I have read a number of posts about premature failure of the rear diff bearing which I gather was a weak spot in the Freelander 2 design, has anyone experience or the symptoms of this. The main questions are:

- the kind of noise exhibited by the failure or impending failure of this bearing

- is it a sudden or progressive failure and again can this be told from the noise issued from the bearing.

We bought our Freelander 2 about a year ago (2007) and now and has 99K on the clock, I did listen out for strange noises when we bought the car and wasn't aware of any, but I guess we all have a tendancy to hear noises even when there are none. I am trying to decide whether what I hear is road noise or a possible progressive failure.

Hi,

I bought my car knowing the rear diff bearing was knackered, so I can't tell you about the speed of it happening, but I suspect it will build gradually.

The sound is a loud whine, which if you stick your head down between the rear seats and the centre console, you can clearly hear. It is very noticeable at speed on the motorway.

My friend owns a Indy Land Rover garage and told me that no one he knows replaces the bearings as they are very hard to extract, so instead he got me a reconditioned diff, with a choice between standard or for £100 more an updated one...I went with standard, and the loss of whine was immediately noticeable.

I should also say I drove it for a while before getting it fixed...just turned the radio up!

All changed for £850...ehich was good as I got a further £900 knocked off the car to cover the cost of replacing the diff.

Andy

Well our diff started whining at about 75K miles. It was a gradual increase of noise over a few months, for us the whine/hum/drone started at about 20mph but would be almost masked at 70mph by road/wind noise. We drove for about 12k miles before going to Team Valley Landrover for them to replace the pinion bearing, cost £412 in 2011. Initially my wife didn't notice the whine but eventually she did, it was never that loud that the stereo wouldn't mask though! If you're not sure it's making a noise then I'd probably keep driving it until it's obvious. Tyres and wheel bearings are other possibilities of course. Now on 102k miles and diff still quiet so bearing replacement good for us.

Regards Tony

http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic23661.html

I wouldn't be unduly concerned as if you read through the posts you'll see that Landrover will come good and pay for the repair.

even on early vehicles with substantial mileage.

Ryan, the Landrover rep on the forum has been a great help to forum members in this respect.

Iain

Gentlemen,

Many thanks for all your helpful responses. Iain, I have heard that in some situations, LR will fund the cost and I would like to find out more. Can you tell me how to contact the LR Rep (Ryan) that you mentioned in your note

Anthony

Ryan can be contacted via this thread

http://www.freel2.com/forum/land-rover-cus...-vf31.html

If you think your rear diff might be making a whine but arent sure as its not got to the really loud state, if you drive with rear seats folded flat it makes it all a lot more audible if thats what it is.

Does anyone know if LR will extend goodwill payment for this if I am not the original owner from new?

Very very unlikely.
The newest Freelander is probably 6 years old, they will play the fair wear and tear card.
Maybe if it was a year out of warranty and it had been dealer serviced all it's life they might consider it.

If you consider that the Disco Sports have steering racks that are failing just outside warranty and it is a lottery if you get a goodwill contribution - remember the steering rack is a safety related item and they still are fighting shy of paying out. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Paulfhome wrote:

Does anyone know if LR will extend goodwill payment for this if I am not the original owner from new?

LR didn't do anything about the rear diff failing a few months out of warranty, so after several years out of warranty, there's absolutely zero chance.

Just get a quality reconditioned unit from Bell Engineering, and forget about it for 50k miles.  Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

Paulfhome wrote:

Does anyone know if LR will extend goodwill payment for this if I am not the original owner from new?