To confirm; I can't remember so I thought I would ask before placing an order; the PTU and the rear diff are the same size Dimple? M18x1.5x12?

2008 LR2 SE i6

Confirmed!!!!!!!

The PTU, Rear Differential, Engine oil Drain plug (3.2) and the Automatic Transmission (fill plug) are all M18x1.5x12

Note: the 12 is the length and most of these location can tolerate longer then 12 but 12 will work for all


I swapped the Dimple Drain Plug to the Automatic Transmission a few months ago (When I removed it today it had collected a little black steel dust)

And I put the standard steel drain plug on the rear differential (with the extremely strong magnet shown in the picture that I posted above) and to my surprise for the first time the rear differential was clean. No black steel dust particles. Note: I have successfully collected a lot of steel dust using this magnet and this drain plug. In fact it's been shedding steel and I've been collecting it for 8 years. I was shocked to find nothing. This magnet is really strong, it wasn't the magnetic field strength letting me down.


So today I made some changes

After I changed the Engine oil and PTU Gear oil and 3 quarts of ATF I moved things around

---Rear differential (Drain Plug with medium sized rare earth magnet)

---Engine oil pan drain (Drain Plug with medium sized rare earth magnet)

---PTU (Drain Plug with Large rare earth magnet.....Dimple!!!!!)

---Automatic transmission (Drain Plug with medium sized rare earth magnet)
(4 rare earth magnets on the steel cover near the radiator)


That only leaves the power steering fluid and the Haldex fluid not protected with a magnet.

When I changed the PTU Gear oil today it came out with almost no bubbles.

It could have gone longer but I don't think that I will change it again for a year or two so now is the right time to do it.

Thanks

Paul

Last edited by p_gill on 30th Aug 2020 8:37 pm. Edited 1 time in total

I am now using three of these and they are significantly cheaper than the dimple


Here is the Dimple plug after I removed it from the automatic transmission


Here is the regular plug from the rear differential as removed. That's clean!!!


And here is the extremely strong magnet that I was using to magnetize the plug shown above.

Last edited by p_gill on 31st Aug 2020 2:32 am. Edited 1 time in total

Thank you p_gill for the confirmation! I will be placing an order shortly.

EDIT:Order placed with UK supplier above for two super magnet models.....there is a Canadian Dimple distributor but they don't respond to emails or phone messages.

Some bad timing....but, this kind of timing is never good........

Quite a few days ago I drove over a large downed tree branch across the road, from a mature tree at night, doing about 90 kms.......it happened in another heavy rain and wind storm. By the time I saw it & figured out what it was, I decided not to even slow down or brake. LR2 tracked perfectly over it and never missed a beat. I was impressed at the time, no leaks for days after.

So, two symptoms ensued from this event, a rear diff whine, , and weeping from both rear shocks, LH side is worse. I have sourced the Bilsteins and will order them but I want to rebuilt the diff first as the whine is getting progressively worse! I have two choices, order one from Austen at Bell or rebuild my original, could be two weeks b4 I can put it in and I have no idea what the customs duty and taxes will be once landed. The Billies, I will order next week as they are still performing as normal.

Timing is everything....

Update, ordered the reconditioned rear diff from Bell Engineering on Friday......should ship Monday, hopefully the carrier will be timely!
Hard to find a recon for a fair price here or even someone willing to rebuild it that has a solid rep. Nothing at the local wreckers and the US landed price for a used diff (zero guaranties)is just nutz.

UPDATE: Bell Engineering was unsuccessful in getting this diff shipped to Canada; apparently returned twice to Austen because the airport sniffer detected gasoline fumes (restricted item). Refund pending. Now I have two choices, rebuild or Land Rover dealership for a recon. The only reputable mechanic known to me willing to rebuild is on vaca until Oct 24th. What a fiasco but original diff is still holding on. Once the refund clears, I will make a decision........

Bilstein shocks are going in the rear on Monday. Yippie......

I wonder if you need a specialist shipper for something like this? My son works for a company in Kenya and they often get stuff sent out like tractor parts and agricultural machinery which tend to go by sea in a shared container. There must be companies doing this for Canada.
Just done a quick search on the web and came up with this one. I have no experience of this company but it's a start.
http://www.dornack.co.uk/country/canada/ 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

MotionInc wrote:

UPDATE: Bell Engineering was unsuccessful in getting this diff shipped to Canada; apparently returned twice to Austen because the airport sniffer detected gasoline fumes (restricted item). Refund pending. Now I have two choices, rebuild or Land Rover dealership for a recon. The only reputable mechanic known to me willing to rebuild is on vaca until Oct 24th. What a fiasco but original diff is still holding on. Once the refund clears, I will make a decision........

Bilstein shocks are going in the rear on Monday. Yippie......

dorsetfreelander wrote:

I wonder if you need a specialist shipper for something like this? My son works for a company in Kenya and they often get stuff sent out like tractor parts and agricultural machinery which tend to go by sea in a shared container. There must be companies doing this for Canada.
Just done a quick search on the web and came up with this one. I have no experience of this company but it's a start.
http://www.dornack.co.uk/country/canada/

Yes, it's likely an air vs sea issue......but, I don't know if I want to chance a slow boat from the UK!
My diff is quieter in the colder weather here now but it could be a ticking time bomb.....

p_gill wrote:

That's an unfortunate outcome.

Don't forget to thank Austin for trying.

Good luck

Paul

I thought I would update my progress or lack of...........did get my refund from Paypal from Austen.........of course, Paypal hung onto it until the foreign exchange rate was favourable to them . I am still unable to find a reliable local mechanic with a favourable reputation to rebuild my rear diff so I came across a UK ebay seller that has assured me that they are able to ship to Canada I just made the purchase and they have indicated that they will be shipping on Thursday, fingers crossed this works out seamlessly. The seller's name is squashedblackgorilla (yeah I know....)and has 100% positive feedback. I also ordered a rebuild kit for the current diff as once I receive & install the reconditioned unit, my buddy and I are going to rebuild the original without a time constraint.

EDIT: The company is freelanderspecialist.com

Thanks for all posters in making this the most comprehensive diff post

I too have the dreaded diff whine - 134K '06 HSE, so deserve it really.

Local specialist dignosed it as a wheel bearing and £275 later its still as bad as ever.

My question is, is there a way of diagnosing if it is the diff or the front transfer box without removing prop shaft, or is that something you can only do when its up on the ramps?

Also, I will be replacing my FL2 in April next year - is it worth repairing the diff whine, or selling it for less with a noisy diff?

TIA

MotionInc wrote:

I thought I would update my progress or lack of...........did get my refund from Paypal from Austen.........of course, Paypal hung onto it until the foreign exchange rate was favourable to them . I am still unable to find a reliable local mechanic with a favourable reputation to rebuild my rear diff so I came across a UK ebay seller that has assured me that they are able to ship to Canada I just made the purchase and they have indicated that they will be shipping on Thursday, fingers crossed this works out seamlessly. The seller's name is squashedblackgorilla (yeah I know....)and has 100% positive feedback. I also ordered a rebuild kit for the current diff as once I receive & install the reconditioned unit, my buddy and I are going to rebuild the original without a time constraint.

EDIT: The company is freelanderspecialist.com

UPDATE: ETA re delivery is tomorrow, just prepaid the duty & taxes. The diff is currently in the US on the way here. Fingers crossed but it looks like this is happening! Now it was shipped TNT/Fedex. Will update once I receive it tomorrow.

Dang, I quoted myself..............

Just picked up on this thread as I have noticed a slight whine from the rear of my 2012 SD4, it only seems to happen when pulling away from a standstill, could this be the diff?
This is my first LR so am still learning.

From inside a moving Freel2 I don't think the pinion bearing can be distinguished from a wheel bearing.

If you get a fill plug with a magnet as shown above then you can collect the metal dust from the pinion bearing.

Just remove the plug every 500 miles and clean off the black dust.

If there is no black dust then wheel bearing should be investigated.

The other option is to use a larger strong magnet on the fill plug also shown above.

Either way you will need to periodically remove the fill plug and wipe off the black dust.

Good luck

Paul