Hi all,

I am in the process of replacing the PTU on my 2013 manual FL2. It's a long story as to what the issue is but the TL:DR is a previous owner didn't bother to tighten the bolts holding it to the gearbox and the resulting slop caused the teeth to wear away prematurely.

I have a re-splined PTU from Bell waiting to go on but I can't for the life of me remove the old coupling sleeve. I have read it just pulls off but there is no way to grip it to pull it and it seems stuck fast. Best I can do is grab it with a pair of mole grips and pull it but there is no movement at all.

Does anyone have any advise or tips for getting this off? All the treads I have read about this implies it is easy to remove.

The sleeve basically has two sets of splines, one into the PTU runs dry, the other into the gearbox is constantly lubed. So it "should" just pull out.

Just a guess but if the PTU has been put on loose or mis-aligned then the splines might well be damaged - spiraled, so you may need to twist and pull. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Thanks Andy. I'll have another bash at the weekend.

I have had 2 more goes at this and it still won't come off. I have tried heating it with a blowtorch and hammering a chisel in behind the molegrips. It is stuck fast.

I am going to remove the gearbox and cut it off with the angle grinder but I can't get the passenger side driveshaft out either! it moves 1mm but it just wont' pop out!

Tempted to just put a 2nd hand box on and worry about this in the spring...

Is this the same issue?
If so, it looks potentially a right pain even with the gearbox off.

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic37537.html

Thanks for that Telco. been searching the internet for weeks to find that type of topic. Makes sencse that is what has happened to mine.

Going to try and cut the old one off then. Don't see any other option. local breakers want £750 + VAT + deposit for a 2nd hand box!

It's done! I'll post pictures in the week but yes, I had to remove the gearbox and split it to remove the diff and then cut it off with an angle grinder. The hardest but was using a dremel (well, actually a cheap hobby rotary tool dremel knock-off) to cut through the last few cm's that the Angle grinder couldn't get to.

I cut all the way through one side and split it with 2 pry bars and it was still stuck. It didn't release untill i cut through the other side too.

And as an added bonus I discovered my DMF was just about to fail catastrophically too. Glad I bought one to replace since the box was off anyway. Still, clutch looked brand new which explains why all this was in such a state in the first place.

Edited to add:

I have just been out cleaning up the splines and they are all clogged up with a hard waxy substance. Not sure what it is but I suspect it is dried up copperslip or similar that has dried up and hardened that caused the sleeve to stick.

Also, advice for anyone following this who needs to do it themselves, plug the holes into the diff. I didn't and the pinions inside are covered in metal dust from the grinder. I am now in the process of stripping, cleaning and re-assembling the diff. Not difficult, although the crown wheel bolts are very difficult to remove.

Its not a nice job. I had drive issues on our blue FL2 at 165k miles. After just changing the engine on our grey FL2, I did not fancy another struggle, so took it to the Freelander Centre at Methwold. New front Bevel Box, Coupling, and rear differential and haldex rebuild as well. Approx £2350 from memory. Apparently there is an upgraded coupling for the gearbox to shaft splines. The splines had worn bably on mine as well. My Daughter stripped the rear tyres as the drive was uneven. WE think a seized handbrake cable was the start of it.