Just an observation but before the FL2 I had never heard of a rear diff bearing problem and in the old days when you had live rear axles the whole diff would have been jumping around and putting various stresses on the rear bearing and prop shaft UJs. Contrast that with an FL2 where the rear diff is held effectively stationary and wheel movement is catered for by the half shafts. So why do we have this problem? 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

MRRover75 wrote:

Seems to me that the later diffs with a wider bearing also fails.

dorsetfreelander wrote:

Just an observation but before the FL2 I had never heard of a rear diff bearing problem and in the old days when you had live rear axles the whole diff would have been jumping around and putting various stresses on the rear bearing and prop shaft UJs. Contrast that with an FL2 where the rear diff is held effectively stationary and wheel movement is catered for by the half shafts. So why do we have this problem?

Freely2 wrote:

MRRover75 wrote:

Seems to me that the later diffs with a wider bearing also fails.

Do you mean wider bearings as modified by Austen or did later FL2s come with a wider bearing?

I know that the older FL2s has substandard bearings made of a softer metal but I wasn’t aware that the bearing size was changed by Land Rover later on? If so, when was this change made?

Thank you for this information!

" My understanding is that LR increased the bearing size post 2013 but somehow still ended up with some manufactured from softer metal, ex India I believe. Others may have a greater knowledge than me. "

+1 to this one

I’m starting to get the feeling that no one is quite sure what the cause of the bearing failures are?! So far I have seen the following causes given:

1) The Haldex applying force too abruptly - corrected with the software update (when was this?) to the Gen 4 Haldex

2) Bearing is too small, corrected with a slightly larger bearing by Land Rover in 2013 (and also done by Bell Engineering)

3) Bearing is too soft - not corrected by Land Rover but corrected by using Timken bearings

So has anyone who has had upgraded Timken larger bearings, with the newer Haldex program run into differential problems?

You are basically correct in all your statements. I have the same gut feeling as you, that there are no definitive answer.

What surprises me is that some diffs last nearly forever while others fails early in their life, and it seems it does not matter if its the large or small bearing or upgraded software or not. Mine, a -07 with the small bearing lasted 200.000km since new before failure. I rebuilt it using Timken bearings and it has done 50.000km since the rebuild.
I have not heard of any failure of the diffs Austen (Bell Engineering) have rebuilt.

Is it only the FL2 in the LR stable that has the rear diff bearing problem? Never heard of it with an FL1. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

The early FL1 did have diff issues if my memory serves me correctly, the facelift model had a different model of diff as well.

Nick (Now Sold). 2008 Freelander 2 (Nazca Sand) SE TD4 Auto. Statutory write off & on WOVR for hail damage but still road legal.
171037Km as of 09/05/22
Superchips Bluefin Flash
Nanocom Evo II (also sold)

Many car makers use the Haldex unit.

What cars use Haldex?
The Haldex 4WD system is currently used in the following vehicle models:
Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen AG) Audi A3 quattro. ...
Volvo Cars. Volvo S40 AWD. ...
Ford. Ford Taurus. ...
Land Rover. Land Rover Freelander 2/LR2. ...
Saab Automobile. Saab 9-3 Turbo X (2007-2008) (Haldex Fourth Gen with eLSD) ...
GM.
Haldex Traction - Wikipedia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haldex_Traction

They all have problems - an example from Audi
https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/best...lt.145062/

One source I was reading blamed early Hadex problems on the rail transportation (without oil) to the car factories.
It seems that this caused slight indentations on the bearing surfaces. These caused failures as the metal picked up during service on assembled cars. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

The Haldex on our Q3 was indeed a service item, I believe at 30K was recommended by our main dealer, I think officially it may have been a bit more but had some leeway ie 30>40K miles. 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......

Badger51 wrote:

The early FL1 did have diff issues if my memory serves me correctly, the facelift model had a different model of diff as well.

Nick

FL1 were a different set up ot the FL2 but still followed the same principals. Weak points were the IRD (PTU on FL2), Viscous coupler (Haldex on FL2) and the rear diff (urrrm rear diff on FL2 )

The main failure point was the Viscous coupler, which was a gel filled drum essentially. When the front wheels were spinning due to lack of grip, this rotated the front prop in the coupler faster which solidified the viscous gel and engaged the rear prop shaft and so provided drive to the rear wheels as well. Over time (could be 30k miles or 200k ) the gel would remain fairly solid, and this would put strain on the IRD and the rear diff bearings which would then fail.

Like the Haldex, LR specified a ridiculous service/replacement interval on this but some owners just disconnected the prop shafts or blanked the IRD off so the car ran as a FWD only. Bell engineering have been replacing viscous couplers and bearings, as well as IRD and rear diff for many years prior to them branching onto FL2.

FL2 from 2006-2010 ran on the Gen 3 Haldex, and then Gen4 after that until run out.

Freely2 wrote:

I’m starting to get the feeling that no one is quite sure what the cause of the bearing failures are?! So far I have seen the following causes given:

1) The Haldex applying force too abruptly - corrected with the software update (when was this?) to the Gen 4 Haldex

2) Bearing is too small, corrected with a slightly larger bearing by Land Rover in 2013 (and also done by Bell Engineering)

3) Bearing is too soft - not corrected by Land Rover but corrected by using Timken bearings

So has anyone who has had upgraded Timken larger bearings, with the newer Haldex program run into differential problems?