TD5 Pulling to one side could it be a front axle?

[timax]

So........TD5 Defender and lately i have felt a bit of a strange pull to one side under acceleration at low speeds on the odd occasion.
Tonight when leaving work definitely something wrong. An audible clunk , bit of a strange sideways crabbing feel when going around a roundabout. Turn next left and similar sort of feeling. So pulled over and nothing visible . No oil on hubs or from front balls or diff. Rear and front suspension bushes all look and feel fine. Nursed it home at nothing over 80 along a freeway without problems except for a clunk or 2 in traffic. Turned into the driveway though and not great.
My question is , could a broken front axle cause this behaviour? Im hoping not the diff and it dosnt have the usual click click of a CV joint problem.
Any other thoughts before i start getting Dirty on Saturday morning?
Cheers Tim

[weeds]

Have a close look at you rear trailing arms....

I remember a mechanic showing me how he could steer a 110 by accelerating....pretty the rear suspension bushes where the culprit.

[timax]

Yep , one of the things i looked at first after doing a search on here. They seemed fine at first look with a big screwdriver to put some force on everything. Will have another closer look though. As i didnt loose drive i dont then think its an Axel or diff so might have a closer look at the CV's. Did drain the diff oil and found a slither of metal. That could have been there for a while though. What would go in a diff that would make noises when turning but still allow drive?

[AK83]

....
Tonight when leaving work definitely something wrong. An audible clunk , bit of a strange sideways crabbing feel when going around a roundabout. .....

If you're 101% confident that suspension bushes are OK, then I'd say have a peek at the A frame balljoint.

Otherwise, most likely a suspension bush issue.

[timax]

Thanks so much for the advice . You have given me a good head start.
Cheers!

[sierrafery]

Can you see the TC warning light working on ignition self test?

[timax]

Hmmm, looks like im going to get my hands dirty tomorrow.
Bushes are fine.
Drained the Diff and both front oil filled hubs. Found some loose shards of metal in the diff. Jacked up one side and easy to rotate for about 1.5 turns before hitting an obstruction. So Front drive shaft off first to rule out the transfer case (if the metal in the diff has been there for a while) Then pull the half shafts and diff out. All in a terrace house backyard! Wont be able to pull one of the half-shafts too far as it will hit the side fence.[bigsad]

So never having replaced a diff in anything before what is the best thing to do. Send it off to be repaired or swap with reco?

[timax]

Well that was fun. Found the problem.
A few too many missing teeth in the front diff!

[AK83]

Well that was fun. Found the problem.
A few too many missing teeth in the front diff!

missing CW&P type teeth?

as is commonly said around here ... "if there are no pics, it didn't happen!" :P

[timax]

Here you go. C&P seem fine. Its the Sun & planetary gears that are damaged.

[Slunnie]

I think that failure is not so uncommon in the D2 spec diffs. You might be able to get the parts from someone who has fitted a locker. Hopefully the hemisphere is a straight forward and relatively cheap fix if thats what you're after.

If that part has failed though, make sure you check carefully the half shafts and CV's as they're all pretty close in strength and you may find there is twisting in them. If they're twisted you're due for them also.

[timax]

I think that failure is not so uncommon in the D2 spec diffs. You might be able to get the parts from someone who has fitted a locker. Hopefully the hemisphere is a straight forward and relatively cheap fix if thats what you're after.

If that part has failed though, make sure you check carefully the half shafts and CV's as they're all pretty close in strength and you may find there is twisting in them. If they're twisted you're due for them also.
Thanks for the advice.
I replaced everything from axels outward about 12 months ago and thankfully everything looks ok.
Im just looking now at diffs on ebay. Is a 24 spline 4 bolt flange Disco front the same as a 2001 TD5 Defender one?
Failing that can i rebuild the diff center without a press? Looking into that option also.
Cheers Tim

[Slunnie]

Thanks for the advice.
I replaced everything from axels outward about 12 months ago and thankfully everything looks ok.
Im just looking now at diffs on ebay. Is a 24 spline 4 bolt flange Disco front the same as a 2001 TD5 Defender one?
Failing that can i rebuild the diff center without a press? Looking into that option also.
Cheers Tim

As far as I'm aware they are compatible, but thats not to say with absolute authority as I've never tried it.
There were some changes made to the Rover centre for the Disco2 to strengthen them up a little and stop the pins from breaking, so the next thing is the sun/planetary as you've experienced. I'm not definate if the Rover diff in the Defender front is the same, but I am pretty sure they will interchange. 4bolt is correct. Not sure re the press, when mine broke I changed them for lockers and never really looked too much (ie stripped) at the old ones to rebuild but you could do a hemisphere change without a press.

[djam1]

I would be interested to see what changes were made to the rover centre in the D2 I always understood that the early RR classic were made of the best steel but I think all Rover diffs are crap

[Slunnie]

I would be interested to see what changes were made to the rover centre in the D2 I always understood that the early RR classic were made of the best steel but I think all Rover diffs are crap

They're very very similar. It was just a change in the way the cross pin is retained to remove a stress raiser.

[weeds]

Question, would the damaged diff be cause of the car pulling to the left?

[twr7cx]

Maybe a moderator can shift this thread out of the Discovery 2 section since they don't have A frames and oil filled hubs...

[timax]

Maybe a moderator can shift this thread out of the Discovery 2 section since they don't have A frames and oil filled hubs...
Very strange , i thought i had started this thread in the Technical forum ???? No idea why it is in the D2 area although i do have a D2 transmission, transfer case and now diff center.

[timax]

Just an update incase anyone has a similar problem.

So car was pulling to one side when accelerating out of slow corners every now and then before suddenly starting to make clunking sounds when turning.
So front diff out and i could see damaged teeth on the Sun and Planetary gears in the diff center.
Ordered new parts for a rebuild and started early Saturday morning to put everything together. One gear was binding in the housing and upon closer inspection i could see that the housing itself was warn allowing the gears to separate enough to slip under load.
So i just replace the whole center with a second hand one i had found and now all good.