Diff or Gearbox at fault

HI all, its been a while.
Anyway, I've recently brought a F1 1.8 sport and all going well until last week...

Basically, I have no 'drive'. When running in neutral or in gear there is a loud tapping/knocking noise but with the clutch pressed fully down the noise disappears, visually, the o/s driveshaft looks as though it is spinning in an oval as if not fixed. Could it be something as simple as this or is there likely to be a more severe hidden issue further into the diff or gearbox?

Whatever it is that caused the lack of drive happened whilst stationary, I was just about to pull out of a side road - holding the clutch on the bite point.

TIA

have yu done the OWUT?

The Mad Hat Man said:

have yu done the OWUT?

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Which is? Apologies, not heard of that before

yu have a freelander and havent heard of the One Wheel Up Test?

As you have no drive, how can you tell that the driveshaft is turning in an oval - is it when you push the car?

Which drive shaft are you talking about? One of the rear ones or the drivers or passenger side front? Do you mean the actual shaft or the locators into the diff/gearbox/IRD? These are not round (unless you have aftermarket ones) - they may appear to be turning in an oval manner, but it is just the indentations in them.

As the noises happen when stationary, I imagine your problem is in the gearbox. It will either be something broke in the gearbox or possibly just the linkage - worth inspecting the linkage and making sure it is all moving and connected OK before considering the 'big' options.

The One Wheel Up Test is discussed here...

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/tests-new-freelander-owners-should-do-on-their-car.312863/

Actually, that should say "As the noises happen when stationary and in neutral"

The Mad Hat Man said:

yu have a freelander and havent heard of the One Wheel Up Test?

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Never had one before, only had this one since October, not likely to get another one too soon

Ok, thinking I understand a bit more, but perhaps I should have stated that rear prop has been removed so it's fwd only, not sure whether this will effect OWUT.
The prop I can see 'moving' as it spins, is drivers side.
The noise is there, when ever the clutch is not engaged, either in neutral or gear (forward and/or reverse). Would/ could these still be a linkage issue?

Oops
Bought a dog .

Ok. Here's my take on the problem. It's been used as a FWD, possibly for some time and most likely because the VCU went tight.. In my experience, all this puts quite a bit if strain on the gearbox splined link. This is the link that takes the drive from the IRD, through the gearbox diff carrier and out to the LH front drive shaft. My guess is the splines in the link have stripped, probably off centre, making the CV appear to be wobbling but not rotating. So to solve the problem you need to replace the splined link, which is part of the gearbox. So your best bet is to find a good second hand gearbox and fit that.

Nodge68 said:

Ok. Here's my take on the problem. It's been used as a FWD, possibly for some time and most likely because the VCU went tight.. In my experience, all this puts quite a bit if strain on the gearbox splined link. This is the link that takes the drive from the IRD, through the gearbox diff carrier and out to the LH front drive shaft. My guess is the splines in the link have stripped, probably off centre, making the CV appear to be wobbling but not rotating. So to solve the problem you need to replace the splined link, which is part of the gearbox. So your best bet is to find a good second hand gearbox and fit that.

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Why would that make a noise when in neutral and stationary though?

There would be no drive to it from the engine and no movement driven from the wheel.

DiscoHat said:

Ok, thinking I understand a bit more, but perhaps I should have stated that rear prop has been removed so it's fwd only, not sure whether this will effect OWUT.
The prop I can see 'moving' as it spins, is drivers side.
The noise is there, when ever the clutch is not engaged, either in neutral or gear (forward and/or reverse). Would/ could these still be a linkage issue?

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I presume you mean the driveshaft you can see moving as it spins. If its on the drivers side its the opposite side to the one Nodge is talking about. Its support bearing is known to fail (especially if aftermarket driveshafts are installed) which can do lots of bad things, including rendering the diff (which it is connected to) useless and providing no drive. However, if you noticed no problems/vibration up to the point of failure, it would indicate that is not the problem.

And, erm, yes, without props installed the OIWUT is rather pointless as its testing the VCU which won't be there!

GrumpyGel said:

Why would that make a noise when in neutral and stationary though?

There would be no drive to it from the engine and no movement driven from the wheel.

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It makes no sense and I can't be bothered to give it much thought just now.

So it could just be broken clutch plate

Ok. So to recap and just to make sure I've got my head around this. There's a loud tapping/ knocking noise from somewhere, which stops if the clutch is pressed, but is there when the box is in a gear or neutral if the clutch is in the up position.

There's also no drive to the front wheels and the RH driveshaft is making an oval shape (but not rotating?).

If the above is correct, then it sounds like it has two faults. I suspect the clutch plate or cover has failed. I also think the IRD has failed internally, possibly on its output splines that drive the driveshaft. Or potentially the IRD's diff cage has failed.

I can't really think of anything else without tearing into the drive train for a look myself.

Ok. So to recap and just to make sure I've got my head around this. There's a loud tapping/ knocking noise from somewhere, which stops if the clutch is pressed, but is there when the box is in a gear or neutral if the clutch is in the up position. --- That is correct

There's also no drive to the front wheels and the RH driveshaft is making an oval shape (but not rotating?). ---- That also how it appears.

to add, I've just been and looked over it again with somewhere to aid clutch pressing so I can look myself, and the driveshaft actually stops vibrating and the knocking noise disappears with the clutch pressed down. After shutting off engine, I then could 'move' the driveshaft side to side up down by hand, surely this is not normal and possibly the answer to the knocking / tapping noise.

Thank you all for replies so far

did you buy it privately or from a garage?

The Mad Hat Man said:

did you buy it privately or from a garage?

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Privately

DiscoHat said:

Privately

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Oh dear

DiscoHat said:

and the driveshaft actually stops vibrating and the knocking noise disappears with the clutch pressed down.

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Does it only do this with the box in gear or when in neutral too?

DiscoHat said:

After shutting off engine, I then could 'move' the driveshaft side to side up down by hand, surely this is not normal and possibly the answer to the knocking / tapping noise.

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A small amount of slop where the drive shaft enters the box is normal. You'll get a couple of mm if you push the joint hard up and down. It shouldn't move more than that, as it's retained in a close fitting bearing.