manual TD4.e S, Alaska White.

Sorry just re-read the post, I see your car is 4 years old.  Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
Gone MY2010 Freelander 2 Manual TD4.e S, Alaska White.