play in front prop shaft.

I have a lot of play in my front prop shaft, it rotates through a questionable degree even when van is in gear, and/or hand brake on, also been hearing frequent clunks and brief strained clicks from underneath when pulling away after gear change or increase in power.
UJ's seem ok, prop shaft was fitted last year, it was a v. good condition second hand unit. Could i have a serious problem here, with my front diff or transfer box?

anyone?
is this usual?, to be expected? where should i start?,
front diff? or transfer box?

when you park up put on hand brake then let off foot brake how far do you roll before stop...

only a few inches, if that.

transfer ought to be ok then.hmmm.they do spin a bit when sat how much turn 1/4 1/2 3/4 ?

I've struggled with exactly the same problem and tryed everything "non invasive".... without any effect, just that now I'm sure that is not the transfer box..... tomorrow I'll start with a friend(mechanic) to replace my front diff(I purchased a new one in my induced madness:frusty: ) It'll be a bigger work because the whole front axle will be furbished up, it's time already(CV joints and wheel hubs will be replaced also).....taking into acount that meanwhile I have to go to work to it may run for a while(2-3 days).....When ready I'll come back to you...though I hope U'll find a cheaper and easyer way to fix it.

thanks for that sierra, did yours break down, or was it still driveable before overhaul?

BoB, its less than 45 degrees, but i'll mark up the prop and measure the turn to a closer angle.

on slack movement i would say thats normal.I would remove front prop and see if when jacked up there is any play in front wheel bearings and stuff.maybee take off diff cover and have a look about.....part from that id guess prop and transfer are ok.....

maybee bearing or drive shaft.....

gotoneatlast said:

thanks for that sierra, did yours break down, or was it still driveable before overhaul?

BoB, its less than 45 degrees, but i'll mark up the prop and measure the turn to a closer angle.

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It was driveable but the "clonc" when I let the clutch pedal especially in 3'rd and 4'rth gear was driving me crazy...and I had the same backlash, about 45 degrees....I also did what Beast o Bodmin suggested and took of the diff's cover......mine was pretty f**ed up because in my huge stupidity I've driven a lot without checking the oil level in it(wich was way too low:doh...it was to late when I redalized that. :decision:Now I'll change everything if I'm anyway replacing the diff(about 1000Euro out of my pocket.....the price of laziness):mad2:

Also check the drive flanges on the front hubs, just pull the rubber caps off ,then see if there's any play in the splines .

Interesting thread guys. Do you get a "clunk" from the transmission during driving at all?

Reason I ask is I get one from mine. Is it usual to get a bit of "lash" when you engage forward from reverse, or reverse from forward? It's not horrendous, just a gentle "clunk". Also noticable if I let off the throttle completely from power, same noise. Had the motor 24 hours so not had a chance to get under it yet!

Jock

BigJock2005 said:

Interesting thread guys. Do you get a "clunk" from the transmission during driving at all?

Reason I ask is I get one from mine. Is it usual to get a bit of "lash" when you engage forward from reverse, or reverse from forward? It's not horrendous, just a gentle "clunk". Also noticable if I let off the throttle completely from power, same noise. Had the motor 24 hours so not had a chance to get under it yet!

Jock

Click to expand...

What year disco ?, could be gearbox output shaft splines.

BigJock2005 said:

Interesting thread guys. Do you get a "clunk" from the transmission during driving at all?

Reason I ask is I get one from mine. Is it usual to get a bit of "lash" when you engage forward from reverse, or reverse from forward? It's not horrendous, just a gentle "clunk". Also noticable if I let off the throttle completely from power, same noise. Had the motor 24 hours so not had a chance to get under it yet!

Jock

Click to expand...

:welcome2: to the club.......it was the same s***t with mine but after a while the "clunk" became "ungentle".

It's an '03 with 49k on it. Shouldn't be any serious wear at that mileage, hence I wondered if they did it from new.

One thing I learned about Land Rover's is that sometimes you have to see if a noise gets any louder to be able to decide whether to do something about it!

They didn't do it from new I'm certain of that.

BigJock2005 said:

It's an '03 with 49k on it. Shouldn't be any serious wear at that mileage, hence I wondered if they did it from new.

One thing I learned about Land Rover's is that sometimes you have to see if a noise gets any louder to be able to decide whether to do something about it!

Click to expand...

thats where i'm at with this, or hoping, as i don't have a pot to p!ss in at the moment,a serious repair job or being off the road at the moment,
is the last thing i need,
i'll pray on it.

...can send ya a front axle gotone.easy...........

pm'd ya.

Update> Replaced front diff with a new one(as I said the old one was F***ed up), new CVJ's and the propshaft backlash became a normally one(max. 10 degrees)....."clunk" totally fled.......rejoicing that it was not the TB.