help not 4wd

janerbelle

hi
we brought a land rover freelander for less than £2000 last saturday.
the car was brought from a dealer but not land rover.. yesterday my partner drove it to work and we have had lots of rain so the track to his farm was wet and muddy.. well freelander just spins in the mud.. so any way after some research on the internet it appears that you can remove what makes it 4wd to turn into 2wd.. so this appears to have been done to this freelander.. to turn it back would cost £900 for parts so lord knows what the labour would be..We brought the car as a 4wd.I have spoken to the dealer this morning and he said it was 4wd and then said that they had not checked the underneath.they said they would get back to me.. so fingers crossed.I have spoken to consumer direct and they have advised me that we are protected under the sale of goods act 1979. but i was just wondering if anyone else had any advice.. many thanks

davemorton

Are you sure that it is only running 2 wheel drive, as if it just has normal road tyres on its off road capability will still be pretty crap.

wealdroam

janerbelle wrote: »

...well freelander just spins in the mud...

Were wheels on both axles spinning?

If so, it is four wheel drive.

janerbelle

yes my other half has checked and he says there is no prop shaft fitted. he looked it up on the internet and has researched it.

janerbelle

wealdroam wrote: »

Were wheels on both axles spinning?

If so, it is four wheel drive.

thanks for the reply..

no i think it was just the back wheels spinning... he had a van prior to this and the van would just spin same as this freelander... hence why he wanted a 4wd,, i have 4wd on my kia and i can get up the track no probs and i have road tyres on mine..

benham3160

Not meaning to play devils advocate, but if your partner is claiming he "can't find the propshaft" but "the rear wheels are spinning" then I think you need to do a bit more research before pointing fingers.

You did have 4x4 engaged didn't you? The Freelander to my knowledge isn't permanent 4x4.

Regards,
Andy

almillar

If there's no propshaft, the rear wheels SHOULD NOT be spinning, only the fronts. The propshaft will be connecting the gearbox at the front to the differential and wheels at the back. Don't charge into the garage with a bunch of information from 'THE INTERNET' to throw at them. AFAIK Freelanders are permanent 4wd. 4wd won't stop a vehicle slipping! If the tyres don't have grip, then it just means that you'll have 4 spinning wheels instead of 2. This would all be very simple for a mechanic friend to check, or read the manual about the 4wd system, ensure the correct settings and go back to where you were, 1 person gets out, and sees if all 4 wheels are spinning...

janerbelle

thanks for your replies. i have read the manual and there is nothing to suggest you have to select 4 wheel drive. there is no button for four wheel drive. I think i have prehaps not explained it very well.
thanks for the advice anyway.

alleycat`

The freelander is predominantly front wheel drive but can shove power to the rear wheels if it loses traction (some sort of viscous coupling affair).

If your car is spinning the rear wheels then it is shunting power back due to loss of traction and is therefore sort of 4wd.

It doesn't have a locking Diff / power transfer box (like a "proper" 4wd) but why should it when it doesn't have the ground clearance either.

If you'd said it was spinning up the front wheels and the back wheels weren't also slipping i'd think you'd have a case someone had messed with it. However, as you've stated that the back wheels are also getting "lit up" and spinning with no traction then your problem is the car can't do what you want it to do (probably due to the tyres you have on are only suitable for the road).

mikey72

janerbelle wrote: »

thanks for the reply..

no i think it was just the back wheels spinning... he had a van prior to this and the van would just spin same as this freelander... hence why he wanted a 4wd,, i have 4wd on my kia and i can get up the track no probs and i have road tyres on mine..

If it's just the front wheels spinning, and the propshaft has been removed, it has been converted to Front WD only.
So you would have a good case if it was sold as 4wd, and the conversion wasn't mentioned.

Bob_the_Saver

The Freelander is a very capable off-roader (on decent tyres) but even in two wheel drive mode is will go lots of places, so something is wrong somewhere.