No drive.

Hi guys I'm having a bit of a head twerling moment at the mo.
Driving home at 50mph there was a loud bang followed by a clonking sound. I pulled up sharply and investiged. I found my front prop shaft about 10yds behind me. I now have the splines hanging from the front axle and a broken universal joint at the transfer box. I tried to limp off the road by driving with my rear wheels. But there was no movement in any gear. I thought I could drive with just my rear axel but it wouldn't. It looks that the universal joint at the transfer box end had broken and the shaft slipped of the splines at the front end. Something tells me it's not just the prop shaft that ñeds replacing. Can anyone shine a light on my dilemma please? It is a 2001 d2 Td5. HELP!

Hi,

Have you got difflock fitted? if yes engage that,

Otherwise you are unlucky unless you have the cdl in the tbox , whihc some do.

Cheers

Do you have diff lock? If so you'll need to engage it to get drive to the rear

Thanks guys for a rapid reply but unfortunately I don't have diff lock, just traction control.

Then unfortunately, you have no drive.

Have you checked the front nose of the tbox , some D2's have the mechanicals in the tbox to engage diff lock, but the lever is not fitted.
see photo, the spanner is on the diff lcok mech, if you have it in the box.

Good luck.

It appears that I have no drive. Question, how do I find out if the main gearbox or the tbox is the problem?
Thanks for your help in advance

When you try to drive does the front t box flange turn?

Cheers

Fredjen20 said:

It appears that I have no drive. Question, how do I find out if the main gearbox or the tbox is the problem?
Thanks for your help in advance

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if you have no diff lock then you wont have drive but theres nothing wrong with either box,drives just been lost through the front output flange,though failing front props can often cause damage as they flail about

jamesmartin said:

if you have no diff lock then you wont have drive but theres nothing wrong with either box,drives just been lost through the front output flange,though failing front props can often cause damage as they flail about

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So Jamesmartin, are you saying that I might be lucky with just replacing a new front prop shaft? I'm not usually that lucky but fingers crossed I hope that's all it is. Thank you.

Fredjen20 said:

So Jamesmartin, are you saying that I might be lucky with just replacing a new front prop shaft? I'm not usually that lucky but fingers crossed I hope that's all it is. Thank you.

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exactly the same thing happened to my mate's old P38. took the prop off, towed him home, fitted a new prop shaft, job done, all good.

Fredjen20 said:

So Jamesmartin, are you saying that I might be lucky with just replacing a new front prop shaft? I'm not usually that lucky but fingers crossed I hope that's all it is. Thank you.

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yes as long as its not caused any damage on its way off

Well, thanks a lot guys. I'm off to the breakers in the morning and then hope and pray everything is good. There's no damage as I can see apart from a dig in the chassis from the end of the shaft when it fell out.

You'll have to become a long term member of the forum now... What with all this good free advice you've had

Fredjen20 said:

Well, thanks a lot guys. I'm off to the breakers in the morning and then hope and pray everything is good. There's no damage as I can see apart from a dig in the chassis from the end of the shaft when it fell out.

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If you're getting a used prop it may pay you to change the uj's before you fit it for peace of mind at the very least check a used prop shaft for play in the uj's and that the slider isn't seized and give it a good greasing

Too right, very, very helpful forum. I wish I could be a world of knowledge to everyone on this site, but I'm only a DIYer when it comes to car repair. Thanks again for all the fee advice. Its very much appreciated.

Good point its the worn uj that caused the problem in the first place. Thank you.

Fredjen20 said:

Good point its the worn uj that caused the problem in the first place. Thank you.

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Buy a grease gun , ..did you know the UJ was knackered?

cheers

No I didn't know. There was a rattle sound coming from underneath about 2 mile before it went. I just thought it was the exhaust rattling or something. But when it went there was a bang from it coming away. And when I retrieved the prop shaft I noticed the uj had fell apart.

Give yer nipples a good greasing a few times a year gets you under the car regular as well so you tend to notice other problems before they become failures

The sliding joints on both prop shafts don't normally have grease nipples fitted. It's usual to find some flat grub screws in the holes instead. Just replace the grub screws with grease nipples and give them a damned good squirting. Then replace the grub screws.

I didn't bother to put the grub screws back on mine. I chose a pair of low profile grease nipples which I fitted permanently. They're light enough not to cause any balance problems and by using low profile types they don't foul in anything as the shafts are spinning.

I also found it useful to fit slightly longer grease nipples to the U/J's. It just makes it easier to get the grease gun nozzle to sit correctly.

Fredjen20 said:

Too right, very, very helpful forum. I wish I could be a world of knowledge to everyone on this site, but I'm only a DIYer when it comes to car repair. Thanks again for all the fee advice. Its very much appreciated.

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There are a few professional vehicle engineers and technicians on the forum, but the majority of us are "only DIYers" too. We tend to listen to our peers and learn from them. We toss ideas about and sometimes we get shot down in flames, but not often, it usually only happens when people don't or won't listen (or when we all know that they're a wazzock anyway). If you are prepared to listen and learn you'll find loads of people willing to help you.