Allstar Breakers specialise in Freelander IRD Units, giving fantastic value for money for these reconditioned units, saving a fortune in comparison to garage and dealership prices, give us a call on 01772 700607 and we will discuss your needs and how we can help.
Freelander IRD Units
IRD’s on a Freelander are a common failure on these 4×4’s. If there is a loud clunking and/or grinding noise when using the accelerator (increasing or decreasing speed) or even turning the steering wheel, most noticeable when in reverse, or if you feel that you are losing drive intermittently followed by a grinding noise or loud bang, then your IRD is failing. The main cause of this failure is usually a faulty VCU (viscous coupling unit), which will need to be changed at the same time as the IRD.
If your vehicle feels ‘tight’ or the brakes appear to be binding, most predominantly when in reverse on full lock, this means that your VCU is beyond its servicable life and you should change it a.s.a.p. Your transmission train will be under massive strain when you have a damaged VCU, causing the gearbox, rear differential unit and the IRD unit to wear at a massively increased rate and the failure of these parts can be very expensive!
A VCU will usually last for around 70 thousand miles, however this can be a lot less depending on how the car has been driven. It is a common misconception that VCU’s seize, in our experience what actually happens is the silicon viscous fluid becomes thicker with wear over time and gradually causes the viscous couplings to become stiffer
and stiffer to rotate. With the increase in strain on the gear train, eventually failure occurs to the IRD and rear differential unit.
