Maintaining a Freelander 2’s Haldex coupling

THE Freelander 2 from the 2009 model year is fitted with the Generation 4 active on-demand coupling (otherwise known as the Haldex unit) mounted on the rear differential. This is an improved design over the previous couplings, and its role is to distribute torque to the rear wheels when front wheel traction is lost. This allows normal front-wheel only drive for economy, but switching into four-wheel drive by also driving the rear wheels when needed. This Haldex unit active on-demand coupling provides seamless transition to four-wheel drive and is a self-contained hydraulic and mechanical unit which sits between the rear driveshaft (propshaft) and the rear differential.

The only service requirement for the rear diff (which shares its oil with the Haldex) is to renew the oil every 150,000 miles or 10 years. However, this 2013 Freelander 2 Td4 with 78,000 miles on the clock had a fault message flashed up on the dash message centre stating ‘Gearbox Fault, Traction