I thought I had got everything sorted with the drivetrain, however today we had the horse trailer full of hay behind and got the front offside tyre spinning in the mud alone. None of the other wheels wanted to help at all.

Selected mud mode but still difference.

We have no errors on the dash and no related errors on the Autel.

But it looks like we are in 2WD.

I started the saga with a noise from the rear left wheel when reversing slowly. Disabling the Haldex stopped the scrabbling but there was still a slight noise. This noise got worse over the next few months with the Haldex unit disabled. I eventually tracked the noise down to the rear shock. Replacing these and the droplinks and the brakes solved the noise altogether.

I decided to put the fuse back in for the Haldex and was surprised to find that there was no scrabbling and it still drive perfectly.

It has since driven perfectly, passed its MOT etc.

So a little disappointed to find it isn't in 4WD.

Where do I start? Is it likely to be at the Haldex end or at the front end? Splines?

Appreciate any starting points.

Front PTU splines more than likely I'd say.

Try jacking up one rear wheel and see if it rotates if it does then NO 4wd if it will not rotate the drive should be going the rear wheels 2013 FL2 XS.
Defender 90 300 TDi.
Defender 90 300 TDi CSW.
1964 MGB Roadster.
1944 Willys MB "Jeep" with bullet holes. (gone)
17 hand Irish Drought Thoroughbred (mostly lame)
Nagging Old Boiler.

Mahatma Gandhi said if there is an Idiot in power those who elected him are well represented. The Enemy is our own corrupt Government.

Aveling wrote:

Front PTU splines more than likely I'd say.

Depends what it is either front PTO? splines or haldex? if rear wheel is jack up and you cannot rotate the road wheel then that eliminates the front PTO slines so would narrow it down to the Haldex? Have you changed the haldex oil and cleaned the pump filter? 2013 FL2 XS.
Defender 90 300 TDi.
Defender 90 300 TDi CSW.
1964 MGB Roadster.
1944 Willys MB "Jeep" with bullet holes. (gone)
17 hand Irish Drought Thoroughbred (mostly lame)
Nagging Old Boiler.

Mahatma Gandhi said if there is an Idiot in power those who elected him are well represented. The Enemy is our own corrupt Government.

Not yet done the Haldex oil. I have purchased the service kit and it is sitting in the shelf waiting but I haven't done it yet partially due to time and partially because it all seemed to be working fine!

It is on the list to do though. I'll Jack a wheel up shortly and see what happens. When I did the shocks and the brakes I had it up but both wheels were up at the same time.

Rommel wrote:

Try jacking up one rear wheel and see if it rotates if it does then NO 4wd if it will not rotate the drive should be going the rear wheels

Also turning the propshaft turns the lifted rear wheel and I couldn't stop the wheel with my foot whilst turning it, or I couldn't still turn the propshaft when I did stop the wheel.

Does that rule out down to the PTU splines?

Now I'm worried that when I fix this, it will cause the Haldex to Scrabble again! I'm guessing the Haldex mysteriously fixed itself because it now no longer has drive to it!

I would have a word with Bell Engineering. Very helpful and will likely give you a diagnosis over the phone.

Wowsers this is starting to get expensive fast. I'm beginning to wonder if we can cope with a 2WD Freelander 😂


Nearly a grand for the PTU and labour from Bell. Plus it may need something doing with the Haldex unit after.

I can buy a refurbished PTU which says it comes with updated bearings and new splines for £415.

How hard of a job is it to replace?

How long does it take to get it apart for inspection? I'm considering taking it apart first to have a look at the damage. Do you need to drop the oil to look at the splines?

If it makes you feel any better, me and my partner have just paid out £1,200 for a new referb Haldex fitted and then another £2,800 for the next lot of jobs next week.

not really making me feel any better. You've spent more than our Freelander cost!

If I keep going at this rate though, I'll have spent more than ours cost!

I should have learned by my 4th land rover. These things never change 😂

Still I keep getting drawn back to them.

You do not need to drop the transmission oil to check the splines.
Working in the street I managed to strip out the PTU, decide what parts were needed and put it back together again in a weekend.
Repeated the stripdown and fitted the new parts a few weekends later.

Whip out the RH drive shaft, disconnect the propshaft (leave it in position), and then remove the PTU. The splined sleeve is then visible, give it a really good pull and it comes out of the Auto gearbox losing a teacup full of oil. Mine was stripped where it entered the PTU as was the PTU - runs dry by design. The gearbox end of the sleeve is lubricated so shouldn't be worn/damaged, so if you are just stripping to ascertain what parts you need leave the sleeve in place.

Forget messing about with the wheels, put the car in park, get underneath and try to turn the propshaft - if it turns the PTU/splines are dead. If its a manual put her in gear, have a beautiful assistant stamp on the foot brakes and try turning the propshaft.

It really does depend on how handy you are with the spanners - or how much you hate shopping at the Trafford Center. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

I do most jobs myself, but I normally spend a few days watching videos and reading up first!

There is very little out there for this!

I've got all the tools so that side of things wouldn't be a problem.

Mine is a manual gearbox, I take it the procedure is pretty much the same for checking the splines?

From my testing, I'm pretty sure I couldn't turn the propshaft when all four wheels were in the ground. Lift one rear wheel and it turned whilst turning that wheel.

Nbuuifx wrote:

Also turning the propshaft turns the lifted rear wheel and I couldn't stop the wheel with my foot whilst turning it, or I couldn't still turn the propshaft when I did stop the wheel.

Does that rule out down to the PTU splines?

Now I'm worried that when I fix this, it will cause the Haldex to Scrabble again! I'm guessing the Haldex mysteriously fixed itself because it now no longer has drive to it!