HELP! Vibration when flooring it, none when freewheeling

Land Rovers obviously don't like being treated to stuff, because having cleaned the intercooler, removed the EGR valve, bought new bushes (ready to fit), etc, etc, etc... and then spent over £500 on Waxoyling it, it has broken part of itself.

So... on my journey home today, when flooring it, there was a rather pronounced vibration coming from somewhere. It was a low frequency vibration, as if something was wobbling. It also sometimes squeaked (i.e. squeak.......... squeak....... squeak.... squeak.. squeak squeak squeak, etc...) the faster the wheels spun until the wheels were spinning fast enough for the squeak to stop.

When the squeaking stopped, however, the vibration continued.

It's noticable in 1st, more noticable in 2nd, even more in 3rd and very noticable in 4th. (I have an auto box). You have to push the accelerator almost to the floor to make it happen in 4th, but if you do, it's very pronounced indeed.

When simply maintaining speed, the vibration is very subtle. It is still there, but only just.

When freewheeling the vibration is unnoticable. Also, if you freewheel until it slows enough, the squeaking sometimes comes back too.

Revving it in neutral (transfer box in high range, no diff lock, gear level in neutral) produces no vibration. It's only when accelerating. I did this test while rolling down the road at various speeds up to 60 mph.

As for whether i've lost drive or not, it's hard to tell. I've never done a 0-60 time so can't compare, and the vibration makes it hard to tell whether it's just as fast as it was. If I had to say "yes" or "no", i'd probably say "yes, it's fine", but I can't be certain.

So... any ideas??

I popped into my local garage on the way home, took him for a quick test drive, he then wiggled the prop shafts and said it was the front one. It had enough play in it to "definitely" cause that issue apparently. It was completely fine this morning on the way to work as well. No wobble or vibration whatsoever. It was then there for my entire journey home. It's not a gradual thing. it's come on all of a sudden!

Oh, and doesn't Waxoyl make maintenance on the underside of your vehicle tons of fun!!!!!

Thanks in advance, people!

Prop UJ I reckon.

OK... i've done my best to make a short video demonstrating the play in the front prop shaft, underneath the land rover in the dark (with a light though!)

Watch it right to the end as well... the play in the UJ is demonstrated at it's best towards the end.

Also, half way through I point out a weld that runs right around the prop shaft. Has it been repaired, or is that normal?

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3TMo_DUPdc"]YouTube - Front Prop Shaft Play - Land Rover Discovery[/nomedia]


So anyway... is the weld normal, and do I definitely need a new prop shaft? UJ? or both?

The weld is normal.
The UJ is well fooked.

is it knackered because of the rotation, or the side to side movement?

And now you've seen the video, is that definitely the cause of the vibration described above? I assume it is...... right?

Finally... if that is the case, do I just need a new UJ? And are they easy to swap? Can't find a procedure for doing it on the web & haven't looked in the Haynes yet.

the weld is normal......you probably dont need a new shaft just the UJ...fairly easy job so long as you have a big vice to use as a press, or get the new UJ, whip of your prop and take it down your local friendly garage and watch them do it then you'll know what to do next time

OK, that works for me.

Is it OK to drive it in the mean time? I've got a 22 mile journey to work tomorrow and 22 miles home (unless i get a lift).

Also, it's about 10 miles to my local indy LR dealer.

fishsponge said:

is it knackered because of the rotation, or the side to side movement?

And now you've seen the video, is that definitely the cause of the vibration described above? I assume it is...... right?

Finally... if that is the case, do I just need a new UJ? And are they easy to swap? Can't find a procedure for doing it on the web & haven't looked in the Haynes yet.

Click to expand...

Your description sounds exactly like a duff UJ......sometimes they will wear the holes in the shaft so the pressed in end caps arent tight in which case a new prop is needed but even if this is the case a new UJ will sort you out for now but will wear quicker....theyre cheap enough so change this first

fishsponge said:

OK, that works for me.

Is it OK to drive it in the mean time? I've got a 22 mile journey to work tomorrow and 22 miles home (unless i get a lift).

Also, it's about 10 miles to my local indy LR dealer.

Click to expand...

There's a Buster guide on here somewhere.

Personally, I wouldn't drive it far like that, but it will probably go on for ages.

fishsponge said:

OK, that works for me.

Is it OK to drive it in the mean time? I've got a 22 mile journey to work tomorrow and 22 miles home (unless i get a lift).

Also, it's about 10 miles to my local indy LR dealer.

Click to expand...

thats difficult to say....they can go on like this for ages but when they do go your prop falls off and flaps about wildly underneath which is quite exciting

Treworgey 90 said:

There's a Buster guide on here somewhere.

Personally, I wouldn't drive it far like that, but it will probably go on for ages.

Click to expand...

is it poss for him to just take off the shaft and use it as a 4x2 like a series

I could just take the shaft off I guess, but I've got a lift into work tomorrow now, and also a lift to the LR dealer on Sat morning

As for bustersbus' guide, I found one for drive shaft replacement, but not prop shaft replacement. i'll have another look though.

And other than some spanners and a vice or press, is anything else needed to replace a UJ?

theres a complete how to in the faq section

Oh, and this "well fooked" UJ that you have all now seen in the video... is it the front one (on the diff) or the rear one (on the transfer box)?

I don't know which one is knackered, even having been the person to make the video, sadly...

blue beasty said:

is it poss for him to just take off the shaft and use it as a 4x2 like a series

Click to expand...

yes, but need to engage diff lock

soon after I bought the 300 I noticed a vibration through the whole car, so I took it into a "specialist" who diagnosed gearbox problem so he had it in and said it needed a new box GULP! but on further inspection he said it was because it hadn't had a oil change in a million miles so he changed the oil and filter and charged me £190 for the job. it came back and all was well.
until one day ! ! the vibration has started to come back and getting progressively worse but I haven't got the cash to replace the box so i thought I'll just have to leave it until i could afford it.
so as i was driving along and the vibration started worse than ever so i put it into neutral and it was still there then i put the transfer box into neutral and it was still there so in my mind this discounted the gearbox.
I re-engaged the transfer box and selected D and drove off 100 yards down the road the vibration started got louder then BANG, THUMP, THUMP and looking in the rear view mirror and saw a large black tube bouncing along the road and no forward momentum the front prop had blown the UJ's shattered
This is where DIFF LOCK comes in, engaged that put it into D and drove the rest of the way home with the remains of the front prop in the boot, but the vibration had gone completely

fishsponge said:

Oh, and this "well fooked" UJ that you have all now seen in the video... is it the front one (on the diff) or the rear one (on the transfer box)?

I don't know which one is knackered, even having been the person to make the video, sadly...

Click to expand...

change both while yer at it - they're only about 8 quid each

OK, so........ am I right in saying that if I undo 8 bolts, the prop shaft will drop to the floor, with the UJs attached.

I can then take the UJ to my local indy LR dealer, get his opinion on the prop shaft and the UJs (after all, why not?), buy the necessary parts (hopefully just the UJs) then go home and fit 'em!

Thanks for the links to the guides too