If the bolts are in good order and you clean threads just put some new lock-thread on. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Didn’t even use loctite on mine when I did it. Still firmly in. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

Yorky Bob wrote:

If the bolts are in good order and you clean threads just put some new lock-thread on.

I think it's something to do with depleted tensile strength.

jules wrote:

Quick question.
Why does JLR recommend using new prop shaft bolts ? Is it because they come pre-coated with a type of loctite and this would have to be reapplied if the bolts were used again. Or is there another reason ?

The ones I took out had the hard type locking compound on them they were an absolute pig to get out and I worried they may shear off, they were so tight.
The heads were damaged getting them out, i suppose they have to be replaced so that you have new locking compound on them, alternately if they are in good shape then you could put a drop of Loctite thread locker on them and put them back.
Regarding tensile strength it is a good design practice to tighten up a bolt to 70 to 75% of its tensile strenghth so if they were put in correctly and are not damaged it should be ok to put them back.

I tapped out the threads in the flange before I put mine back and I have ordered a new set from Island 4 x 4.

By the way I still have a slight whine from the back end which is more pronounced when pulling than when decelerating and it goes much quieter after I have travelled 10 or 15 miles, so the search goes on.

For a complete technobiff's benefit and assuming my problem is with the haldex...

My 'reduced traction' warning light has just appeared (two or three short journeys - under 100 miles total)... will getting the haldex serviced (by Austen Bell) fix the problem or is it now too late and a new haldex is needed?

The car (MY13 SD4) is in to Guy Salmon Sheffield on Monday for annual service and MoT test. I will see what they say but I would rather entrust the work to Austen.

The car is lw mileage and not used a great deal but I did give it a fast ten mile each way run (included in the two or three journeys mentioned above) just in case the battery was getting a little flat through inactivity.

Cheers and fingers crossed...

I had the traction warning light, I was fortunate it was under warranty, so it was all done a main dealer, pump, filter and oil, an eye watering £888, I suggest you change the filter and oil as I am led to believe LR do not do this on a regular/service basis

I have been in touch with Austen at Bell's - I will be booking it in with him in in the next few days.

Edited to add... I had the car serviced today at Guy Salmon, Sheffield. I was quoted £150 just to plug the car in and confirm that the reduced traction warning was haldex related (& £360ish for new rear discs and pads). That would have been a vicious expensive service

Nb. Brake Parts ordered from Dan @ Duckwoths.

Last edited by ReggiePerrin on 7th Nov 2018 10:25 am. Edited 1 time in total

£25 to have my service indicator re-set and fault code log cleared today just off the A1/M1 link road near Garforth.

Andrew Page can do Mintex rear pads cheap and my last rear discs were from a LR dealer via flebay. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Had Austen service the Haldex and fit a new pump last month. Bit of a drive from home (Fylde Coast) but worth it considering the main Agent price. Top class service, would use Austen again. Gone:
2002 FL1 TD4 GS Zambezi Silver
2007 FL2 TD4 GS Izmir Blue

Having had the 'Gearbox Fault: Traction Reduced' warning illuminated for a while it seems to have cleared itself completely.

It was illuminating shortly after starting and remaining lit for as long as the engine was running. Then a couple of days ago it lit after about 20 minutes but not since. I have driven the car normally and quite enthusiastically since to try and get it to light up again but nothing. All the 'special programmes are active again.

Prior to taking the car for a service the car hadn't been used for ages. Short trip to Sheffield fir service and MoT test and then I managed to flatten the battery completely - wouldn't start, silly error messages etc. Since then I have driven the car a lot and the (presumed) haldex issue has gone away.

Is this 'self cure' typical? Battery related perhaps? Can I trust it for the time being? The MY13/63 plate car has only done 34.8k miles from new.

Whine on my diff started to get much worse quickly, I was still trying to convince myself it was the offside wheel bearing but I went ahead and took out the diff.
Yes the pinion was very notchy when you turn it and the oil had a certain sparkle to it, so I took it to an independent garage near York where they re built it for £299, I drilled the housing and will tap it 14 x 1.5 mm and fir a Gold Plug magnetic plug, didn’t have the tap on time so they left the covet loose for me to tighten up.
Picked it up and they told me the failed bearing was one of the newer "heavy duty" bearings but was well shot, pinion and crown wheel were good so it was ready to go.
greased some kitchen paper and put it over the hole inside then tapped it out ( keeping it square with a 6" square) cleaned every trace of swarf out and put the cover back, Panic it was so tight I couldn’t turn the input shaft, took the cover back off and checked for any problems then slowly pulled it up again cross tightening it slowly, still tight, called the garage and they re assured me they are very tight many people panic but not to worry.
Fitted it back in filled with the Castrol EPX and haldex oil, ran it half a mile then engaged hill decent and drove down onto my drive, did the business with the haldex oil top up and syringe out.
tried it today and its so quiet, the noise had increased slowly and you dent realise how bad it is but now it sounds fine.
One very strange thing, MPG had fallen away to about 30 to 32 according to the dash board, drove it about 5 miles last night to test it and it returned 37 on the dash board
Will update to see how it goes over the next few months.

Hi all,

First time post to say thank you for all the help and advice regarding servicing the Haldex unit.
Unfortunately I didn't have the luxury of visiting Bell Engineering (believe me I would have if I could have) so I had to do it on my own (Land Rover main stealer wants £2500 for a new Haldex, fitted)

I did mine in the garage over the last 2 days and whilst its not comfortable without garage ramps or a pit, it can be done from under the car (I raised mine on lengths of 9" x 3" joists).

Anyway, its fixed, its working and the fault light is gone

As a thank you, I typed up notes for anyone else wanting to try this themselves
(some based on text from this thread, the rest is my own).

Freelander 2 Haldex Unit Service

Removal (Generation 4, the harder one to remove)
This can be done with the exhaust in place – it takes time and there is less space for movement but eliminates the hassle of removing the exhaust

Automatic gearbox in Neutral / Brakes off / Car Ignition off
Chock the wheels
Disconnect the Haldex electrical plug for the main wiring harness
If you are using the same Haldex (servicing, not replacing) scribe a line or paint make a mark on the prop shaft flange and on the Haldex flange to allow easy alignment of the bolt holes later)
Undo the 6 prop shaft bolts using a Torx E10 socket and remove (you must rotate prop shaft to get access to each bolt). There will also be 3 off bolt reinforcement plates
The prop shaft is in 3 pieces connected by universal joints
Remove the 2 bolts from the centre prop shaft guide, then remove the 6 bolts holding the centre prop shaft bracket and let it drop down (it will rest on the exhaust).
Do the same for the forward prop shaft guide, again letting it rest on the exhaust (note, you do not need to remove the front prop shaft connections)
To separate the prop shaft from the Haldex unit, the Haynes manual recommends using 2 of the flange bolts you have just removed plus an 8 x 30mm bolt and 2 of the bolt reinforcement plates
You are now going to be working at the back of the Haldex flange
Rotate the flange on the Haldex unit (by moving the car slightly) until you can see two threaded bolt holes with an unthreaded hole in between (there are two unthreaded holes on the back of the flange)
Put the 8 x 30mm bolt into the unthreaded hole at the back of the flange
Using 2 of the flange bolts and two of the bolt reinforcement plates (doubled up), put the bolts either side of the 8 x 30mm bolt so that when you tighten up the 2 flange bolts, the doubled up reinforcement plates will push the 8 x 30mm bolt through the unthreaded hole and stat to push the prop shaft flange out of the Haldex flange
You will have to move the car again and do this for the other unthreaded hole for the prop shaft flange and Haldex flange to separate completely (no whacking required using this method).
Loosen and remove the Haldex oil fill plug in the side of the rear differential
Remove as much fluid as you can through the Haldex fill hole
Place an oil tray or dish underneath the Haldex as there will still be oil in the unit
Undo the four bolts that holds the Haldex to the rear differential
Remove the Haldex unit from the rear differential.

On the bench
Remove the prop shaft flange from the input shaft by first undoing the nut. A ‘special tool’ to hold the flange and stop it from spinning can be purchased / made, use a hub puller or alternatively wrap the Haldex flange assembly in a towel or similar, place in a vice and remove the nut using an impact wrench.

Filter Element Removal
Undo the two bolts holding the cover of the filter element and remove the cover
There will be a plastic sealing cap over the filter element, drill a small hole near the centre to pierce the cap and use a small screwdriver or similar tool to remove it from the Haldex housing
Remove the filter element
Discard the housing cover, 2 x bolts, filter element cover & filter element– they all come with the replacement filter element kit
Replace the filter element (using Haldex oil to lubricate the O-ring’s before refitting)

Haldex Pump Removal & Cleaning
Remove the two bolts holding the Haldex pump to the Haldex housing
Withdraw the pump from the housing (it has two O-rings holding it in, so it may need a small, flat bladed screwdriver to help prise them apart)
There will be a flattish white plastic screen held in by machine two screws (Gen4), remove the screws, clean the screen thoroughly in degreaser and blow clean with compressed air
The pump end-plate can be removed by removing one additional machine screw (note, there are 6 sprung metal pegs inside which are the pump mechanism, remove with care so as not to lose the pegs or springs). Clean the pump.
Re-assemble the end plate and the screen in the reverse order
Remove the two machine screws that hold the motor cover onto the pump assembly
Clean with contact cleaner
Using a cotton bud, carefully clean the copper parts on the rotating shaft (these will have black deposits from the brushes)
Re-assemble cover in reverse order
If you have a multi-meter, set it to ohms and measure the resistance across the two plug connections – a good pump will should read between 5 & 8 ohms (following info from Haldex Repairs UK web-site):

A good pump will measure between 5 and 8 ohms. Below or above this spec highlights a defective pump. Bad pumps often read very high resistance values, very low, or open circuit. Connecting 12v to the pump to make it run is an option, but it is far from any kind of conclusive test method. Some pumps will be intermittent open circuit, e.g. they test OK some power cycles then test out of spec the next, this is due to worn motor brushes and commutator.

Cleaning of the Haldex Housing
The clutch pack assembly is ‘attached’ to the splined shaft that transfers power from the prop shaft to the differential
It looks as though it is all one piece, however it can be separated easily as it is only a press fit
Hold the Haldex assembly with the clutch pack lowest and slightly above a bench or floor (not touching and be ready to catch)
Use a rubber mallet, hit the top of the splined shaft and the two items should separate
The main housing can now be thoroughly cleaned in degreaser, ensuring all the gunk (emulsified oil and water mixed with particles from the clutch pack)
Pay particular attention to the main bearing, filter housing, pump housing and the galleries that connect them all
Rinse and remove any degreaser
Important note: the accumulator may retain liquid. Turning and shaking the housing repeatedly will help the liquid be expelled
Dry completely with compressed air

Cleaning of the Haldex Clutch Pack
The clutch pack assembly can now be disassembled
The clutch pack plates are retained in the housing (but can move, so if you rattle it, don’t be surprised)
It may look like that clutch plates cannot be removed, however they can
With the clutch pack flat on the floor (splined shaft vertical), look closely at the housing and you will see there are 3 small tangs bent over keeping the plates in place
Carefully straighten the tangs with some plyers, tip upside down and the plates and shaft can be removed
Remember the order in which they come apart (take a photo if you need to)
Clean each one thoroughly in degreaser, rinse and dry
Reassemble in the reverse order
Remember to bend the tangs back over

Haldex Reassembly
Once both the Haldex housing and clutch pack are cleaned and dried, place the splined shaft of the clutch pack back into the Haldex housing
It is a press fit onto the bearing in the Haldex housing
Lubricate the seal front of the Haldex housing and on the Haldex flange assembly before placing the Haldex flange back onto the splined shaft
Using a new centre nut or existing nut with locking compound hand tighten the nut
Hold the flange again with a flange tool or in a vice and tighten to 130 Nm

Reinstalling Haldex Housing onto the Rear Differential Assembly
Before replacing the Haldex back onto the rear differential, ensure the area in the rear diff where the Haldex lives is clean (internally and the flange area)
Place the Haldex back onto the splined shaft of the rear differential
Re-connect the 4 bolts that hold the Haldex housing and tighten

Reinstall the Prop Shaft
Note, this is a 2-person job as someone will have to hold the prop shaft level whilst the other connects and tightens the bolts
Rotate the Haldex flange until the alignment line you made before disassembly lines up with the mark on the prop shaft
If you are replacing with a new / reconditioned unit, use drill bits or similar to align the bolt holes correctly
Replace the prop shaft bolts and hand tighten (you will have to move the car to get access to all 6
Once all 6 are hand tightened, torque to 40Nm (torque bolts in an opposing pattern)
The prop shaft guides and brackets can now be re-installed

Filling the Haldex with Haldex Oil
Fill the active on-demand coupling (Haldex) from the fill hole on the side of the rear differential behind the Haldex assembly, until a thin thread of fluid runs from the filler hole
Install the active on-demand fluid filler plug
Turn the ignition on for 5 minutes (do not start the car)
Turn the ignition off
Fill the active on-demand coupling, until a thin thread of fluid again runs from the filler hole
Using a syringe, remove exactly 70 ml of fluid
Replace the washer
Install and tighten the filler plug to a torque of 35 Nm

Thank You!

Mustang, great write up......I hope I never need it though  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......