Ha! that's creative... and hilarious!

 

Just checked their ebay store out. They are still at it and it still looks like they don't require the cores returned. In all seriousness, their customer service was top notch and the shipping took less than a week. Was with a Fedex affiliate in the UK.

 

I just checked out their store and £495 isn't bad but I noticed the US is not on their shipping list at the moment. No worries for me since I just installed a fresh diff but I'm curious what their "Differential Reconditioning" includes. Obviously, it would include new bearings and seals but I see on the page that they include "uprated bearings." I'm not sure what that means... Do they just use "better" quality bearings than stock but are still the same SIZE or do they machine the core to allow for larger pinion bearings -- as is done by Bell Engineering -- to compensate for the undersized stock bearings that fail due to the torque of the driveline. Since you bought one, I'm curious if you know?

 

To my knowledge, they do not machine the core but recondition the core and install newer replacement bearing that was redesigned but is the same actual size. Austin offers a modified core and larger bearing. From my research on the issue, the original bearing was a South Asian product and starved for lubrication.

Now, I change the oil in my diff the way I did it before for a previous 4WD vehicle. I fill it to the level, never let it drain to exact level and reinstall the plug. I figure since the original starved for oil, why follow LR service bulletin (this was when I ran into problems with the diff BTW) which tells you to fill to level, let it drain to level THEN remove about 40-50 ml (that never made a great deal of sense to me since the diff has a breather as well). Amsoil 75w90 severe gear with a tube of Liqui Moly MoS2 Anti-Friction Gear Lubricant.

I change the diff oils every year. I use a Dimple magnet that was recommended by @p_gill in both front PTU (same gear lube even though it calls for 80w) and rear diff. I also drilled a drain plug hole in my front PTU with a10mm magnetic plug as well ( overkill on the front PTU ).

 

I was considering drilling/tapping drain holes to drain both ends easily. I think there's enough thickness in the core to drill and tap for a simple 1/4 NPT plug. I just need to figure the best spot to avoid the ring gear. It sounds like it's currently next to impossible to get the gear oil out since the fill hole is blocked by the ring gear.

 

Check out this site freel2.com Freelander 2 is the European LR2 or visa versa.
Here is a search from a great resource:
https://www.freel2.com/forum/search....&search_time=0

My mod is in one of those threads^^^ can't quickly find which one though
Here is a pic, PTU drain, M10 plug, BTW an M8 is a better fit.

 

Several of us have done that...

https://landroverforums.com/forum/lr...mpleted-92301/

 

...and others do not recommend it, particularly since if you tap this "drain hole" with the unit in question still mounted on the car it will likely be impossible to remove all metal debris left over from the drilling no matter how many times you refill and drain. In addition, if you don't do the job correctly and perfectly seal the hole, you're also likely to lose fluid over time, possibly leading to a failure and expensive repair. I prefer a suction device to remove as much of the fluid as possible. Tapping a drain hole won't allow you to remove all the fluid either, some will always be left over, but with suction there's no risk of debris.

 

Yeah... I do have a pneumatic vacuum that I use for oil changes. I can likely use with a smaller more flexible hose that may be able to snake past the ring gear. Either way, I won't have to worry about it for a couple years. I should have done it before I installed the new diff!

 

The PTU isn't that high tech. I drilled the hole with the PTU full so the fluid draining most likely got all the swarf. Even so, there's probably more metal from the normal bearing wear already in there... and that's steel, while case swarf would be aluminum.

I do monitor the plug, it's been bone-dry so I'm confident it's not leaking. If it had any oil seeping that would be a problem, you'd then have to check the fill level on a regular basis to determine how much was leaking.

Next time I'll probably install a short brass tube with a ball valve, just to avoid having to repeatedly make and break an NPT fitting.

I did it after multiple attempts to suck the fluid out failed... a hose that was thin enough to get in there was too thin for the fluid to flow. What might work would be a shop air vacuum bottle....