Hi guys, wondering what this could be? I have a 1996 Disco with V8 and Automatic and it has recently started doing this:

If I'm going 45mph or more and I lift my foot off the gas pedal and allow the vehicle to slow down on its own, it starts jerking as it loses speed.

I checked the transmission fluid level and it seems to be up towards the full line.

Anyone have any hints on this for me?

Thanks - Paul

 

Driveshaft u-joints or maybe the CV joints?? any clunking sounds or strange noises??

 

no other noises, but I just got a call from my daughter (who drives it to school everyday) saying that she is stuck at the entrance of the school parking lot and it will not move forward or backwards. So I am guessing it is probably the driveshaft or transmission. Will post back once I have it towed to a shop and hear what they have to say...

 

If it is one of the driveshafts, no need to tow, save some $$ - just remove the offending shaft, put it in four wheel and drive it were you need to go.

 

please explain - I thought these were in 4wd all of the time?

 

So what did they say?

 

Your vehicle is equipped with a center locking differential. When the differential shifter is to the right the center differential is open, which allows front and rear driveshafts to spin at varying rates, depending on the loading conditions present. It is similar to the differential in the third member that allows the right and left wheels to spin at different rates when cornering. Thus when the differential is open, and one shaft snaps or becomes otherwise disconnected the output to the disconnected shaft will simply spin and no power will reach the other shaft. However, sliding the shifter to the left allows the locking sleeve of the differential to slide into place (it is spring loaded, there isn't a direct connection to the shifter) and once it does the front and rear driveshafts are locked together. In this configuration if one shaft is not connected to the third member the other shaft will still get power and the vehicle is drivable.

It is not ideal, of course, but at one point I had to drive to work for 10 days on only the front shaft while I waited for $$$ for parts with no issues.

 

I don't know if mine has this. It has a differential lock for 4wd but the **** just shows High, Neutral, and Low. It moves forward for Low and towards the driver for High. I don't believe there is any left and right.


By the way, we had the car towed to a transmission shop but the shop couldn't get us in yesterday, so I went to the place and asked them for the key, got in and noticed that the diff lock **** was in the Neutral position. I pulled it towards me for High and the car drove just fine. So, that is why the car wouldn't move when my daughter was pulling into the school parking lot.


Now, this morning I got a text from her saying the exact same thing happened to her pulling into the lot today. This time, she knew what to do to get it to move, since I showed her what I did last night. But it seems like something is still the matter if it keeps shifting the diff lock **** into Neutral without being moved by hand...


I guess the previous time it happened it jerked violently before disabling itself and this last time it only jerked slightly but still popped itself into Neutral.


???

 

This isn't a picture of mine but I think it is identical to what's in my disco:



Are you saying the Diff Lock **** moves left and right too?

 

Moving the **** to the left locks the differential (center differential) and you get a solid 4wd. with the **** to the right, it acts like a normal differential (center diff) and allows the front axle to turn faster or slower than the rear. Good for pavement when the wheels can't slip like they will on dirt or mud (or snow) If you drive it on hard surfaces with the diff lock engaged, you could cause the drive train to bind up and it sort of jumps to unwind itself.

Maybe you have it in locked position?? Pretty sure it should be towards the pass side of the travel (sideways) Only used my lock position a few times when I was off road or stuck in a snow bank. Normally it should be unlocked