Greetings from Wales. Interested to hear if anyone has encountered this before; when cold - engaging forward/first gear results in a clunking noise as the gears engage. Doesn’t happen on reverse, and also not on subsequent engagements (i.e. after moving off). My (excellent) dealership is perplexed as they’ve not encountered this before, but it’s going in for investigation early August. Anyone had this issue? (It’s a 110 250D, late 2024).

 

Never experienced any such noise in any Defender so far. I also drove the 250D in Africa and it was smooth as silk. Sounds as if something is amiss in the transmission. Let us know what you find out and good luck.

 

Will do, thanks for the response.

 

Its broken. Sell it.

 

Do you happen to have the optional active rear differential? Can you tell if the clunking is coming from further in the rear? I know a few people around here with rear diff issues have reported on clunking noises similar to how you describe. If not, sounds like a rare ZF 8HP hiccup.

 

Morning, I don’t have the rear differential, and the clunking is more central. But good info on the ZF 8HP - thanks.

 

We have found a similar issue on various LR models.

in some cases there is a driveline component with wear/play in it.

When in park that component could be resting at one end of its “play”. When drive is engaged is shifts and clunks. Most of the time it’s been an axle.

If you can put it on a 4 wheel rack, like an alignment rack, and get underneath while recreating the issue, you might find it.

good luck.

 

Thanks, this aligns with what the dealership Master Tech thought was the problem.

 

In a few, rare cases since owning my 2020 P300 powered Defender 110 with 75K miles, I have experienced a similar clunking coming from my transfer case area (basically under my feet (left hand drive). It occurs only when the vehicle is stopped in an extreme position (sometimes on two or three wheels) with the drivetrain under load.

It is not a repetitive, normal problem, in my experience.

Enjoy !