Front end Noise

[flyboy]

Hi guys,
My l322 (2004) which has done 130000kms has developed a rattling noise in the front end over the last couple of days. It sounds like a clacking sound when accelerating at slow speed and turning at the same time. It's more noticeable when turning left and my wife says she can feel it under her feet on the passenger side.
I'm guessing its either a CV joint or does a failing diff also sound like this?
I bought the car second hand in 2008 and it had all the recalls up to date....but is there a visual way to tell if the front diff has had the upgrade done?
And is there a way to diagnose a worn CV joint?
Thanks everyone! All advice much appreciated!

[Homestar]

Easy to tell if the front diff recall has been done - there will be a rubber donut between the diff and the drive shaft, and a small heat shield screwed above it to keep it from cooking.

Or you can ring LR and give them your VIN - they can tell you straight away.:)

[harlie]

If its 'clacks' when turning and is quiet in a straight line, my money is on the outer CV.

About 2 years ago I replaced all front CV boots, the outer passenger split and luckily I noticed a bit of grease thrown out while doing the brakes - only just split. If that had been missed it would be well stuffed by now. Also a 2004

[flyboy]

Ok, thanks guys.
I think i've found it....I crawled under and had a look, and the rubber cv boot on the left outer joint is intact, but the cable tie that holds it tight has gone and there seems to be a fair bit of grease thrown around in that area...the right side is spotless....So Harlie, I think ure right and it's the left outer CV.
So, the next question is has anyone replaced one of these themselves?? I'll have a look at Rave when I get home and see what's involved, but if anyone has any first hand experience, that would be good!

Also, when I bought the car I checked with Landrover about recalls and they looked up my VIN and confirmed there were no outstanding ones. I've taken a photo of the front diff input....just wanted to see if anyone can tell from the photo if it has indeed been done?

[Homestar]

I've taken a photo of the front diff input....just wanted to see if anyone can tell from the photo if it has indeed been done?

Where is the photo?

[flyboy]

Yeah I'm working on that....I'm just trying to work out how to upload a photo....

[flyboy]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/05/769.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/3ob03h945/)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/05/770.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/kaskck21x/)

[Homestar]

All good. That first photo of yours shows the coupling I was talking about, it has a rubber centre that takes up the alignment issue they had. My original explanation was not great...

This photo shows the original drive shaft - before the recall
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=60342&d=1368340111


And this one showing the recall done with the new drive shaft.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=60342&d=1368340313

Cheers - Gav

[flyboy]

Thanks Gav,
Ive been looking at your photos and cannot spot a difference in your before or after photos! Either it's a very subtle difference or it's the same photo???

On another note, i've had a look at the workshop manual and i think it's doable. My only hiccup could be removing the front left driveshaft from the diff without the LR special tool....so if anyone has done it, please let me know how you did it!
thanks guys!
Marcus

[Homestar]

The two photos that come up for me are very different, but I had trouble attaching them and for a start I did get the same thing. I'll put them up again in 2 separate posts.

Edit - looks like I will have to delete the other photos and start again - not sure what is going wrong, but I'm sure it is user error..

Edit again - can't delete the old photos as the post has been up there too long. Stay tuned...

Here is the before -
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=60401&d=1368426297

[Homestar]

Here is the after... (I hope)
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachments/l322-range-rover/60342d1368340313-front-end-noise-image.jpg

[Homestar]

Can someone let me know if the last 2 posts have different photos - they do for me, but the original post with both pics may have an issue for some reason - it works ok on my ipad.

Here is a screen shot showing most of the post...
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=60402&d=1368426837

Cheers - Gav

[flyboy]

Thanks Gav....it worked that time and I can clearly see the difference!

[harlie]

I thought it was just me

[Homestar]

You wouldn't believe it - now the photos in that first post of mine are the same for me too. Weird or what..:D

[benji]

Am asking for future years to come here, but did the rubber coupling solve the front diff issues completely?

[Homestar]

Am asking for future years to come here, but did the rubber coupling solve the front diff issues completely?

Yes. The diff issue was caused by a mis aligned driveshaft and only effected some vehicles. Chances are if you found one that hadn't been done and it was still ok, then it would never fail

It was only a small mis alignment, which the new rubber ended shaft fixed completely. There have been no cases of failed diffs from any that have had the recall done (that I know of) and I have looked at pretty much every LR forum in the world.:D

[flyboy]

Just to wrap up this thread.... After two weeks on holidays, I came back and decided to tackle the CV joint.
I basically followed RAVE, with the exception I didn't remove the rotor or the upper suspension arm....After I removed the track rod end and lower arm, I was able to swing the hub away enough to remove the shaft from the hub. The driveshaft then came out surprisingly easily from the diff with just a gentle lever. I then separated the outer CV off and was able to replace just that part. The whole dismantle took about 1.5 hours.
Getting it back in was a bit tougher, since there's no way of easily knocking the hub back on the splines, but I eventually got there.
A quick test drive and all noise gone! So thank you for everyone's diagnosis help.
I didn't need any of the LR special tools etc. I did end up having to replace the lower arm as well though because I damaged the rubber seal when using the pickle fork to separate the joint....so I'm not sure if anyone has any tricks to not damage it?

I've never had any issues with the standard jack until now....suffice to say it's now in the bin....

I got all the parts from Karcraft following a recommendation on this forum... And they were great...cheap and parts in stock!

Thanks again guys,
Marcus