Td5 Diff Problems

[vinay]

Our 2000 Discovery Td5 has developed a very noisy diff. Only done 58,000km. Anyone else experienced problems like this?

[KEV0044]

...

[vinay]

Thanks Kev. I did take the car to a landrover service centre - they said I can continue to drive it - the only thing which will happen before I get it repaired is louder and louder noise.

I'd be very pleased to hear any info you have about out of warranty claims. Do you have some experience?

V

[harry]

8) vinay, if you can hear the diff through the sound proofing and other road noise, i'd be jumping back in the dealers doorway asap.
did they just say keep driving or refuse to recognise the problem?
8) harry

[vinay]

Harry, now I'm worried. Yes, I can hear the diff, particularly when passing barriers on the highway. The guy I took it to is not affiliated with Landrover, his is a private business, and we have used him for years (we had a Range Rover previously). I trust him, and yet you are the second person to express concern. What can happen with a noisy diff? I'm a girl so I don't know much about these things.
Anything you can tell me would be appreciated.

Vinay

[KEV0044]

...

[BlackAdder]

Hi Vinay,

I hope I am not speaking out of turn or further upsetting you, but following your:

Originally posted by vinay
.....What can happen with a noisy diff? I'm a girl so I don't know much about these things.....
comment I thought I should respond.

Consider this, your engine drives power through a tail shaft to your transfer case which in turn transfers the power forward and rearward via 2 longer tail shafts to your diffs which in turn change the direction of the rotation of the tail shaft from in line with the vehicle to across the vehicle which then turns your tyres and your vehicle moves.

Now I have not heard it and don't provess to be a mechanic so this is only what I have heard from drinking with mechanics.

Now, if your diff/diffs have a noise, it generally means that the gears which change the rotation from in line to across are not "meshing" together properly. There are many many things that can cause this, like water in there through a diff breather (I am not up to speed on the Disco setup though) or a "C" clip snapped and instead of the gears meshing, they are mashing, it could be one of many things. Now think of the next thing, if the noise becomes too bad and the diff siezes, you no longer have drive or when you try to take off, you twist your tail shaft and there are more expensive repairs. Not the worst scenario, this all falls to pieces while you are driving, the diff siezes, the turning tail shaft twists and breaks and drops down digging into the bitumen and you and your vehicle get catapaulted down the road end over end.

I know I have probably scared the bej#@us out of you, but to me that is a serious enough possibly "worst case scenario" to warrant getting it back to your mechanic yesterday morning.

I hope I have not scared you too much or given you a bum steer (others please check and edit if required) but lives are more important and if it means getting to the shopping centre via bus or taxi, do it for the short time it will take for the mechanic to check and repair the diff.

[vinay]

BlackAdder,

Thanks for your very graphic reply, I'm going to ring around and get second, third and fourth opinions, and send an email to Landrover Australia.

Do I detect a hint of chauvanism in your comment about getting to the shopping centre? I can assure you this car is much more than just a shopping trolley. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif

V

[BlackAdder]

Hi Vinay,

No derogatory intention, my wife drives the Pajero during the week and I sometimes get to play with it on the weekend, but only when I have been a good boy :wink: otherise she has all the fun. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif

Please do get other opinions, they should cost you nothing but at least then you can go forward with an educated view.

Good luck and good four wheel driving in the future.

[Phoenix]

You will just have to put some pics in the gallery to prove it to him style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

Good to see another face here. Also good to see the ladies getting in here as well. There is a couple of other females, but I don't think that they post very often.

anyway, welcome to AULRO style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

[CraigE]

Guys. come on how long have you lot been driving land rovers? All land rovers inc Rangies eventually develop diff/gearbox noise. As long as it is only a whine it could last years. Ideally it should be fixed but that all depends on ready cash. In all likely hood it is probablly bearing noise. If you have to replace the diff put in a Maxi drive diff lock with upgraded axles. About $1900. No hard to do, will take any partially competent do it your selfer about 4-5 hours.I would drain the oil out of the diff as a precaution and check for any metal shavings. Also run your finger around the inside of the drain hole and check for metal fillings. If you find any fillings it should recieve immediate attention. If not the bearing are probablly safe and you should be able to drive for sometime before it becomes urgent. It could also be the backlash. Dont forget to refill diff with oil. I had noisy bearings in my Rangie for about 12 months before I changed the diff out with no ill effects.

[Phoenix]

I don't think that is the right attitude to have.

Leaving a problem might be ok if you have to in a remote area, but it is usually cheaper to fix a problem earlyer than wait as long as you can and hope that no other parts get damaged.

A proactive rather than reactive approach to mechanical repairs is always better.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

{too good an opportunity to pass up}
OK all you DIFF experts,,
My Disco just passed the 250,000 mark, it too has developed a [rear]whine.
While towing the boat the other day accross a bridge I actually looked over my shoulder to see the "motorbike" that was passing me,
But, with no load no noise.

This couldnt be the same thing as Vinay. [ I feel for you girl, not nice at only 58000 kays]

Yes CraigE, dropped the diff oil, [no water, no shavings though it has had water in there previously,, hey its a Landrover!!] and replaced with some VERY expensive synthetic stuff.

I am of the opinion its just "done enough", what with towing race cars and boats, regular beach trips, long road trips,
and thats just last week :wink:

[CraigE]

OK, I see there are lots of perfectionists out there with high incomes and bucket loads of cash. Come on guy's come and live in the real world. As long as it is not making the car unsafe or doing more damage then it may not be justifiable to spend heaps to get it fixed right away. If it is a serious noise not just a whine then yes by all means get it looked at asap. I can not help but wonder if many of you have never driven a Rover over a couple of years old. I was and would not advocate driving an unsafe car but if you fixed every squeak, whine or leak on a Rover it would spend more time in the garage than on the road. As far as the fool who told the terror story to frighten the crap out of Vinay, the likleyhood of this occuring is so remote it is unbelievable especially from diff failure. It is more likely to happen from uni/cv joint failure. There would be some rather nasty noises before it got that far. While I make no appologies for upsetting some members of this forum we should be here to help people and offer advice not scare the crap out of them. The best advice to Vinay is if she is not mechanically minded and able to assess the situation as to the severity then get a second opinion from someone who can actually here the noise. We should not make to many assumptions on a description. It may or may not be something serious, but alas ther are a lot of unscupulous mechanics out there who will take you for a ride over minor repairs. Hopefully you know a mechanic you can trust. At only 58000 it should be only bearings unless it has done a lot of hard work. I know for a while I had what sounded like front diff noise and turned out to be centre diff bearings. I know quite often I have had doom and gloom advice from people and mechanics as to noises etc in 4wds that has most times turned out to be minor repairs. Check the asics first and work your way up.

[bazzle]

I agree Craig.

Pedro..
The noisey whine over your shoulder is probably your Mother Inlaw.

Bazzle 8O

[Pirate]

I also agree Craig

Although I would probably change the oil ( to have a look for metal as previous suggested) and then closely monitor the situation.

Ensure that you take all opinion as just that. Many of these sites have the odd "experts" who generally drive a commodore during the week and "dabble" on the odd weekend with the 4wd. So just be careful and get some professional assistance if you believe it is warranted.

Disclaimer** style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif I am not attacking anybodies post here. Just expressing an opinion based upon a site I used to frequent a while ago that had constant crap advice being dished out by a couple of individuals.

[harry]

8) vinay, sorry i havn't reply'd to your dec 11 post, just re checked this thread,
i have sent you a pm.
by now i hope you have sorted this diff noise out but if not, maybe we all can assist, with another pair of ears to post wots going on.
8) harry

[vinay]

Hi everyone,

Update: Drove the vehicle to Toowoomba and back, with no problems, on the advice of our trusted mechanic. It is going in for repairs tomorrow. They are going to pull it apart, see exactly what is needed and it should be back by Wednesday. We're using our extended warranty (bought with the vehicle) so the cost is not going to be a huge issue.

Thanks for all your input.

I'll let you know whether they find shavings, or whether its bearings.

Vinay

[Pedro_The_Swift]

*bump*

Hope everything worked out vinay,,


my noisey diff turned out to be be a navigator side rear wheelbearing,,
one and a half hours labour,
a set of bearings,
a little bit of oil,
and

NO NOISE,,,,

at all,,

now I can hear all the funny noises at the front :wink:

[vinay]

Hi everyone

The job has been done. The bearings were the main problem, the mechanic insisted the gears were also not ok, even though the warranty inspector said they looked ok. Warranty people would only pay for the bearings, we asked them to guarantee that the car would not be whining with the old gears in it, they then agreed to pay half of the gear replacement. They made some comment about the gears in that model being a common problem identified by Landrover (not in writing).

Now I'm having trouble with the injectors. Back to the garage on Monday!

Vinay

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Extended warrantys are always a bit iffy,,

glad to see THAT bits been fixed,,, style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

[duff]

:? :? " About the fool who",,,, 8O And when did GOD give you the time off to grace us all with your presence CRAIG.

While I agree with the jist of what you say, I have read of at least three occasions of Discos in Britain suffering Catasphrofic failure to the rear diffs. :oops: One was a fatal accident. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif
All the people here offer the best advice they understand,,, and most are probably not fools ....however most do have a little diplomacy. 8O
So while Black Adders story might be a little alarmist, it does not appear to be foolish.

And about the "get back to the real world" a lot of landrovers newer customers only know one real world, were they can afford to replace things pre emptively and not wait for time consuming failures in the field. the lucky bas#*!%#( not that I have that kind of money) :roll:

[incisor]

Can we give the name calling a break, stick to the issue not personalities.

everyone is entitled to an opinion.

everyone is entitled to be able to disagree.

thats why it is called a forum!

everyone is entitled to be treated with a little curtesy...

is the heat getting to everyone? ...

sheesh...