defender with no drive

hi all got a defender 110 on a e reg got it for off road use anyway took it out sunday and had a real fun day till on the way home we lost all drive now the problem is i know nothing about landys but i am in the motor trade so doing the job doesnt bother me one bit so ill try and tell you what its doing sorry if i am not naming things right

right it runs fine gos in gear fine but theres no drive in any gear not even with diff lock had a look around and once in gear with clutch fully out the front prop is spinning but the rear one isnt i am thinking the transfer box is dead but you tell me lol

cheers peeps

front half shaft?

whats that then mate sorry for sounding daft lol

If a half shaft was gone it would drive when the diff was locked.

It would appear that you have two problems

1. Your diff lock is not engaging , that is if you are selecting it properly

2. You either have a half shaft or cv joint or possibly even a front diff problem

It is most likey to be a half shaft , these are the shafts that take the drive to the wheel in the front axle from the diff .

You need to jack up the front axle and without the front propshaft turning hold one wheel stationry and try and turn other, you should not be able to do this listen for any noises and try to work out which side of the front axle is noisy , Dismantle that side hub and hopefully you have picked the correct one and will find the problem item


To test your difflock with front axle in air and handbrake applied select difflock and try and turn front prop if it goes round then the diflock is not engaged , examine linkage for movement when going thru selection proces and se that full travel ios being reached and that lever is tight on shaft. HTSH

Slimworx, i know it sounds silly but do you realise that your transfer box has a neutral? Maybe theres somthing wrong with a linkage from the shifter to the box, i had trouble with mine once and it wouldent go into low ratios.

if that was the case, the front prop wouldnt spin.

Ah, overlooked that bit. What tarc2man said then.

err - skooz me - post2?

If it is the front shaft. I have heard that it is more likely to be the off side one as it is shorter and has less flex.

That was certainly the one that snapped on mine, but are they different lengths?

yes they are diff lengths.

best thing is to put it into diff lock and jack one front wheel at a time and try and turn the wheel. - if it turns the half shaft is gubbered.

cheers for you help guys i now know what a half shaft is lol is there any way of testing the transfer bo cheers again

On earlier Defenders I believe they would sometimes strip the splines on the front drive member.