Loss of drive (TD5)

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Mikeguy1881

Mikeguy1881

Member
Posts
14
Hi all.
Hoping for a little help. Last night I drove fro London to Northumberland and after about 200 miles I lost all drive, no power getting to the wheels at all.
I initially thought it had jumped out of gear and gone into neutral as this is what it felt like.
I pulled over to the hard shoulder and tried going through the gears but nothing happened, again like it was in neutral.
I then engaged the diff lock and the car pulled away. I immediately took the diff lock off and everything seemed to work as normal......... for a few Miles! This happened again 3 more times after about 10 miles and each time engaging and disengaging the diff lock seemed to get me going again. I then completed the last 50 miles or so without incident.
Any ideas Folks???
 
One of your drive shafts have gone. Same thing happen to me once. If I remember correctly , if you engage diff lock, jack up the vehicle then try spinning each wheel. The wheel that turns is the shaft that has gone. I'm sure someone will come on here and confirm. Its not a big job or expensive. Now you know what to ask Santa for Christmas.
 
Mikeguy1881 said:
Hi all.
Hoping for a little help. Last night I drove fro London to Northumberland and after about 200 miles I lost all drive, no power getting to the wheels at all.
I initially thought it had jumped out of gear and gone into neutral as this is what it felt like.
I pulled over to the hard shoulder and tried going through the gears but nothing happened, again like it was in neutral.
I then engaged the diff lock and the car pulled away. I immediately took the diff lock off and everything seemed to work as normal......... for a few Miles! This happened again 3 more times after about 10 miles and each time engaging and disengaging the diff lock seemed to get me going again. I then completed the last 50 miles or so without incident.
Any ideas Folks???
Click to expand...
sounds to me the transfer box knocking it self out of drive ie cable to taught
losing off the cable and manually select 2 high from the lever means you will have to climb under and manually select range then test drive
 
If it was a drive shaft there would be no drive all the time and a horrendous noise from the axle as the broken shaft rattles in the axle casing. My guess is the transfer box is not engaging fully allowing it to jump into nuetral between high and low ranges. When selecting diff lock you may be partially engaging high range. Check your transfer box linkages as they often seize with little use. Does it move relatively easily between high and low as well as in and out of lock? You should not have to force anything but it should be a positive movement with no slack in the selector.
 
Hi all, thank you so much for the advice. I haven't had a chance to get under the landy yet as busy with Christmas. I have had to use it all day today, done 60 or 70 miles and it hasn't happened again........ yet!

Shifty1962 I can confirm that it wasn't making a horrible noise, in fact when it goes it didn't make any different noise at all, just felt it loose power and start to slow down. Engaging the diff lock or high and low there is nothing unusual, smoth changes and can feel it engage.

Hopefully I'll get to look at it very soon......... I'll keep you updated.
Tanks again for all the help.
 
Well it's all gone wrong. Seems it's my transfer box and now it's completely gone. Looking at a replacement! I'm considering going for a box with a higher gear ratio, what are people's thoughts on this? I do not do any serious off roading, use occasional dirt tracks and across the odd field on fishing trips and I don't do any towing. Was thinking the higher gear ratio might make for better motorway journeys???? I've also read they are quieter and offer slightly lower fuel consumption!?!?
Thoughts?
 
The transfer box is quite rebuild-able (sounds like you may have what happened to mine, bearing collapsed which lets everything get out of shape). You certainly could change for a higher ratio if you're not going climbing stuff, I have one from a TD5 Disco going into my project for that very reason.
 
Need to pull it all to bits, I have read up about the bearings and may well be that...... but now I'm thinks more down the hi ratio box. Think this will fit my needs better.
Not 100% confident to rebuild as I'm certainly no expert......... Although since owning a Defender I am learning new skills
 
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So this happened to a friend of mine, to be honest I will advise what I advised him.

He was mainly a motorway miles muncher didn't really need the torque and towed his dads trailer once a year to the tip. Other than the TB conking out on him the rest of the motor was in fairly decent condition. The bearing on the front is what went.

In the end we opted for an ashcroft with the higher ratio and then refurbished the old TB and sold it on.

I do currently have an LT77 in bits at the moment which I am looking to do the same to but it will take me some time as I prefer to do a full restoration on bits I sell on as ready to fit.
 
My Disco came with a Defender transfer box. Swapped it for a Disco (higher ratio) unit when my main gearbox suffered an unrelated bearing failure. The difference is really noticeable - it doesn't launch like a scalded cat any more, so there's more black smoke away from junctions, but it's a whole lot quieter at motorway speeds.
 
I'd assume your running a 1.4 transfer box so you'll be looking for a 1.2 which will give you better motor way cruising but slower at pulling off and you may feel the need to drop it down from 4th to 5th on hill climbs however with the td5 engine I think you'll manage quite easily with the power and torque they have. People are mentioning high ratio were I read 1.4 as higher than 1.2 so you need a lower ratio box
 
I had a 1.2 Disco transfer box in my last 110 and it was brilliant even with 33s. First gear was a little bit tall alright as I do quite alot of towing but engine was modded a bit so had plenty torque to get over it. Even had a benefit when towing very heavy loads too as could stay in 4th gear while still maintain a reasonable cruising speed which was alot better for the gearbox with 4th being a direct drive.

I have a spare Disco transfer box and I'm tempted to stick it into my current 110 to see if it's able for it even with 35s. It's quite abit more powerful than the last one so should be fine and if it's too much for it, it's not a massive job to swap it back out again anyway and save up for an over-drive.

The Difference in fuel economy from my current one to my last one with the 1.2 box is quite abit comparing them to when they both had 33s and same engine mods and exact same ECU and same set of injectors. Last one used do 450 miles to a tank and current one struggled to do much better than 350 so in terms of cost and savings, you should have the cost of fitting a Discovery transfer box made back in less than 10 fills of diesel :)
 
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