Clunk when pulling away

Hi I'm new to Land Rovers and I have just bought a Land Rover 90td5 2001, I've been looking everywhere trying to find info to try and solve this annoying clunk when taking off in first. Most info points to the half shaft flanges but mine has the fixed flanges, so I'm wondering is it common to have spline wear the diff end of the half shaft? Mines done a lot of miles. Any help would be great thanks.

I know jack about td5's* butI i'll have a go...UJs? Suspension bushes? Clutch-ey type area? Guessing here...

Splines? Sorry! Ask me one on sport

* I was badly startled by a D2 when young

It is less common to have wear on the diff splines but diffs do wear. But it could be any number of things.

Is it definitely drive line and not suspension?
A common cause of a clunk when pulling away is the a frame ball joint on the rear axle. If it is new to you, I would be checking over all of the suspension bushes for condition and replacing them as needed.

If it is drive line rather than suspension you could try jacking up each wheel in turns and trying to rotate it to see how much "spare" movement there is. This will show you how much slack there is in the drive line. There will always be some slack due to the nature of the transmission.

If it only happens when pulling away it is unlikely to be UJ's but that would be a good place to start as they are prone to failure if not looked after properly and are easy to replace.

Hi thank you for replying, it does do it a little trough the gears to, I have read about the frame ball joint causing problems, also after a quick check the ujs do have slight play but not much. I'm thinking this might well be a trial and error process, I plan to keep the vehicle a long time so my thinking is replace easiest and cheapest first then if it requires diff work then do that. I may well pull the half shaft just to make sure the splines are ok, atleast I'll know for sure then. I'm new to Land Rover but not to mechanics so I can do most things on this. Thanks again for your help.

From what you have said above it may also be a cumulative effect. A little play in lots of things will result in a lot of play along the whole line. If there is slight play in the UJ's I would definitely replace them an see how bad it is after doing so. It usually take me longer to take the prop off the vehicle than replace to the UJ so they are easy enough to do. You may get lucky and that solves the problem. You don't need much UJ play to have a loud bang and a lot of vibration.

dag019 said:

From what you have said above it may also be a cumulative effect. A little play in lots of things will result in a lot of play along the whole line. If there is slight play in the UJ's I would definitely replace them an see how bad it is after doing so. It usually take me longer to take the prop off the vehicle than replace to the UJ so they are easy enough to do. You may get lucky and that solves the problem. You don't need much UJ play to have a loud bang and a lot of vibration.

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Hi I laid underneath it today and got my partner to rock the rear wheel and there is definitly play in the UJs that is making a little clunk. So I'm hopeful that might be all that's causing the clunk it's not really bad just annoying. I'll get some UJs ordered and I'll let you know the result when they are fitted. Thank you very much for your help.

Let me know how you get on will you please? My 90 300TDI has a clunk when pulling away too, also when changing gear.
Is much reduced if I'm careful with the clutch, so driveline is my guess.. I'm collecting a list of jobs to consider for the Christmas holidays...

Cheers

Could it be backlash in the transfer box?.....

David Leech said:

Could it be backlash in the transfer box?.....

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Hi possibly, but I haven't investegated to much as of yet, but there is definitely play in the UJs so I'll get them done then see where I stand. It's not really bad so I'm hoping UJs fix it. I'll keep you posted thanks for your help.

The amount of free movement shown in the video is about norman for a vehicle that has seen some use

Turktowner said:

Let me know how you get on will you please? My 90 300TDI has a clunk when pulling away too, also when changing gear.
Is much reduced if I'm careful with the clutch, so driveline is my guess.. I'm collecting a list of jobs to consider for the Christmas holidays...

Cheers

Click to expand...

Potentially mainshaft wear on gearbox,you can google ways to check.

Caledonian blue TD5 said:

Hi I laid underneath it today and got my partner to rock the rear wheel and there is definitly play in the UJs that is making a little clunk. So I'm hopeful that might be all that's causing the clunk it's not really bad just annoying. I'll get some UJs ordered and I'll let you know the result when they are fitted. Thank you very much for your help.

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It will be its amazing how much it can cause it.

ER1C said:

It will be its amazing how much it can cause it.

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Hi that's what I'm hoping, I really like the Land Rover it's the first I have owned and to be honest it's the only fault I've found with it mechanically, I think it's been looked after quite well. I'll get the UJs ordered this weekend then I'll keep you all informed how I get on with it.

For me on my td5 90 it was the a frame ball joint above the rear axle,changed & got rid of the clunk.

Hi thanks that's good to know, I'm probably going to replace most cheaper bits just as a matter of cause, I plan to keep it a long time, so I'm going to do the UJs first then I think I'll do the ball joint. The Land Rover has done 200k so some bits have obviously taken quite a bit of wear, even if replaced over time. But apart from the clunk there doesn't seem to be any other knocks bangs or rattles, only an annoying slightly sqeaking belt, but it's nothing compared to my VW T4 belt scream. Thanks for your help.

Hi again all, I'm now having problems find the correct rear UJs, mines a td5 defender 90 and I think they are different from earlier ones, I've been looking on eBay but it's not to clear which ones are correct. Can anyone please help? Thanks in advance.

When replacing UJ's I will only use GKN.
You could start off by giving Island 4x4 a call for advice
http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/propshaft-75mm-rtc3458g-rtc3291g-rtc3291hs-p-1341.html
OR
https://www.jgs4x4.co.uk/land-rover-defender-discovery-universal-joint-heavy-duty-gkn-uj-tvc100010/
Hope this helps

I would look at that squeak before it gets worse.
Pop the belt & fan off spin the the pulleys
You will soon hear /see wich one it is.

With the fan its anti clock to get it off.

the murfster said:

I would look at that squeak before it gets worse.
Pop the belt & fan off spin the the pulleys
You will soon hear /see wich one it is.

With the fan its anti clock to get it off.

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Hi the speak isn't very load, but is annoying so I will have a look, thanks for the advice about the direction to get the fan off. I think I'm going to be quite busy over the Christmas holiday I also have an engine to fit in my Ford Focus, blocked oil strainer ruined the engine. Thanks again

Good luck.