Gear Selected but no forward motion

2001 TD4 Manual box. Has done 465 000km with minor problems. Was hoping for the first 500 000km Freelander TD4 to show-off, but now it has happened. Whilst going up slight hill towing light weight trailer, felt like something slipping just very briefly, allmost like rubber inner of pulley shearing and then no more output to wheels. Coasted to side of road and had to be towed back home. I can select any gear and let clutch out and nothing happens. Bit of history. I have removed the rear drive shaft many months ago on advise from dealer seeing that I do not use vehicle for off-roading at all and was told that vehicle would drive better, be lighter on both fuel and tyres, so I took it off, only to get stuck in sand a week later! Back to situation, never had heavy load of steep incline situation that may have cooked the clutch, so any advise on where to start or what to look for will be appreciated. Was thinking of fitting the rear drive shaft back to see if the vehicle will move at all and then drive it to a dealer. Not sure if this is a good idea or if it will go at all.

Now I am worried, 123 viewers but no reply or advise. I am either being looked on to be extremely stupid as to spot the obvious, like vehicle has stopped, check if there is fuel in the tank, or this is a very unique and serious situation.
Please any suggestions if possible.

Tis clutch plate broken centre, or dual mass flywheel worn out, or maybe the splines linking the Lh driveshaft in the diff centre worn out, you will need to jack up and check drivetrain first before seriously considering the clutch at fault

Thanx Freelance. Vehicle parked up at moment and will have a look at it over the weekend as other vehicles all now have decided to suddenly require attention and money!!
Will update on progress.

Update on the problem. Clutch fine, L/F drive shaft splines fine. Ird box out now, so where to next? could it be that the ird is knackered?

If its something gone in the IRD I would have thought that it would be making a lot of noise - in fact anything broken/snapped in the transmission I'd have thought would be making quite a bit of grinding metal noise.

If the diff (IRD) was OK, if you jacked the front up and turned one wheel (with it in gear) the other wheel should spin the other way. It should be smooth as well. That would also test the output splines to the LH wheel.

It shouldn't occur, but I'd also have someone on the other wheel trying to hold it in case there's enough 'grip' to turn by hand but not shift the car.

It would reduce the possibilities to input splines to IRD, gearbox, clutch or possible a hub....

I had an old Triumph (actually a Spartan) where the hub sheared, rather than falling off (thankfully) the wheel slipped inwards and stayed pretty straight - it was difficult to see anything wrong with it - but when I put it in gear to drive off the car wouldn't move - the driveshaft was turning but obviously the wheel wasn't. Made quite a bit of noise mind.

How do you know the clutch is fine?

Grumpygel thank you for your interest and input. Freelance, the clutch "looks" fine, no obvious sheraring or seperation, so I assume it is fine, but I am a pen pusher and not an expert. my concern is that the ird is now out and I have handed this over to a friend who has a breaker yard and workshop, he also drives a Landy or two, but not a FLander, and he wants to strip the ird and I am not sure that this is where the problem lies? Grinding noise, uhm, there are some noises but nothing terrible, infact nothing that I would expect would or could indicate a collapse of drivetrain. Excuse the words I use as I am not a mechanical engineer or technician, but I think I know the difference between some metal parts stripping as opposed to noise due to high milage. Guys, I am passionate about my FL and although I have had one or two incidents with the said, I enjoy driving it and I WANT it back on the road. I am willing to look and listen to any help or suggestions to achieve this.

Had the same thing happen quite a few years ago on a Peugout 205. It was the clutch.

So check out the ird and drivetrain through front diff.

I would put a little money on the clutch we used to have this years ago when everything was not so good as it is today mind something's you buy today are not so good.

My 10p is on the clutch too.
When it went on me it was catastrophic. Working fine one moment, went to change gear and suddenly no drive.

Does it feel lighter than usual when you push the pedal? If so it is the clutch, if not then ???

Have you checked the splines in the gearbox where the ird shafts connect. Mine stripped the inner one which is the through drive for the lh drive shaft.

When it went was a slight lump and a brief whizzing noise. I was also in 2wd mode at the time. All the drive is out putted through the ird as. The lh drive shaft is effectively spinning freely and hence won't provide any drive to the front.

Thank you for the reply guys. I am out of town in the Northern Cape at the moment for next couple of days, arid area near the border with Namibia and Botswana with temperatures averaging 40 degrees Celsius, no idea what that would be in Farenheit, except as I noticed some of you refer to as fookin hot for another term we would use as kak-warm. I will look into all of your suggestions once back at home which should be around Thursday this week and update the post on whatever we find.

Status Update - F.....ked IRD :Cry::Cry:. apparently ran dry, have not seen the interior bits yet but beyond repair. Will try and get some pics if there is anything to show once we are re-united.

Sorry to hear that. Scrap yard is your next step.

Oh dear, no oil! Not helpful.