perhaps I was on borrowed time. With the vehicle up on the hoist, with Terrain Response set to mud/ruts and the vehicle in drive…. there is the dreaded whining noise coming from the Power Transfer unit.
Bums me out really. I’ve changed the fluids twice in there. Once at 35k kms and again at 100k kms hoping to avoid the inevitable. And I used Royal Purple Synthetic each time. (incidentally, a lesson learned on my xkr’s diff. While others have had theirs replaced at less than 25k mi…. mine is going strong at 150k kms)

Rebuild kit is on backorder. Of course LR has a replacement on the shelf at 3500.
I wonder if I can stretch this out until a Rebuild kit is available?? After all, the whine with the noise of the aggressive tires is kinda cool.

Overall, this has been a really good vehicle. (ok, ok, LR did replace the engine for me… no charge) But I keep glancing sideways at its bigger brothers. Is this the time to move up??

 

Have you looked into getting a rebuilt PTU from the UK or a UK seller on Ebay for example? I ordered a remanufactured diff for my 2008 from a seller on Ebay going on 2 years now and it's fine (there was no core charge or return requirement BTW). I kept my original diff and rebuilt it as a spare. If you need the seller, PM me and I will give you the name.
Personally, don't see the harm in driving on it until you can get it sorted once the symptoms are just auditory.

 

Appreciate it @ThorInc . Its not my only set of wheels so for the moment the noise stays while I wait for a rebuild kit. If this goes on too long I’ll consider the rebuild.