Welcome to the club.

 

Update. Land Rover specialist shop (Special Vehicles, RI) says it's the diff seal(s) that have gone bad. Slow leak. Said it looks like it's been refilled recently, and actually looks like the diff was even swapped when it was under warranty. Can get by with just keeping an eye on it and refilling myself, but at the end of the day, with the rust coming in hard (this car lived its whole life in New England) and the diff, exhaust, shock job being ~5k, I should sell the car and look for an LR4, which is his car of choice.

He's a Brit. Every car that Land Rover makes is a right hand drive diesel. The others have been adapted to work in other locales, using random engines and drivetrains. His words. I get what he's saying. And it really applies to the LR2 with it being all Volvo/Ford.

I honestly love the car, love the way it feels, the interior and exterior are gorgeous. So I'm really bummed. Have had this car for a few weeks, already had some body work done on it, registered it, bought the xtrons, committed to it. But I've had 4 places look at it, and I'm getting the same message from all of them, so I guess I gotta cut my losses and find an LR4...or something.

 

...or treat the chassis for the rust proofing spray after using a wire brush to remove most of it, or maybe a rubberized spray, then change the diff seals and enjoy it. <shrug>

 

How in the heck can I change the diff seals? The rust I can scrub off and get it oilcoated, that's no big deal. The exhaust may even be weldable. Rear shocks some shop quoted me ~1000 to do both. But the diff seals I honestly have no idea.

You're a beast flybd. Where in MA are you? Do you have a shop you'd recommend?

 

There are a number of seals in the rear differential, the major ones are the case seal and the pinion shaft oil seal. If the leak is from the case (and my guess is that it is), once you drop the differential there's a whopping seven bolts that secure the case cover to the differential.


They are all easily accessible, and when you remove the case cover, there's the seal staring at you:

If the problem is the pinion shaft oil seal or one of the other ones, then yes, you might have to take it to a shop to do that. Did your Brit mechanic tell you WHICH seal he thought was leaking? An OEM seal kit for the rear differential runs something like $300 and change on eBay.

If you don't feel comfortable with changing seals then you can always buy a used rear differential from any number of wrecking yards around the country. You can search for one on my favorite web site for this, car-parts.com.

As to the exhaust, you have four parts to it, the manifold, front cat converter, rear cat converter and the rest of the pipes with the muffler. You can either have the part that needs welding repaired, or you can buy it used from the same sources as above.

I live 20 minutes west of Boston, and I use a mechanic in Waltham, Accel Automotive. They are very good, but appointments are handed out sparingly weeks apart. They are popular.

 

This video shows the R&R and rebuild of the diff.


You can replace the seal in flybd5's diagram without special tools IIRC.

The video shows the removal of the haldex, that's not necessary to replace the diff cover seal BUT it would probably be a good idea to remove the haldex and do the fluid & filters while you're at. There's also an oring on the haldex where it attaches to the diff that should be replaced while you're in there. Watch the entire video and it will all make sense. The haldex is the device he removes from the front of the diff at 3:20.

Here's info about haldex maintenance. VERY easy to do with the haldex removed, but you do need to use the correct procedure to refill the oil.

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic16714-315.html

 

So I cleaned everything off and made it all dry as a bone, and after driving for a while it looks like the leaky seal is the input shaft seal, and there may be another leak further up at the haldex filter. But for sure one of the main culprits is the input shaft seal.

I can't get a mechanic to fix it. I would have to do this on my own. The specialist Rover shop is not very hot on this model and even when I called for a quote he said I was crazy to want to fix it, because the seals in these diffs basically just disintegrate, and this car will become a money pit.

On another note, the local shop that did tires and brakes said "don't worry about it. just drive it. it all just depends on how much money you want to throw at it."

Problem is, I don't think 10 years old is that old. 15 maybe. But you gotta hold oil from your AWD system at 10 years. Come on.

 

That's not a very hard seal to get to. I had a seal leak only once in 150K miles, the dealer damaged it when they R&Red the haldex.

You do not have to remove the diff to get the haldex out, just follow the procedure in the video to disconnect and lower the rear prop shaft (video 0:50-1:25) and then you just remove the haldex bolts and slide it out. Be careful with the prop shaft bolts, they can be stiff and are easy to break (use a heat gun if you have one).

Lot's of haldex info here. IMO you do NOT need to take the haldex apart, just change the fluid and main filter and clean the other filter:

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic16714.html

Here's a video on servicing the haldex, you do need to use the proper refill procedure (Vehicle level!). Land Rover manual says to remove 70ml, not 40ml like the video says for the volvo.


The LR2 drivetrain is a volvo, any euro or volvo indie shop should be happy to do it. Or DIY.

 

If the dealer/mechanic won't do it and you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, any competent transmission shop should be able to handle it. Compared to other things in the car, the instructions for this are fairly straightforward.

 

In that video he doesn't disconnect the prop shaft. He says he couldn't do it. There's also some leaking I think on the left of the prop shaft, the pressure accumulator or pressure relief valve. Is this normal?