So I have a known rear diff leak which LR said needs the rear diff pinion and seal fix. (Going to have them try to replace the entire diff if I can b/c I have a warranty, but that a side note.)

Question is....I noticed last night while taking it for a drive and playing with the menus....I opened the 4x4 menu and the rear diff was set to locked (front set to unlocked). Would this cause the rear diff seal/pinion issue? Is it bad that this was set to lock for an unknown period of time (by previous owner)? Should I try to get the whole diff replaced because of this? 2014 FF Autobiography 5.0 SC
2008 FFRR (sold)
2008 BMW M5

In short. Yes! I would set it hasn’t done it any favours. I’m certainly not an expert and maybe the newer 4x4’s like the l405 have some kind of fail safe? But having the diff locked on tarmac wouldn’t be good for the diff at all. If the wheels can’t spin freely like on mud or snow then it will put strain on diff.

That's what I was thinking. Would this cause issues with the tranny too...or just the rear diff?


I'm thinking I should tell LR this scenario (that is was locked for unknown amount of time) when I take it in to prod them to replace the diff then.

Possible they locked it to diagnose the pinion/seal leak and didn't "unlock" it after? Would it need to be locked to diagnose the bad pinion and seal? Just thinking out loud here. 2014 FF Autobiography 5.0 SC
2008 FFRR (sold)
2008 BMW M5

I wouldn’t of thought the diff needed to be locked to diagnose pinion seal. I knew a fella had a l322 and somehow that got put into diff lock and it done so much damage it wrote the car off. This was way back before the l405 was even out

lol...well hopefully and I think I'm ok since the car is driving....I'll need to get the rear diff addressed though. 2014 FF Autobiography 5.0 SC
2008 FFRR (sold)
2008 BMW M5

Is there not a constant light on the dash when in diff lock? I know on the older defenders they had no light initially but the light came up after being driven on a hard surface after a few miles because it whines the diff up ( obviously depending on how many turns uve done) you then had to drive it in reverse until the light went out. I would have thought the newer Land Rover/ Range Rover has some kind of warning light??
If this is the case. Be careful with the warranty. They may try and turn it around and say it a driver error.

I have no idea what the light would look like, the L405 is so new to me. No check engine light or anything. I just saw on the nav display the lock symbol on the rear.

So you think not to mention that it was locked to LR and just have them diagnose it? They already told me the seal and pinion fix when I brought it in for per-purchase inspection. The cost of the job was the same as the warranty so I just bought the warranty (well haggled until the dealer paid for the warranty). 2014 FF Autobiography 5.0 SC
2008 FFRR (sold)
2008 BMW M5

I didn’t think you could manually lock the diffs.......

I have a 2014 Autobiography. It shows on the Nav. You can select them lock/unlock. 2014 FF Autobiography 5.0 SC
2008 FFRR (sold)
2008 BMW M5

Yes I’m sure you can manually lock the diffs. But surly there must be a massive annoying warning light letting you know it’s locked ?

i thought the diff lock was electronically controlled and was activated when needed.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

This is the menu option on the NAV that I'm talking about where you can lock/unlock.

The rear was set to lock (like how it looks below)....I changed it to unlocked (it turns green and shows an unlocked logo).

Click image to enlarge

Not fitted to all cars though. Some have none, some just the rear and rarely front and rear. Think even when not fitted it still shows on the screen as an open lock but just can’t be switched on.

So yea....the bottom (rear) was set to lock for who knows how long. And I did notice the rear diff leak which LR advised to replace pinion and seal. Just trying to correlate the two.

If diff is blown I guess it will rear is head even after the pinion seal fix....I just want to make sure its all covered before my extended 3yr/50k miles warranty expires 2014 FF Autobiography 5.0 SC
2008 FFRR (sold)
2008 BMW M5

Just my assumption. I would of thought if the diff was damaged at this moment it would be noisy or you would be feeling some kind of vibration. Please don’t quote me on this. It’s normal for a pinion seal to go anytime. Not 100% having diff lock on would cause it.