First Day Out

Hey guys,

Finally got my Disco back from the garage today - replaced the wheel hub bearing and it's now driving a lot better, and thanks to the mechanic putting some pads on the back (previously had NONE!) it actually stops now too. And it just so happens the local 4x4 club is having an event this sunday which I will be going to .

So - the car is on road tyres (don't have the cash to buy a set of muds before sunday) and has no other off-road preparation. The diff lock is seized, but I do have high/low range. I will be taking a recovery rope (unsure of rating or even worthiness as it's not been used for about ten years!), a shovel (just in case!), and some welly boots!

It's apparently not going to be heavy off-roading on this occasion, and obviously there will be plenty of experienced people there to recover me if (when) I get stuck.

Just wondered if you guys have any suggestions of anything else to take with me?

More importantly, can you offer any tips/advice so that I might avoid getting stuck every five minutes? When to use low range, how much will I suffer from not being able to lock the diffs, etc.

Thanks,

Alec. (Well excited!)

Get underneath it with a tin of penetrating fluid and give it a good spray all around the diff lock linkage, leave it a while (go and have a cuppa ) and then work it from the passenger side through the open door (easier access for a bit more leverage).

You may need to do this a few times but it will eventually work free.

The first time I took my Disco out was in standard form with road tyres and it suprised me with it's off road capabilities.

Have fun.

standard discoverys are more than capable in the right hands, where abouts are you going to this weekend?

Take a packed lunch and some suncream lotion. And your camera....

Wriggler said:

Get underneath it with a tin of penetrating fluid and give it a good spray all around the diff lock linkage, leave it a while (go and have a cuppa ) and then work it from the passenger side through the open door (easier access for a bit more leverage).

You may need to do this a few times but it will eventually work free.

Click to expand...

When it was in the garage for the other bits I asked the mechanic (who is a bit of a landy specialist, apparently) to have a look at the diff lock. He said he tried greasing it up, and that he could engage diff lock from underneath, but that the lever was seized somewhere.

Is this likely to work if he has already tried that? And if so, can I get directly to the linkage just from lying under the car, or do I have to start dismantling it?

V8_Disco said:

standard discoverys are more than capable in the right hands, where abouts are you going to this weekend?

Click to expand...

The event is with the Ae 4x4 club, near a wee Scottish town called Dalbeattie.

paul_c said:

Take a packed lunch and some suncream lotion. And your camera....

Click to expand...

Much too manly for suncream lotion! Check for the other two though - will hopefully come back with some good snaps to post up.

AC7X said:

Hey guys,

Finally got my Disco back from the garage today - replaced the wheel hub bearing and it's now driving a lot better, and thanks to the mechanic putting some pads on the back (previously had NONE!) it actually stops now too. And it just so happens the local 4x4 club is having an event this sunday which I will be going to .

So - the car is on road tyres (don't have the cash to buy a set of muds before sunday) and has no other off-road preparation. The diff lock is seized, but I do have high/low range. I will be taking a recovery rope (unsure of rating or even worthiness as it's not been used for about ten years!), a shovel (just in case!), and some welly boots!

It's apparently not going to be heavy off-roading on this occasion, and obviously there will be plenty of experienced people there to recover me if (when) I get stuck.

Just wondered if you guys have any suggestions of anything else to take with me?

More importantly, can you offer any tips/advice so that I might avoid getting stuck every five minutes? When to use low range, how much will I suffer from not being able to lock the diffs, etc.

Thanks,

Alec. (Well excited!)

Click to expand...

what are your nice new friends gonna attach your rope to for recovery?

AC7X said:

the mechanic (who is a bit of a landy specialist, apparently) to have a look at the diff lock. He said he tried greasing it up, and that he could engage diff lock from underneath, but that the lever was seized somewhere.

Is this likely to work if he has already tried that? And if so, can I get directly to the linkage just from lying under the car, or do I have to start dismantling it?

Click to expand...

me thinks you should get him to sort it... seein as tho he is a specialist.

The idea is to free off the linkage.

It took me a couple of hours to do mine, I was servicing two Discos so it was spray and leave as I was doing other things but it sorted it.

All done from underneath, I took a torch under at first so I could see everything.

Get a mate to play with the gear lever while you are underneath and you should be able to see if and where it is siezed.

goonarmy said:

what are your nice new friends gonna attach your rope to for recovery?

Click to expand...

Umm, tow bar from the back and **** knows from the front! Hopefully won't get stuck in that direction!

*minty* said:

me thinks you should get him to sort it... seein as tho he is a specialist.

Click to expand...

Well, I only asked him to have a look whilst he was fixing the hub bearing and the brakes - I can take it back to him for him to fix it in the future but I don't really have the cash just now.

Wriggler said:

The idea is to free off the linkage.

It took me a couple of hours to do mine, I was servicing two Discos so it was spray and leave as I was doing other things but it sorted it.

All done from underneath, I took a torch under at first so I could see everything.

Get a mate to play with the gear lever while you are underneath and you should be able to see if and where it is siezed.

Click to expand...

Ok thanks I'll give that a try. Will WD40 do the job or do I need something more heavy duty?

Get some jate rings for the front, as theres nothing there to pull on thats any good.Also read this, dont pay any money http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f8/freeing-up-your-discovery-1-difflock-linkage-59819.html

AC7X said:

Ok thanks I'll give that a try. Will WD40 do the job or do I need something more heavy duty?

Click to expand...

I used duck oil but any penetration fluid should do it

It will be easy enough to get that difflock freed off, well worth doing before your day.

Get a mate to help, one needs to wiggle and one underneath, and you will easily work out which bit ain't wiggling (cos it's seized)

cheers!

Mr Noisy said:

It will be easy enough to get that difflock freed off, well worth doing before your day.

Get a mate to help, one needs to wiggle and one underneath, and you will easily work out which bit ain't wiggling (cos it's seized)

cheers!

Click to expand...

I had someone wiggling the transfer box stick whilst I was underneath and I couldn't see anything moving underneath. I could here it clunking between high and low, but couldn't see any movement - and obviously no clunking or movement whilst she was trying to put it in diff lock. Do I have to remove anything before I can see what's going on?

Thanks,

Alec.

you can see most of it, but only just.

the difflock lever is only small, and comes out of the transfer case just above the front output flange. feel around for it, you can only see it from above, but you might be able to work out if it is free.

the rest you can probably trace back by hand and hope you can see where it has jammed.

i would be shoving my hand up there, get someone to wiggle, and gradually work down the linkages until the movement has stopped, that way you know you've just passed the area that has seized.

its not easy to get at, but a very simple job tbh!

cheers, sam.

I would get an 11 year old assistant to help... have them put their hand up there while you wiggle it about... when they stop shouting (OUCH!) you've found the bit that's not moving enough!

Thanks for the diff lock advice guys. I finally managed to manoeuvre myself into such a position that I could see where the linkage underneath was (not) moving, drenched it in WD40 and left it over night. Not holding out much hope, I tried shifting it into diff lock in the morning and nothing new seemed to happen. But as I was driving away a flicker of life appeared on the dash diff-lock symbol. A bit of pulling and tugging and it was slotting nicely between diff lock and unlock.

So glad I took you guys' advice, which meant avoiding an unnecessary repair bill, ripping out the centre console, and doing without diff-lock for my first day off road!

My first day off-road was a great success too - managed to navigate around the challenge courses without any difficulty (despite it chucking it down with rain like I've never seen before in this country in my entire life!) and didn't get stuck once whilst playing around afterwards.

I tried everything the terrain had to offer - steep inclines/declines, thick mud, rocky terrain - the disco didn't miss a beat, even on road tyres it just churned its way through everything. Very impressed, and has restored my faith in it following my, ahem, incident, in the swamp

I did crunch over some rocks which obviously scraped along something underneath - it sounded ****ing awful but there doesn't seem to be any damage done. And I lost a bit of my front bumper (which was already loose) whilst bombing through a ford to clean the wheels/underbody.

All in all had a great day and great fun - can't wait to go out again!

Oh, and couldn't find the camera before I left so didn't take any pictures - but a guy from the club was taking pictures so when he puts them up I'll post a link

Ahhhhhhhh - a happy ending and all because you fiddled with your knob

the good news is cos the diff lock is stiff i suspect that motas never been offroad before.Capable beast even when standard.

Glad you enjoyed it